Flash Gordon (1980)

★ 6.2 1h 51m IMDb

A football player and his mates travel to the planet Mongo and find themselves fighting the tyranny of Ming the Merciless to save Earth.

Flash Gordon

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Cast

Sam J. Jones
Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon Age 71 · Chicago, Illinois, United States Samuel Gerald Jones, known professionally as Sam J. Jones, is an American actor and former football player. He is known for playing the title character in the 1980 film Flash Gordon and for starring i...
Melody Anderson
Melody Anderson as Dale Arden Age 70 · Edmonton, Alberta, Canada From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Melody Anderson (born December 3, 1955) is a Canadian American social worker and public speaker specializing in the impact of addiction on families. She is also...
Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow as The Emperor Ming Died 2020 · Lund, Skåne län, Sweden Max von Sydow (born Carl Adolf von Sydow; April 10, 1929 – March 8, 2020) was a Swedish actor. He also held French citizenship since 2002. He starred in many films and had supporting roles in dozens m...
Chaim Topol
Chaim Topol as Dr. Hans Zarkov Died 2023 · Tel Aviv, Israel Chaim Topol (September 9, 1935 - March 8, 2023), often billed simply as Topol, was an Israeli theatrical and film performer, singer and illustrator. He is best known for his portrayal of Tevye, the le...
Ornella Muti
Ornella Muti as Princess Aura Age 71 · Roma, Lazio, Italy Ornella Muti (born March 9, 1955) is an Italian actress. She was born in Rome as Francesca Romana Rivelli, to a Neapolitan father and Estonian mother. She has an older sister, Claudia (1951). Muti mo...
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin Age 80 · Colwyn Bay, Wales, UK Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (born March 21, 1946) is a British actor. He gained international prominence as the fourth actor to portray fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film...

Audience Reviews

tmdb27219454 8/10 Aug 02, 2019
One of the least appreciated movies made in my lifetime. Done right after the glory that was The Empire Strikes Back and released to a public that had forgotten who Flash Gordon was or what the 1930's serials with Larry "Buster" Crabbe represented. Although the public was drooling desire for more high tech special effects and serious Space Opera, Flash went in the opposite direction and brought Campy back with a style all his own. This movie PERFECTLY recreated everything that those early B&W serials threw at those screaming kids sitting up in the movie theater balcony. Not to mention that the actor recreations were done as if the drawn characters came to life and leaped out of the funny papers to star on the silver screen. Max von Sydow IS Emperor Ming. Brian Blessed IS Prince Vultan. Sam Jones and Melody Anderson came in as the unknowns they needed to be and stole the show. The ONLY downfall to this movie was the fact that it did so poorly at the box office and never received the sequel it hinted at in its ending.
JPV852 7/10 Sep 21, 2020
Campy and fun science fiction fantasy-adventure flick has some cheesy but colorful and good production designs and the performances for the most part were fine, with Max Von Sydow lending prestige to a goofy character and Sam J. Jones was okay in the lead, but he's really not asked to do a whole lot (both in acting and fighting) while Melody Anderson was alright though the "romance" between her and Flash Gordon was a bit forced. And for its time, I thought the special/visual effects were adequate, superior to the likes of Superman 3 & 4 released years later (1983/1987). Enjoyable time waster and would probably revisit again. **4.0/5**
CinemaSerf 7/10 Mar 27, 2022
Now then, anyone who thinks that Max von Sydov's best film was "the Seventh Seal" (1957) really does need to get their priorities right: forget Ingmar Bergman - it has to be this marvellously camp effort from Mike Hodges and Dino de Laurentiis that allows him to act the megalomanic whilst dressing up like the best panto villain you're ever likely to encounter. Sam J. Jones is the eponymous hero who, alongside the rather hapless Melody Anderson ("Dale") and Topol's slightly demented scientist ("Zarkov"), falls prey to the mischievous games of "Ming the Merciless" as he toys with the Earth. Once the intrepid trio arrive on "Mongo" they must fight for their very survival. In the case of "Flash", the poor fellow - who spends much of the film like a startled rabbit in the headlights - has to defend his virtue from the positively predatory "Princess Aura" (Ornella Muti) who's supposed to be betrothed to "Barin" (Timothy Dalton) who is, himself, constantly sparring with Brian Blessed's "Vultan" - king of the hawk-men. Add in the wonderfully creepy Peter Wyngarde as "Klytus" and Margiangela Melato as his villainous deputy "Kala" and we have the perfect ingredients for almost two hours of classic comic book action in the best tradition of "thwack" and "pow". The thing is 40 years old now - hence it's re-release on the big screen - and it doesn't look like any efforts have been made to improve on the original. The effects are therefore pretty ropey, the CGI as obvious as the delightfully cheap and cheerful costumes of the lizard-men and the munchkins who are dressed much like the playing cards from "Alice in Wonderland". Freddie Mercury and Queen provide a bit of added "glamour" to the proceedings with their title song and the eagle-eyed amongst us might just spot a 30 year old Robbie Coltrane in there too. Escapist nonsense? Sure - but it is still all good, uncomplicated, fun with it's tongue in it's cheek and just about everything else in leather, lycra and/or tights!

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