The best version of Flash Gordon will always be the 1980 production starring Max von Sydow as Emperor Ming the Merciless with Queen’s thunderous score. I think this horrible, cheap-ass, Wal-Mart version on the Sci Fi Channel will eliminate any further doubt of my claim.
Such a shame too. With a little modification to the story (planets can’t move as Mongo does in the Thirties), the characters’ professions (Flash as an NFL quarterback in the Eighties) and tweaking the arc to fit within the time allowed, this could be a great re-imagining (Hollywood’s latest idiot word, reboot is the correct term). Course, having a budget would’ve helped too. It just screams Planet Vancouver on how lame it looks. If the Sci Fi Channel was going to spend less than the current B5 DVD, then it should’ve just been posted on YouTube.
What’s it about? Oh Flash’s dad got pulled over to Mongo through a dimensional gateway years ago. Now Emperor Ming is sending probes back over, probably to conquer the Earth and one of them had a clue tipping Flash about his father’s fate. Thus Flash and Dale travel to Mongo the same way and get a nice dose of Ming’s hospitality. I was already bored in the first 10 minutes and had to fast forward through much of it.
On the positive side, this made my disappointing B5 DVD feel like a bargain because I downloaded the pilot for free through iTunes.