Customer Reviews

Flash Gordon

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A lot of people seem to deem this show mediocre or awful. At first it is a bit campy. But then they begin to inch closer to what has been accomplished with Battlestar Galactica (2004). It gets a bit darker, and really kicks into high gear towards the end. I would imagine the next season will be better. I do not mean to set up a spoiler but...The prophecy is your linch pin. Listen in to it and you will gain much insight. They really begin to flesh out the world and spend more time on Mongo and less in Smallville.

I got this in R2. It is soo cool. It isn't the old story, but if I wanted that, I would have gotten that. It's just Flash Gordon for the 21st century, pure high action Sci-Fi. A must see for lovers of this genre.

First off- let me just say I've been a massive Flash Gordon Fan since childhood and looked forward to this incarnation since SciFi first announced it- the record of SciFi lately has been somewhat spotty, but I reasoned that there was little chance the Network would mess up such a seminal part of Science Fiction.

Boy, was I wrong.

With previous efforts like Frankenfish and Mansquito, one's expectations may not be the highest, but this was FLASH GORDON- more so then Battlestar Galactica, they needed to push the boat out on this- it's a pop culture icon. Without Flash, there'd be no Star Wars, need I say more? Hearst Entertainment clearly have not clue one how to make use of this IP and have been flailing about, trying to put it to good use. What we ended up with was a cobbled, tired, PC load of formulic garbage hamstrung by focus groups and accountants. I don't expect it to end it's season.

First off- Ming (sans "The Merciless")- what were they thinking? Ming's look is iconic and probably more important then that of Flash himself. We need a nasty, degenerate Galactic Tyrant. We got a short, coiffured ambulance chaser in a too-large doorman's outfit who looked like his idea of iron rule was a nice neat spreadsheet. Old Ming would say "Prepare the Earthwoman for Our PLEASURE!!". This clown just told his minions to clean her.

Really. A good scrub.

Flash was just another CW beefcake clone- his scenes with Dale was just painful to watch. I've seen better chemistry between a slug and a salt shaker. Dale herself looked like she wandered in from the neighbouring Smallville lot, complete with pointless cop fiance; one wondered if she even knew what show she was in.

Zarkov had no gravitas, no dignity; he just hung about like he expected a confrontation with Chris Hansen- I mean, who stalks someone in a big white Winnebago? The old Zarkov was an optimistic visionary, a man for tomorrow- not a grubby degenerate slob.

There was no galactic swashbuckling, no sense of wonder, humor that was weak and indecisive and a budget that would make old Doctor Who look polished.

This mess needs to be cancelled and disposed of forthwith- its an insult to the viewer, the history of the character and if tolerated will just advance the propogation of more lousy programming.

The Sci-Fi Channel has been good to me lately. That station's been on a good streak of late, what with its slew of recent original series like Battlestar Galactica - Season One, Eureka - Season One, and The Dresden Files - The Complete First Season. So, I thought, what the hey, why not give its newest series, FLASH GORDON, a try? So I did. I caught the pilot re-run on Sunday and, afterwards, came away with a disgruntled reaction of "Meh." This show seems to have potential, and it IS only the pilot episode, so I'm tempted to grade FLASH GORDON a tentative passing mark instead of an F. But, what I saw, I didn't dig too much.

No joke, here start the serious SPOILERS.

Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon, which debuted as a 1934 comic strip, returns to television (debuting on August 10, 2007). In an hour and a half of the series pilot, Flash Gordon (Eric Johnson) is revamped to fit into a more contemporary mold. This modern incarnation erases his former football glories and remakes him as a marathon runner. The opening moments find Steven "Flash" Gordon (Eric Johnson) not really having done much with his life. He still lives at home with his mother and toils as a mechanic. Having just won his third marathon, Flash bumps into his former high school sweetheart, Dale Arden (beautiful Gina Holden), who's now a TV reporter in the style and temperament of Lois Lane and covering the athletic event. Sparks are dubiously relit between them, but, to complicate things, Dale is now engaged to a police detective. Yes, we'll see how long that lasts.

