Customer Reviews

Flesh Gordon

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Flesh Gordon has achieved the status of a minor cult film. Although it carefully instructs the viewer not to confuse it with the real Flash Gordon, it follows the story of the first Flash Gordon serial fairly closely, at least for the first third of the film. Part of its cult status comes from the campy style and humor, but mostly it is the combination of cheesy soft-core porn with relatively decent special effects. The DVD shows that strange amalgamation clearly. Overall, the picture quality is fairly mediocre, perhaps not unexpected in a movie this age that was made on a very low budget in the first place. There is a lot of grain in many of the scenes, and some of them are washed out as well. But the worst scenes are the live action scenes (though not all the live action scenes are bad). The special effect scenes, especially the stop-motion animation scenes, are pretty good. They are sharp and the colors are bright and deep. It is obvious that much more care was put into making the special effects than into the rest of the movie. The sound is also nothing special and the supplemental material consists only of a trailer. The DVD does provide a better viewing experience than the VHS, but not a lot better. We're not talking Dark City, here. If you already have this movie on VHS, it may not be worth upgrading (though the trailer, slightly better picture and sound, attractive cover on a Alpha Keep case, and the permanence of DVD was enough for me) but if you don't have it and want it, then the DVD is the way to go.

Everything from ROBINHOOD to KING KONG gets a whack from this early 1970s parody of the 1930s FLASH GORDON serial, which has a story line in keeping with the sexual revolution. A mysterious "sex" ray that turns otherwise normal people into sex maniacs is plaguing the earth--and is eventually traced to the planet Porno, ruled by evil Emperor Wang. And so our hero Flesh, his lady love Dale Ardor, and their scientific genius Dr. Jerkoff set out for planet Porno to defeat Wang... only to find themselves victims of his REALLY kinky ways! As film-making goes, the quality of this parody is often quite poor, the material itself is extremely uneven, and the performers merely so-so--but what the filmmakers lack in experience they more than make up for in imagination. Witness the attack of the dreaded Penisaurus! Behold Prince Precious' Reward! Beware the intiation of the underground lesbians! With everything from stop-motion animation monsters to some truly Freudian art design, cult-film fans and most others will probably find lots to enjoy--but FLESH GORDON is an acquired taste. Some will find that joke runs dry long before the film ends; others will consider it juvenile and distasteful.

A WORD OF WARNING. Some reviewers note that the film received an X rating in the early 1970s when X ratings were much more freely given than they are today. That is true; after all, even MIDNIGHT COWBOY was rated X, if you can imagine it. Even so, there is considerable nudity and simulated sex in FLESH GORDON, and during one or two of the crowd scenes it seems obvious that at least one of the couples is well gone into X territory. While I wouldn't describe FLESH GORDON as pornography, it remains fairly raw stuff, and you may want to keep that in mind.

Oh bless this film! First the poor parts that caused a 4 rating. They have nothing to do with the plot. Transferance created some grainy parts, as well as the occasional `skip' BUT, this movie is absolutely the best spoof of the Flash Gordon series. Originally, Back in the `70s, Flesh was supposed to be `X' rated. By todays standards, this is PG-13. There are little or no swear words, but there is frequent nudity. What cracks me up is the virginial Dale Ardor has a huge caesarian scar! Dr. Jerkoff, Planet Porno, Emporer Wang. Perfect spoof names. When the Amazon Queen (black patch over one eye and a leather patch over the opposite boobie) proclaimed herself as Chief Nellie, I damn near died. The quick scene of 50 followers of Emperor Wang, performing a nude Bunny Hop, slayed me. The stop action Penisaurus cave was parody plus. The backgroud space shots are purposely 2nd grader quality (wires cannily included), and enhance the absurdity. I love the bizarre. I adore the blatantcy of the campy lines. This DVD is NOT for your 13 year olds. Those of you who remember the 70's like I do, will want this DVD for your library. If you do NOT remember the Flash Gordon Series or Movie (Queen soundtrack) you will view this with utterly aghast amazement (hard to believe they had this kind of Mitchell Brothers humor 30 years ago), but you still appreciate the Young Frankenstein approach. This movie was made cheaply, cheesy, and superbly. Trust me. I am never wrong.

Buster Crabbe rolled over in his grave when this send-off of Flash Gordon came out. I should know, I saw it at least 10 times at the local theater. The acting is horrible, but it's supposed to be. I don't think anyone was thinking Oscar here. The effects are cheesy with the strings holding the infamous penile ship up there for all the world to see. The women and men are nekkid. And it is one of the funniest movies in cinema because 1) it doesn't take itself seriously; 2) it's played for pure camp; 3) it titilates unceasingly.

