Flash Gordon (1980, Mike Hodges)

I was able to see this on the big screen as part of a film festival that Edgar Wright is doing over here. I didn't know what quite to expect of it since I had never seen it and have really never ever even heard anyone talk about it. I wasn't even looking forward to watching since I was there in the theater because I was looking forward to the 2nd half of the double feature (Danger: Diabolik) that this was presented with instead. I just thought of this film as a bonus with Diabolik being the main attraction.

Edgar Wright introduced the film and the first thing that he asked as soon as he got the mic was "Who here hasn't seen Flash Gordon?" About half of the theater raised their hand. He then smiled and said "ohh...prepare to have your socks rocked off" He was so right. Flash Gordon might be one of the greatest movies ever made. It's up there with Commando and Cobra as being one of the most awesome films ever made.

Edgar Wright also decided that instead of introducing the film he would list a "top 10 reasons why Flash Gordon is fucking awesome list" Although I cant really remember all 10 reasons that were on his list, I can say that he was dead on with the ones that I remember. This film is so deliciously awesome that writing a paragraph doesn't do it justice. I wont do a top 10 reasons but I will just list down things that made it awesome for me.

- Flash Gordon is just a quarterback for the New York Jets who by accident gets on a planet where they want to kill him and destroy earth. He wont stand for it. Great plot.

- Flash Gordon wears a shirt that says "FLASH" on it for the 1st half of the movie.

- Max von Sydrow is an evil villain with a magical ring that has powers who wants to sleep with Flash Gordon's girlfriend. Flash Gordon wont stand for it.

- There are half-human-half-hawks that fly around and drop bombs on people.

- Colorful and crazy action scenes set to Queen's rock score and songs. Awesome.

- CRAZY sets. CRAZY colors. CRAZY costumes.

- A showdown fight scene where Flash Gordon fights Timothy Dalton on a tilting circle which stands over a black hole and also contains spikes that pop out at random times.

- Intentional fun and campy dialogue.

- Awesome intro and an awesome finish....with awesomeness in between.

There are so many things that I am leaving out but I absolutely loved this film. Like, a lot. It's so gloriously over the top and campy with just the right amount of craziness that you can't help but love it if you are able to buy into it.

- Ridiculously Awesome