remember watching this movie back in the eighties when it was first released and years later found it for sale at a video store and purchased it right away. i don't remember much of the plot from when i was watching it growing up as a kid but after viewing it again...there really wasn't much of one. i found myself liking this film which is based on a comic strip all over again, in large part due to the casting ie. 007 timothy Dalton as prince barin, max Von sydow as ming the merciless and here he plays the role for laughs and camps it up for the audience. i'll admit now, the special effects are terrible, the acting is choppy at best and the main score performed by rock icons queen is downright cheezy. but i think that is the charm and appeal of this movie which now stands as a cult favourite. the set designs and costumes are colourful and creative and not easily forgotten. everything just seems so sharp and vibrant. i thought that ornella muti who plays ming's daughter princess aura was incredibly hot throughout...wearing very tight and skin-hugging outfits and her seductive smile and charm that seemed to entrance the men around her. the actress, melody Anderson who played the role of dale Arden got on my nerves after a while. it was her neediness and clinging to flash Gordon that really irked me. all she was given to do in her role was pine and long for flash when he was captured than executed for defying ming's orders. when he was resurrected, all she could do was hope he would come and rescue her after ming selected her as one of his muses and later a bride. still worth a look, though. it's fun and nostalgic and remind of other cheezy, schlock filled cult classics of a by-gone era.
Review of Flash Gordon
