Bum bum bum bum, bum bum bum bum Flash! Ah ahhhhh We cant get the song out of our heads now. Or the visuals: the yellows, reds and golds, the cartoon sky, the cheap special effects and the over-the-top script. 1980s Flash Gordon is a campy space epic featuring a legendary hero on a righteous mission. After their plane crash-lands in the greenhouse of Dr. Hans Zarkov, football star Flash Gordon and travel journalist Dale Arden learn some disturbing news. Zarkov discovered that the natural disasters recently plaguing Earth are due to an unknown source pushing the moon closer to the earth. The trio embark on a mission to discover the source and find themselves prisoners of Emperor Ming the Merciless. Ming takes Dale as his bride and Flash must rescue her and save the Earth. Along the way, he encounters the deadly Wood Beast, joins forces with the Hawkmen and the Robin Hood-like warriors of Aboria, all of which steamrolls into a heroic last stand where Flash saves the day as only he can - by playing football and crashing a spaceship into Mings wedding ceremony. Yes, epic. Flash Gordon was a British film produced by Dino De Laurentiis. Its campy tone was intentional, based upon the 1960s television adaptation of Batman which Flash Gordon screenwriter, Lorenzo Semple Jr., helped develop and write. With a rocking soundtrack by Queen and its tongue planted firmly in its cheek, Flash Gordon is a strange cult favourite of grand proportions.
David Wagner is an author/musician who splits his time between Oakland, CA and Istanbul, Turkey.
David has published two novels, both available on his website, and as a fan of movies, comics, and genre television, he is happy to be working with WhatCulture as a regular contributor.
