10 More Awesome Sci-Fi Villains Wasted In Terrible Movies

The 1980 space-opera, Flash Gordon, revolves around a football player who is transported to another world and teams up with a group of winged men to thwart a megalomaniacal dictator. Based on that summary, the film doesn't sound very good.

And it isn't. It's campy, cheesy, and cheap-looking. It has its moments (especially any scene involving Brian Blessed), but Flash Gordon was clearly not the Star Wars-beater that the filmmakers thought it would be.

But for all its flaws, Max Von Sydow shines as Flash's nemesis, Ming the Merciless. Because of his outlandish appearance and costume, you'd assume Von Sydow would portray the character as campy to match the tone of the movie.

Although the Swedish actor never shies away from Ming's manipulative and malevolent nature, he finds the humanity in the iconic character. Instead of churning out stereotypical villain monologues, Ming is stoic and collected. He may look silly but he comes across as a man with a clear goal and purpose rather than a generically evil tyrant.

Even though Flash Gordon failed to win over critics, they couldn't fault Von Sydow's performance.