Skip to main content

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:


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kre-O G.I. Joe Battle Wagon

  G.I. Joe has always had amazing vehicles for your figures to interact with. As the line grew, so did the imaginations of the creators, as each year seemed to provide us with something bigger than the one before. After the U.S.S. Flagg and the Defiant, bigger was no longer an option but that didn't stop G.I. Joe from just going big and bold with their designs.  The 1990s era of the line is not universally loved but they gave us plenty of big vehicles, including the Battle Wagon. The Battle Wagon was heavily marketed as an essential item for Joe fans of the time, especially in the DIC cartoon. Unfortunately, I never had it as a kid. It was a high price tag item and, honestly, I never remember seeing it in stores. When I was in college, my younger brother bought two of them on ebay. Being able to see them in person, I had to agree it was worth the hype that Hasbro put around it. I've now moved away from collecting traditional Joes. I'm older and I want my nephews and nieces ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Toy Biz DC Superheroes Flash v2, Hawkman, Two Face

I started getting back into the DC Superheroes line early last year. Even though the Kenner Super Powers line is superior in a lot of ways, this line has a nostalgic value for me. Recently, I was able to add three more figures to my collection: Hawkman, Two Face, and the second version of the Flash! Version 2 is a HUGE upgrade over Version 1. V2 Flash doesn't rely on a wind up action feature so it actually has arm articulation. Now Flash can actually do some better posing... let alone throw a punch! V2 Flash also comes with a Quicksilver/Silver Surfer-esqe platform. It even moves forward on its own if you pull it backwards.  Toy Biz vs Kenner. The Kenner figure is obviously the better choice. Just one look at his weapon and his head sculpt and that is obvious. However, there is a dumb charm to the Toy Biz figure and I'm happy to have him. I really like this Two Face figure. He has a winding feature for flipping his...
Post a Comment
Read more