ALL SCI-FI

[johnnybear]

I remember seeing this years ago but these days all I'm interested from it is actress Bobbie Brown! Anyone have any pics of her?
JB

[Maurice]

[Bogmeister]

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_______________ Flash Gordon Official Trailer


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Based on one of the oldest sci-fi comic strips, begun by artist Alex Raymond way back in 1934, the titular hero was in the classical hero mold, a blonde-haired athlete who wound up in adventures on another world ruled by the emperor Ming the Merciless.

There were famous but very cheap serials made based on this strip starting in 1936, but this one — this concept — is more suited to color pictures, and well-budgeted ones.

This film actually follows the plot of the original strip — Ming (Max von Sydow) is bored and pelts the Earth with a variety of natural disasters (stock footage so early in the film that it does not bode well). We first see Flash (Sam J. Jones) sitting in his car on a small airstrip, as the latest bad weather — hot hail — hits. He doesn't look too worried.

He meets the pretty Dale Ardon (Melody Anderson) as they embark on a trip in a single engine airplane. Due to Ming's continued manipulation of the weather, they soon crash-land at the scientific lab of Dr. Zarkov (Topol).





Zarkov, though a scientific genius, also comes off as a bit crazed. He intends to journey to the source of all the bad weather in his own rocket, but Flash & Dale are alarmed at his spastic attitude and only go along due to a scuffle which accidentally activates the rocketship.

It's after this point that the audience begins to see the visuals which this film is known for. The ship travels into a swirling mass of reddish miasma resembling an ocean rather than deep space, and then more fantastic scenery resembling volcanic activity (and called "The Sea of Fire" in the film).

Finally, they break through to the alien landscape of the planet Mongo, whereupon we see the magnificent city-palace of Ming. The trio are swiftly captured and brought to the court of the emperor.


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If you thought the film was colorful until now, then you'll really be wowed by the colors and set design of Ming's court. Red continues to be the color of choice — for the costumes, the sets, everything.

It's not simply garish, however — it's a triumph of over-the-top splendor and opulence, especially evident on DVD-or-BD (that's the only way to view this film. Many of the pictures in this post are from VHS-level quality sources and do not do the film justice).

Some of the later visuals, such as sky effects, dip into surreal animation. The film also takes on the semblance of a fevered dream — Flash even states this outloud to Dale after they're imprisoned — as if Zarkov's ship crashed on Earth and this is all a delusion of one of the trio (probably Zarkov) in the last moments before death.

It helps to view the film in this context. Otherwise it comes across as too bizarre and silly. Flash, for example, reverts to his prowess at football in Ming's court to deal with Ming's guards. This goes a bit overboard in showing off his particular skills.


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During this early scene in Ming's court, we are introduced to the other major characters of the film and Ming's world. The winged Prince Vultan (Brian Blessed in probably the most entertaining performance), Prince Barin (Timothy Dalton), Klytus, Ming's chief enforcer with the metallic face (Peter Wyngarde), and Ming's daughter, Princess Aura (Ornella Muti).

All of these are competent actors and — unfortunately — they show actor Jones in a bad light . He is, by comparison, stiff and amateurish, whereas they are all relaxed and professional.

Even the notion that this should be viewed as some strange dream is not enough to mitigate Jones and his line delivery. His flat delivery sort of fits in with that notion, yes, but I still can't help but wince every time he speaks. He was apparently dubbed over by some other actor for many of his scenes, and this probably makes matters worse.

There's a lot of corn in the dialog, mostly in the hero's case, but there are also moments of lucidity. Ming explains that his decision to destroy Earth is based on Zarkov's detection that these were not natural disasters. Hence, Earth poses a threat to Ming's empire in this equation.


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In the plot, Flash is quickly scheduled for execution in Mongo's version of the gas chamber, but he is revived under orders from Aura (suggesting that he is brought back from the dead). She is, of course, attracted to him in a schoolgirl sort of way.

Zarkov, meanwhile, is supposed to get his brain reprogrammed, while Dale is to be Ming's sex slave.

It's established that there are various moon kingdoms ruled by princes, but they are all under Ming's sway. Flash ends up in Barin's arboreal moon kingdom and Barin has issues with him mostly over Aura.

Later, they all end up in Vultan's Sky City. Vultan thinks it's too soon for a revolt and he has issues with both Barin and Flash.

One problem with this set up, for me, is that these princes seem only a bit less sadistic than Ming, so it's like the lesser of two evils. However, it's mostly tongue-in-cheek, so I can't take it very seriously. One surprise during all this is that Dale reveals herself to be almost as effective a kick-ass hero as Flash, even though she usually speaks like some love struck damsel in distress, and she only enters this action mode in one scene.

Anyway, it's no surprise that the final act involves everyone teaming up against Ming's forces.



The film is entertaining, no doubt, though it's geared mostly towards the early teen to pre-teen crowd. The few villains do meet somewhat grisly ends, though a couple of these death scenes also take their cue from The Wizard of Oz i.e. the demise of the wicked witch.

For my part, I was usually distracted by the colorful sets and scenery — the arboreal moon with its huge tree trunks and swamps, the spiffy Sky City, the stark surface of the rocky Mongo, and the retro futuristic rocketships.

Another distraction was the music score by Queen — it doesn't really fit, though you'll probably run that song in your head over & over after watching this, and that thump-thump tempo which usually begins an action sequence admittedly adds to the juvenile thrills and tension.

