47 replies to this topic

[DLibrasnow]

My favorite guilty pleasure of a movie is the 1980s sci-fi campy adventure "Flash Gordon" -- which featured a little known Shakespearean theater actor named Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin. I still remember going to see it at a small cinema in the Scottish village I grew up in. The heating was out and it was the depths of winter, I was bundled up in several layers to keep warm but I remember getting lost in the fun and pure fantasy of the adventure unfolding before my eyes. This is a movie that is filled with nostalgic joy for me and I regularly re-live it on DVD.
In addition to Dalton another future Bond alum features in the shape of Max Von Sydow who played Ming the Merciless here but would go on to be one of the best of all the Ernst Stavro Blofelds in NSNA.

[License To Kill]

Well, DLibra I haven't seen this film, but last night my friends and I were browsing around a local video store and picked up "The Informant" starring Timothy Dalton. It's about some IRA doings and stuff like that and Tim's acting is outstanding. Check it out.

[Genrewriter]

I love Flash Gordon, just the right blend of camp and utterly cheesy 80's style with some great lines and performances.

"No, not the bore worms!"

[Blofeld's Cat]

Dalton played a great action hero-type who helps save the day. Wouldn't surprise me if this role went some way to him getting the Bond gig as he hadn't done much action orientated stuff before then.

Brian Blessed is an over-the-top hoot.

Queen's music was excellent too.

[Genrewriter]

I love Brian Blessed's over the top style, perfect for the movie and also a nice contrast to Dalton's more grounded, but still quite fun and entertaining performance. Max von Sydow is also good as Ming the Merciless. You gotta love a guy who has the range to do that AND Ingmar Bergman films.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Blessed sure looked like he enjoyed the role and making the movie.

Peter Wyngarde of Jason King fame was interesting as Klytus. Sounds like a nasty rash.

Can we dare discuss Flesh Gordon as well? The character names are hilarious. Soft pørn of course.

[Tarl_Cabot]

Wow D-snow, I though you hated Dalton! I became a fan of Dalton before TLD because of Flash Gordon! I always thought he was perfect for Bond since seeing DG.I love that movie. I own it and the CD.

[Tarl_Cabot]

I meant FG, as in Flash Gordon

[DLibrasnow]

I am not a huge fan of Dalton as Bond that is true Tarl...but I am definately a fan of the movie "Flash Gordon" which holds a great deal of nostalgic value for me!

[SamuelKevlar]

Flash Gordon's great if you take it for what it is: unashamed, campy fun.

One of my favourite moments comes after Barin and Flash have just killed Klytus (the golden-masked henchman). Barin (Dalton) starts up this traditional heroic speech about fighting back, when Vultan (Brian Blessed) yells out in the way that only he can: "Nonsense!"

In fact, I loved how, among all the garishness and colour and pageantry, Barin stays this brooding, almost Shakespearean figure who doesn't seem to have much fun at all. Truly a forerunner for his darker, grimmer portrayal of 007 a few years later.

[DLibrasnow]

Brian Blessed's Vultan was one of my favorite characters in "Flash Gordon"...I had the privilege of seeing him perform live on stage later and told him how much I enjoyed the movie.
Also, I cannot believe that I forgot about another Bond alum in Topol....He played the professor in the movie.

[Tarl_Cabot]

Ornella Muti is the sexiest woman in film history. period. end of disscusion.She should have been a Bond girl!

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Tarl_Cabot
Ornella Muti is the sexiest woman in film history. period. end of disscusion.She should have been a Bond girl!

I always thought so too...

[homerjbond]

"FLASH!...aaah-aaa...He'll save every one of us!"

Actually it was on TV the other day, and while watching a few minutes, memories began flooding back...

[DLibrasnow]

I think for those of us who were lucky enough to see this movie on the big screen, even snippets of the soundtrack, or clips of the movie are enough to evoke strong feelings of nostalgia.
The early 1980s...what a great era!

[killkenny kid]

I was lucky enough to see it on the big screen. And I saw it this week on the dish. I have to get the dvd. Well. I got to go. It's Elvis day on AMC.

[License To Kill]

Did anyone see Dalton's film "The Informant"?

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by killkenny kid
. And I saw it this week on the dish.

What do you mean??

[DieAnotherDay57]

I remember seeing it when I was younger in tv or video and I liked it but now i think its ok. The acting is preety bad and fake but great song by Queen . When I said bad acting i was refering to the person playing flash gordon and some others but Timothy Dalton acted good.

[killkenny kid]

Sorry, D. I have the Dishnetwork. By the way. Do you watch MI-5 on A&E?

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by DieAnotherDay57
I remember seeing it when I was younger in tv or video and I liked it but now i think its ok. The acting is preety bad and fake but great song by Queen .  When I said bad acting i was refering to the person playing flash gordon and some others but Timothy Dalton acted good.

But that's all part of the fun of it....the cheesy OTT acting by Sam Jones, Max Von Sydow, Topol, Dalton and company...it was meant to be taken that way because they were trying to invoke the feeling of the 1940s Buster Crabbe matinee series from which it takes its inspiration.