If you're looking for low-brow fun, late-night-cable sex, and some hearty belly laughs, Flesh Gordon is the perfect film. Everyone has mentioned how poor a character Flesh is. True. But how can you be anything else when you're facing such characters as Penisauruses, Emperor Wang and his sex ray, or have a side-kick with the name Dr. Flexi Jerkoff?

One thing to do while watching: count the various sub-titles Wang's minions spout when addressing him. One of the best: Your royal protruberance.

I only wish there was a truly uncut version where the sex scenes were shown in their full glory. Some are highly original.

Pure fun. Highly recommended.

Purchased VHS of this years ago and couldn't wait for the DVD because I saw some things I definitely wanted a clearer view of. Unfortunately, the video quality of the DVD is no clearer than the tape which is a shame because there are some real knock outs in this flick. It's an entertaining mix of soft porn and a parody of the Saturday Morning Serials from the 40s. My favorite scene is the attack of the killer robots with their power tools. You guys have got to be kidding about who does the best job of acting in this; if they could act they wouldn't be in it. Pondering who does the best job of acting in this flick is like speculating on who's the greatest poet in Alabama. This is advertized as the Collector's Edition which contains 15 minutes of restored video. Wonder what it was like before it was restored. It's a fun movie but they didn't waste any money on quality film.

In my earlier review I stated that it was a close call between the DVD and the VHS version of this movie. At that time, I hadn't found the director's audio commentary. It is mentioned on the case but is not listed in the disk's menu. It is on the disk, though, and can be turned on using the player's "audio" control. Howard Ziehm's commentary doesn't track the action in the movie or run half the length of the movie, but it is an amusing and informative account of what went into making this cult classic. That, plus the additional footage and the marginally better video and sound, makes the DVD a clear winner over the VHS version, in my opinion.

Despite the fact that it was slapped with an X rating, Flesh Gordon is really a Spoof of the old movie serials of the 30s and 40s... most notably Flash Gordon. In fact if you saw the old Flash Gordon serials you'll really find the film funny... The humor is basically Kentucky Fried Movie and Groove Tube type camp... funny almost "Rocky Horror-esque" lines, and over the top scenarios. - - The film is most interesting because the low budget special effects are pretty good (the FX team seems to take up half the credits and one of them went on to DIRECT the THE HELLS HAVE EYES), yet at the same time it is definitely a NUDIE of that era... (the flip side is that it has enough plot, content and dialogue that you could edit it all out and it would still be funny.)

In the end, I'm really surprized that this campy CULT CLASSIC isn't one of the all time movie nerd favorites... it is genuinely funny and tasteless from the get go to the big finale !

*as a funny side note aside from a really cool and groovy tune featuring some Jazzy fender Rhodes, there's an... organ scene featuring some really nifty and gospelly Hammond Organ... the guy is *really* playing the pedals and playing the chords like you rarely get to hear these days !

When we first saw this fim back in the 1970s, my friend and I decided that the producer's objective had been to offend as many people as possible through a spoof of the great old Flash Gordon serials. We enjoyed it immensely (even without drugs!) and weren't in the least offended.

It is juvenile. It is crass. The film quality and some of the acting left a bit to be desired. But for all that, it's funny and a great send-up of the original. If you are easily offended by sexual stuff, don't watch it. But if you can treat sex as just another topic for lampooning, this is a most amusing film. Even after all these years, I still look back on this film fondly. It has some great jokes, a few clever lines, and a wildly imaginative plot that only occasionally falls into actual crudity. But it has something that strikes the imagination, far more than most of the rubbish produced today. Clearly it is memorable, and certainly seems to justify a 'cult classic' categorization.

I enjoyed this movie. I orginially saw this move 30 years ago and it brought back some good memories from the seventies. I wouldn't really call it a porn movie. It's more of a movie with adult humor. I'd give it an "R" rating compared to some of the stuff that is available today.

...you should definitely watch Flesh Gordon. The film is ostensibly a sex- and innuendo-loaded parody of the FLASH Gordon movies I remember watching on Channel 52 back in the 1970s when I was a kid, and of course I knew they were from another era, the Depression. The makers of "Flesh Gordon" were very successful at tongue-in-cheek humor with this film.

I will state for the record that I find the average dirty movie to be boring as hell... however, this movie did not bore me, but rather, it made me laugh! I guess it just has to do with the way the actors all maintain deadpan seriousness, as they blurt out the most hilariously farcical dirty jokes.

When I was a kid, my mother had an uncle who always used to go see this film whenever some art-house theater in downtown Los Angeles would show it... and the rest of the family would know, because every time after he watched it, he'd always barge in on the rest of us, and rattle off about how he went to see "Flesh Gordon" and oh, it was always so funny. That old guy must have seen the film thirty times... after having laughed myself silly from just watching it once, I can finally understand why!