BoG's Score: 7 out of 10


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Flash Trivia: actor Jones played himself in the comedy-fantasy Ted (2012) because the main characters in that film were his greatest fans.

[Eadie]

[Bud Brewster]

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IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production.
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~ All of the main cast members were signed for multiple films. The first movie didn't do as well as expected, so the sequels were never made.

Note from me: Bad timing: sci-fi fans loved the realistic look of the Star Wars movies and John Williams music. This film was cartoonish, with jarring rock music.

[color=darkblue]~ Max von Sydow's Ming costume weighed over 70 pounds. He could only stand in it for a few minutes at a time.

Note from me: Great Scott! It a costume, for cryin' out loud, not suit of armor! Why did it weigh so much?

~ In the finished film, George Harris' dialogue as Prince Thun of Ardentia was dubbed. His voice is on the Queen soundtrack album, indicating that the change must have been made fairly late in post-production.

Note from me: He sounds good in the movie, so apparently the dubbing was done skillfully.

~ Sam J. Jones' dark hair was bleached blonde, and Melody Anderson's blonde hair was dyed brown. Flash was supposed to have blue eyes, but Jones couldn't wear the contact lenses.

Note from me: Why didn't they leave Melody's hair blond?

~ Director Mike Hodges, referring to the production problems that plagued the film, once called it "the only improvised $27 million movie ever made."

Note from me: Well, now . . . this explains a lot.

~ According to Sam J. Jones, while filming the tilting-disc fight scene, the actors would get covered in paint by the disc that was spray painted silver. They would have to take extra time between each take to wipe silver paint off their bodies.

Note from me: Poor set design. They used cheap paint . . .

~ For the scene in which Dale turns into a giant spider for a dream sequence, Melody Anderson spent six hours getting painted green, wearing fake eyes and fangs, with a head piece that weighed over 20 pounds. When Mike Hodges came in, he said, "This is wonderful, but we can't use this! It has absolutely nothing to do with the script."

Note from me: I'm sure Miss Anderson was delighted to hear that she'd wasted all that time and effort . . . roll
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

[Bud Brewster]

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Great post, Scot!

[Pow]

Not a fan of this FG film. Ornella Muti & Melody Anderson: Hubba, hubba!!!

[scotpens]

[ralfy]

Life After Flash trailer

_____________Life After Flash (Official Trailer)


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[Bud Brewster]

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What a great video, Ralfy! Thanks for sharing it!

After seeing how good Sam Jones looks in the video, I had a burst of inspiration for a current sequel to Flash Gordon, using some of the original cast.

My idea goes like this.
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After the events of the originator movie, Flash marries Dale, and they have a beautiful daughter named Laura. She idealizes her parent's brave deeds to save Earth from Ming's plans to destroy it.

Unbeknownst to the people of Earth, Ming managed to survive (as suggested the end of the original movie), and he devises a new plan to conquer Earth. Ming has hidden his wandering world, Mongo, on the far side of the sun, occupying Earth's orbit — but on the opposite side of the Sol.

Dr. Zarkov (living in retirement) learns of this and informs the government, who immediately place Zarkov in command of a secret program which has been formed to deal with this situation if it ever arises again.

Through her close relationship with Zarkov, Laura finds out about the strike force being sent to Mongo, and she convinces Dr. Zarkov that she should join the team being sent to the wandering planet of Mongo to battle Ming. She tells Zarkov that her aging parents are no longer capable of battling Ming as they former did, even though they would feel obligated to try when the learn of this new threat.

But the fact that her mother and father have told her much about Ming and his evil plans, she is well equipped to do battle with him.

And so, Laura Gordon — along with the highly trained and well armed strike force — blast off for Mongo to do battle with Ming's forces and thwart his plans to conquer Earth.

Unfortunately, a traitor on Earth has informed Ming of this threat, and he arranges and ambush for the strike force — killing many of them and capturing the rest!
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At this point, guys, the story would obviously be about how Flash and Dale learn about their daughter's predicament and set out to rescue her — despite the fact that they no longer have the youth and vigor they once had.

However, Dr. Zarkov assures them both that he has developed a rejuvenating drug which will provide both the elderly heroes with the strength and stamina they need to save their daughter!

Flash and Dale are given injections which provide them with a tremendous boost in energy! Fortified by Zarkov's "youth drug", they set out to rescue their daughter.

After facing tremendous odds and fearsome forces, Flash and Dale rescue Laura, and (with her help) defeat Ming!

In a final scene, Zarkov admits that his "youth drug" was nothing more than a brief energy booster! But it did allowed him to convince Flash and Dale that they were still capable of rescuing their beloved daughter and being the "heroes of the universe" one more time!
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What do you think of my idea for a sequel, guys?
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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As always, sir, you did a masterful job of comparing the versions of Flash Gordon as they were presented in various media.

Concerning your preference for Carol Hughes as Dale, even though I praised the lovely Jean Rogers in my post above, I have to admit that Carol was much better than Jean was in Trip to Mas.

The studio changed her to a brunet (with shorter hair) and made her wear the same long, unappealing dress in every single chapter!

Whose dumb idea was that!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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Holy mackerel, I didn't know about all that turmoil at Universal! It certainly explains some of the wacky decisions that effected their productions during that time.

Thanks for educating me, Professor H0011.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)