Directed by Mike Hodges
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Universal)
The inspiration for the Star Wars original trilogy was the old matinee serials from yesteryear, and Flash Gordon, released the same year as The Empire Strikes Back, explicitly draws from the same source. The production design pays homage to its origins, but also manages to compete with its more famous sci-fi peers. Unfortunately, the lead character is written as basically a dumb jock, and Sam Jones does nothing to overcome the associated stereotypes. Melody Anderson is slightly better as his girlfriend, but some of their dialogue is excruciatingly bad. However, the supporting cast is great all around. Max von Sydow is an appropriately menacing Ming the Merciless. His daughter the princess is a very sexy Ornella Muti. I really liked Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan, the leader of the Hawkmen. The best, though, is that Queen soundtrack, especially when Brian May's guitars let loose during the Hawkmen attack on the spaceship. Great fun.
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