Sammy LuckyGoldstar
Established Member
I agree.The best thing about this film?
Ming's daughter. What a beauty.
I agree.The best thing about this film?
Ming's daughter. What a beauty.
His interview, well more him just talking and swearing a lot on RHLSTP is one of the funniest things I've ever heard, I'd agree with the other poster that he wasn't drunk that's just how Brian is.Brian Blessed is nothing short of national treasure and it's high time he was knighted. One of the most genuinely nice people who also happens to be absolutely bonkers with it. Some of the anecdotes he's come out with beggar belief at times and even if they are embellished they're damn funny (the "turd on Everest" story he told on HIGNFY is probably the hardest I have ever laughed in my life).
I would give my left nut to spend just a few hours in his presence though I'd probably be so awestruck I'd just babble incoherently.
G
LOL! Yep, actually, for some, trying to save the Planet has become "outdated, & liable to cause offense". Because. Profit.This is Sky movies comment about Flash Gordon...for a second I thought it was meant for another film. I believe the world is going mad.
His interview, well more him just talking and swearing a lot on RHLSTP is one of the funniest things I've ever heard, I'd agree with the other poster that he wasn't drunk that's just how Brian is.
around 17 mins in he's talking about flash Gordon.
So here's an argument I never thought I'd make: Flash Gordon is on the same level of storytelling as Star Wars. No, seriously, hear me out on this. Both tell fairly similar stories (unexpected hero makes use of everyday skills, saves the day from evil empire, rescue captives, come across companions that know what they're actually doing etc etc) and are both equally silly. Which sounds ridiculous even as I'm typing it but is there really a big gulf between Flash using his football skills to batter Ming's guards and Luke thinking his ability to "bullseye Wamp Rats in my T16 back home" will help with lobbing a torpedo into the Death Star? For that matter any claim of Star Wars being a reverential treatment of sci-fi should really stop with that name. Death Star? Really? That's what the empire went with? Not exactly subtle is it?Your review was spot on and yet your conclusion was not. I remember seeing this at the time. After Star Wars and especially after The Empire Strikes Back, I couldn't believe how retrograde this was. Back to Barberalla land with special effects just as bad. It was if those two films had never happened and we were back with the usual Dino De Laurentiis cut price effects and his partner in crime Lorenzo Semple Jr who camps up every genre piece he has been involved in as if he is far too good for it. I am looking at between them and separately the crimes they have wrought on Batman, King Kong, James Bond (Never Say Never Again). I thought it garbage then (in an age where Lucas had given Space Opera dignity) and it is still garbage. I wouldn't give it house room and how anyone could be deluded it to thinking it is any good is beyond me.
His interview, well more him just talking and swearing a lot on RHLSTP is one of the funniest things I've ever heard, I'd agree with the other poster that he wasn't drunk that's just how Brian is.
around 17 mins in he's talking about flash Gordon.
Warning swearing.
This is Sky movies comment about Flash Gordon...for a second I thought it was meant for another film. I believe the world is going mad.
Seeing this at the cinema tomorrow. This was one of the first films I went to see with friends rather than with my parents back in 1980. Feels like it is coming round full circle. Really looking forward to it.
Cheers,
Nigel
Flesh Gordon in 4K with Dolby Atmos. Now that would be..... interesting!Legit read this review as Flesh Gordon. Which is an entirely different film.....
I'd watch it, the vhs I saw it on as a kid was woeful, might have been a copy though...Flesh Gordon in 4K with Dolby Atmos. Now that would be..... interesting!
(Would anybody admit to buying it, though?)
Uhhh...no. As a kid I found it entertaining but even then I knew it was silly. And definitely not Star Wars...So here's an argument I never thought I'd make: Flash Gordon is on the same level of storytelling as Star Wars. No, seriously, hear me out on this. Both tell fairly similar stories (unexpected hero makes use of everyday skills, saves the day from evil empire, rescue captives, come across companions that know what they're actually doing etc etc) and are both equally silly. Which sounds ridiculous even as I'm typing it but is there really a big gulf between Flash using his football skills to batter Ming's guards and Luke thinking his ability to "bullseye Wamp Rats in my T16 back home" will help with lobbing a torpedo into the Death Star? For that matter any claim of Star Wars being a reverential treatment of sci-fi should really stop with that name. Death Star? Really? That's what the empire went with? Not exactly subtle is it?
The main difference is in how they treat the material. Star Wars is serious, Flash Gordon... isn't. But that's a tonal choice and doesn't affect the quality of the film. It can affect your enjoyment of it but that's slightly different. Example: I *hate* the recent Ghostbusters reboot mainly because that sort of broad humour just doesn't work for me at all. As I can't get past that I personally consider it a bad movie but it also means I can't objectively judge the film for others who have a different view of that particular style. Same thing for Flash, if you don't get on with this particular style then, well, it's never going to work for you.
I've also got to defend the special effects work for much the same reason. Sure, they're nowhere *near* the level of realism that Star Wars managed but that wasn't the goal. Just look at the original version of the attack on Hoth before the CGI clean ups and you'll realise how hard it was to do good model work against anything but black backgrounds. Instead they put their focus on delivering something colourful and extravagant which leads to just as unique, and in some cases impressive, shots as Star Wars but in different ways. Hell the *ambition* on display in Flash surpasses anything seen in A New Hope as soon as you get to the War Rocket Ajax sequence. It would take the end of Return of the Jedi to get that many moving pieces on screen at once.
Anyway it perhaps shouldn't be a surprise I'm picking this up day one. Very glad to hear the transfer seems to be a good one and really looking forward to seeing it for myself. The soundtrack remains one of the best ever and it's just such a fun film to dip back into every so often.
I am old enough to have seen it in the Cinema (Yes, a regular Odeon, not the....other type).I'd watch it, the vhs I saw it on as a kid was woeful, might have been a copy though...
It's definitely a fantastic escape-from-reality Movie. Absolutely what many of us need right nowI haven't watched this film since I was a child and I'm just scanning through it now. I didn't remember they had their own Princess Leia. This character is not just a damsel in distress. Wow this film is bright and colourful, highlighting every detail for better and for worse. The sets and costumes are absolutely stunning. Ming certainly didn't skimp on the clothing budget for his soldiers and minions. On the other hand, he could have used some shoulder pads and a girdle lol. But Max Von Sydow plays Ming just right.
It's going to be an interesting watch.
Very true. But I can already see a little problem for me. I can put up with skeleton stories, good enough CGI and SFX and great "spectacle movies" which are poor "films". This film has an OK story for what it is so no issue there and the costumes and sets look amazing. I can put up with the dodgy laser beams and the retro space ships look great too. But it seems I'm not very good at getting past really dated flying SFX unless maybe I'm watching in black and white. To me they look like cardboard cutouts against a colourful backdrop.It's definitely a fantastic escape-from-reality Movie. Absolutely what many of us need right now