[Robinson]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow
I think for those of us who were lucky enough to see this movie on the big screen, even snippets of the soundtrack, or clips of the movie are enough to evoke strong feelings of nostalgia.
The early 1980s...what a great era!

Yes indeed! I saw this opus on the big screen- I enjoyed it then and I enjoy it now. Only this time one can't escape all the sexual undertones(overtones) in this flick. From the costumes, dialogue and character's actions(the tree ceremony=masturbation), it's amazing how much stuff went over a ten year old's head back then.

I still say Peter Wyngard's(Klytus) got the coolest voice in cinematic history. and what about his "Number Two" General Karla?! She had it going on back then.

Ah the early eighties: Flash Gordon, The Empire Strikes Back, The Black Hole, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Fish That Saved Pittsburg, Shogun Assassin, For Your Eyes Only.

They Just don't make 'em like they used to...

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Robinson


Yes indeed! I saw this opus on the big screen- I enjoyed it then and I enjoy it now. Only this time one can't escape all the sexual undertones(overtones) in this flick. From the costumes, dialogue and character's actions(the tree ceremony=masturbation), it's amazing how much stuff went over a ten year old's head back then.  

I still say Peter Wyngard's(Klytus) got the coolest voice in cinematic history. and what about his "Number Two" General Karla?! She had it going on back then.

Ah the early eighties: Flash Gordon, The Empire Strikes Back, The Black Hole, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Fish That Saved Pittsburg, Shogun Assassin, For Your Eyes Only.  

They Just don't make 'em like they used to...

Amen to that....and add "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Dragonslayer", "Battle Beyond the Stars" and "Ffolkes" to that list too....

[DLibrasnow]

By the way -- happy birthday Robinson!!

[Jaelle]

Ah well, there you've gone and mentioned a favorite of mine! I can't believe it when people diss this film as being so bad, it's INTENDED CONSCIOUSLY to be campy and silly! That's the whole POINT of the film!

Here's a film where obviously everyone is having an absolute blast! Here are two of the most prestigious actors ever--Max von Sydow and Topol--indulging themselves completely in sheer unadulterated camp. Sydow makes such a great Ming. The only person who needs jettisoning is Sam Jones.

Then you have the fantastic Brian Blessed as Vultan, always a joy to watch. I too had the great fortune to see him on stage in the mid-80s and got his autograph. It was around the same time that I got to see Tim Dalton on stage in London too. Tim got great reviews for his "enthusiastic" and "muscular" portrayal of Barin. Fortunately, several critics *GOT* the film for its intent.

How can you not like a film with lines like "Lying b-t-ch!" Or "You awful Mongo person!" I love it when Tim yells "Freeze! Ya bloody b-s-t-r-ds!" And Tarl is right about Ornella Muti --- my boyfriend and his friends at the time were all madly in lust with her. She certainly was something else. Definitely Bond girl material. She and Tim looked made a gorgeous looking couple too.

Watching this film, I always imagine the writers sitting around having a blast writing exchanges like the one between Barin, Aura and Zarkov near the elevator when they're trying to escape. Barin and Zarkov have just escaped and they mee up with Aura. Barin tells Aura he's changed, she tells him he's changed too, then Barin gets angry at Aura telling her she *hasn't* changed, and then Zarkov (who's trying to open the elevator while all this is going on) announces that he's managed to open the door and says "*I* haven't changed!" It's a hysterical piece of camp writing all built on the word "change." Cracks me up every time.

Oh and as to Tim's IRA film "The Informant," yes I've seen it. I have it on video. Tim is fabulous in it, such a great performance. He manages to make an ugly, violent bigot into a more nuanced, even sympathetic character.

[Tarl_Cabot]

Topol was such a great character in FYEO.I really miss characters like him: Draco, Kalim bay, Pushkin...I suppose the guy in Cuba from DAD and Robbie Coltrane was like that too but Topol was such a cool guy.

[DieAnotherDay57]

yup Topol was cool

[Turn]

I'll spend my 1000th post chiming in on how much I like this film. It's ironic that the people I work with were just talking about this film and how much fun it is. I was there in December of 1980 waiting to see this, not realizing that it would also be my first glimpse at a future Bond.

I became a Flash fan when I was in grade school through the old buster Crabbe serials on the afternoon kids' show on local TV. I got a bunch of comics and other Flash stuff and became a big fan. As I got a little older, this over-the-top romp was fun.

It was one of the first films I taped when my family got our first VCR back in 1982 and my brother and I about wore the tape out. Ah, memories.

I agree Peter Wyngarde is a great villain and has a memorable voice. Loved him on The Avengers. A lot of people have mentioned the writing. The film was written by Lorenzo Semple Jr., who also did some great dialogue on Never Say Never Again, and years before wrote for the Batman TV show.

[Robinson]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow
By the way -- happy birthday Robinson!!

Why thank you for the B'day wishes!

I should feel old but I don't. I can safely say I've earned these years and I'm looking forward for the next 70-80.

[License To Kill]

I really love how no one even responds to my posts!