Meanwhile, the odd, little fellow Flash keeps running into turns out to be none other than Hans Zarkov, who used to be the lab assistant of Flash's long-believed-dead scientist father. However, Zarkov mentions that Dr. Gordon is still alive, somehow, somewhere. The ball really gets rolling when several alien sightings and a corpse pique Dale's interest. Flash comes to believe that all the eerie goings-on are somehow related to his father's disappearance. He and Dale team up to investigate matters, and chance upon a rift which appears out of thin air. Do they go into it? It'd be a dang short series if they didn't. Flash and Dale end up in the alien world of Mongo and, naturally, meet Ming the Benevolent Father or Leader (I forget which). They all don't become pals.

There. SPOILERS end.

Let's start with the change from Ming the Merciless to Ming the Benevolent Father. I plain don't like it. Personally, I want my uber villains to have names which strike stark terror in the hearts of the downtrodden. Hannibal Lechter! Darth Vader! Vince McMahon! Gargamel! Ming the Benevolent just doesn't cut it for me and sounds too New Agey and wimpish. Too, it doesn't look like John Ralston has it in him to do proud the role of the would be conqueror of the universe. Ralston, at first glance, seems neither menacing nor megalomaniacal enough. Time will tell. Hopefully, he gets better and viler. Then, the "Benevolent" might grow on me.

The acting underwhelms. Eric Johnson needs to grow into his role of Flash. He's lacking something, I dunno, a certain flair and more conviction. He does have decent chemistry with Holden, but sexual banter is something we've all seen before and it's been done better elsewhere. Eye candy for the dudes is represented threefold in the persons of Holden, Anna Van Hooft (Aura, Ming's daughter), and Karen Cliche (sexy bounty hunter Baylin). Four, if you count Flash's kinda hot mom. I can't get a bead on Jody Racicot's eccentric portrayal of Hans Zarkov. I think I don't like it. Compared to Alex Raymond's original vision of Zarkov, this version comes across as inconsequential, a Zarkov Lite of sorts. Not to mention, having him play the sidekick of Flash's brilliant scientist dad devalues him quite a bit.

For a well-regarded adventure classic known for its interstellar leanings, the pilot doesn't really have any space opera to speak of. No space ships so far, instead we have an interdimensional portal, which should save some on budgeting. Anyway, it smacks of convenience. The special effects range from so-so to borderline hokey. The key issues are the pedestrian storyline and the ho-hum action sequences. These need to be addressed, and soon. The script could also use some sprucing up; can I use the word "hokey" again? And we don't really need to be hearing so much talk about pies. In the meantime, see if you can pick out a scene ripped straight out from TERMINATOR 2.

There are some introduced issues here which should be good fodder for later episodes. There's the unknown secret of the Imex, an artifact coveted by Ming. There's Flash's search for his long vanished dad. There are the romantic tensions between Flash and Dale, Dale and her fiance, Flash and Ming's daughter...It seems that quite a bit of Flash's exploits will take place on Earth (again, the expediency of the interdimensional rift), and I'm cool with that, providing that he also spends some time on exotic, otherworldly locales. That's what I liked best in Raymond's comic strip.

No, this new FLASH GORDON do-over doesn't compete with the various adaptations already made down thru the years, the best of which was the trio of black & white serials which starred Buster Crabbe in the late '30s. It's not even as entertaining as the Filmation animated series or the intentionally campy 1980 film with Sam Jones. But, being a fan of space/alien world adventures and of folks like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Alex Raymond, I'll keep on tuning in, in hopes that this show improves. It's got a shot. After all, it makes good use of Queen's theme song originated in the 1980 film. But, is the pilot worth spending your pennies on in Amazon's Unbox? I guess so, Unbox charges a very do-able cash amount. Or you could just wait for the Sci-Fi Channel re-airing. There's bound to be one. Anyway, two and a half stars from me for this FLASH GORDON pilot.