British director Mike Hodges made his reputation with gritty crime thriller Get Carter in 1971 but went way off the beaten track with camp sci-fi adventure Flash Gordon nine years later. Pretty boy Sam Jones batted his blonde eyelashes as the eponymous American football star who vaults into outer space to battle Ming the Merciless, despotic ruler of the planet Mongo. With its tongue-in-cheek plot and kitsch production design, it's definitely more Julian Clary than Jules Verne...
Flash In The Pan
25 years after its release comes this Silver Anniversary Edition, but aside from the "steel box" presentation it's not exactly a heavyweight package. On the upside, Mike Hodges' contribution ensures a good amount of behind-the-scenes insight.
He reflects on his life and career in a wide-ranging 30-minute interview looking as far back as his childhood in Bristol and a stint in the navy. Of course Flash Gordon makes up part of this discussion although his recollections are mainly about working with flamboyant Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis. He confesses, "We didn’t know what we were doing for ages," and reveals that "a chasm" opened up between Laurentiis and Sam Jones after shooting, which resulted in the young actor refusing to promote the film. Although Flash Gordon did respectable business in the States, Hodges blames this rift for lower-than-expected ticket sales. It was only later that the film would achieve cult status.
Hodges goes into more detail in his audio commentary and gives Jones credit for accepting a role that few men wanted to play. "As a hero he's a bit dumb," explains the director, "A bit like American foreign policy." He also talks in more depth about De Laurentiis who, he claims, "really thought it was serious film, which I always found rather curious". Even more curious is the fact that Laurentiis risked $27m going into production without a finished script or storyboards and with a director who was unable to communicate with the Italian crew. "I really had to improvise all the way," says a bemused Hodges.
Mad On Mongo
Brian Blessed is typically jovial in an alternative commentary. He reveals that he was an avid fan of the original Flash Gordon serial when he was growing up in Yorkshire. Naturally he was thrilled to win the part of Prince Vultan years later, especially since he already had experience playing the role in the school playground. Over two decades later, his childish glee remains: "I can't go anywhere in Britain without people asking me to shout, 'Gordon’s alive!' and everyone cheers," he exclaims.
Diehard fans like Blessed can enjoy the first episode of the original series (1940) which is included here. It's world away from the garish movie version, with extras in trilby hats tottering about in black-and-white, spaceships seemingly made out of old loo roll, and a lead cast - including Larry 'Buster' Crabbe - who are more wooden than the sets. In short, hilarious!
A photo slideshow and original theatrical trailer (complete with vocals by Queen!) round off the disc. No doubt it's a patchy selection of extras, but sci-fi geeks (and Julian Clary) will love it.
EXTRA FEATURES
The Flash Gordon: Silver Anniversary Edition DVD is released in the UK on 10th October 2005
