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Flash Gordon

 


Flash Gordon. For many of us, seeing that name evokes the imagery, sounds, and energy of the fantastically over the top 1980 film. The bright colors. The Queen Soundtrack. Brian Blessed's Vultan's booming and jovial voice.


This was my introduction to the franchise as well. It's an amazing film that still entertains as much today as it hoped to do back then. In fact, the film stuck with me so much that it pushed me to look further back into the history of Flash Gordon. "If this was the 'campy version', what was it really like?"

Digging deeper, I found the 1970's Filmation series AND their hidden film. I say hidden because it has yet to be re released outside of a Japanese Laserdisc copy that some kind soul uploaded to Youtube. This was a great series that included more of the Flash Gordon world than the 1980's film. I especially love this incarnation of Thun, the Prince of the Lion Men. And of of course, Bob Ridgely's voice stands way out with his portrayal of our hero.


There was also, of course, Defenders of the Earth. This short lived 1980's cartoon pulled Flash into a team with other King Features characters like the Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, and his ally Lothar. I never really cared for this show as it tried to shoehorn in 'legacy characters', the children of each hero.


At this point, I was thoroughly caught up in this world of adventure and desired to know the REAL story. I began reading the collected editions of Alex Raymond's Sunday comic strip. Honestly, for a series that began in 1934, it sucked me right in. From week to week, it was hard to tell if Raymond was making this up as he went along or not because an elaborate backstory began to unfold behind what was otherwise just a weekly cliffhanger. Characters that started out as fairly one dimensional all began to have strong motivations behind their actions. This was a soap opera in adventure clothing and I loved it.


After this, I chose to look into the Universal Serials from the 1930's and 40's. While the dialogue can be cringeworthy and some of the plot stretched thin to create the next cliffhanger, they really did a nice job with this. From sets and costumes to their models and miniatures, you could tell that Universal really wanted this to succeed. The first serial especially, originally titled as just Flash Gordon, does an amazing job building Alex Raymond's world.

A few years ago, I had the idea to try and create my 'ideal' Flash Gordon films. Taking the soundtrack from the 1980's film, I began the journey of editing the 4+ hours of the first Serial down into a much more streamlined and cohesive story. Because I was changing the soundtrack, I had to accept the fact that I would have to cut out the dialogue too. This was now going to be a silent film, which was fine with me. Not only would this cut out some of the wooden line delivery but it allowed me to actually script the film myself. 

The long process finally reached its end this year. The edited film now is just over two and half hours and split into 3 sections. I'm really proud of this. While there were some errors along the way, I learned a lot in the process and am now three chapters into my edit of the second Serial, Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars!

Below are the links to each part. I hope you enjoy it and maybe they will help you discover the deep and engrossing world of Flash Gordon that exists beyond the 1980's extravaganza. Without a doubt, Gordon's Alive!

Part One:


Part Two:


Part Three:


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