Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical movie?

[Captaindemotion]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

About time we got a decent version of Flash Gordon. What I saw of the recent tv show looked cheap and cheesy. The 1980s movie is a total campfest, if admittedly quite watchable when you're in the right frame of mind. Personally, I prefer the animated movie and the 1930s serials to any of the live-action versions made in my lifetime.

As has been said, the vast majority of cinemagoers will no more be aware of the recent tv series than most of the people who saw The Dark Knight would be aware of the animated The Batman series.

There is a great Flash Gordon movie to be made - could be a cross between the old Star Wars movies and the LOTR series (in terms of epic-ness and with the wild landscape of Mongo replacing Middle Earth). At least Stephen Sommers is no longer attached. I hope this is the one and that we don't have to wait another 30 years for the next one.

 

[Christopher]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

I think a movie could do better with a bigger budget and an emphasis on the 1930's serials( like The Rocketeer)

Ideally it should be faithful to the original comics and the designs of Alex Raymond, as well as paying tribute to the classic serials. That's how the 1979 Filmation movie (tragically unavailable on home video, although the weekly series that parts of it were recut into is available) did it, and that was fabulous. Samuel Peeples originally wrote it as a script for a live-action FG movie that Filmation was going to make, but once they got this lush, rich script, they realized they could never do it justice in live action on their budget, so they made it in animation instead. And it looked utterly gorgeous and was the best filmic adaptation of Flash Gordon ever made, bar none. Unfortunately, it was only aired once in 1982, and there are no surviving prints of it deemed good enough in quality for DVD release. So the best FG movie ever made is also the most obscure one.

As Christopher pointed out, the Sci Fi series was nowhere on anyone's radar (outside of genre aficionados, and many of them bailed after the first couple of eopisodes..).

Whereas those of us who stuck around were richly rewarded for our patience.

 

[Tyson]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

Whereas those of us who stuck around were richly rewarded for our patience.

That never happened, sorry.

 

[V]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

As Christopher pointed out, the Sci Fi series was nowhere on anyone's radar (outside of genre aficionados, and many of them bailed after the first couple of eopisodes..).

....of course!


Yeah.....yeah....indeed, I hope the Flash Gordon movie DOES do well (being like the original pulp comics) just to show what complete morons the Scifi Channel people were!

And of course, that was my whole point: "no one watched it because it stank", yeah, of COURSE "that means effectively it has no impact on attempts to make a movie"

thanks I didn't consider that

 

[Tyson]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

If they do a good, pulp adaptation it'll become a cult classic and make no money, because the general audience won't get it and think it's stupid that all the spaceships look "all old and stuff." Apparently only Star Wars has enough pull to get away with that.

If they go out of their way to appeal to that audience, they'll make millions of dollars with a bland, by the numbers sci-fi flick.

 

[Sharr Khan]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

One has nothing to do with another, more so since different people are involved. Flash Gordon has been around for awhile in various incarnations - this won't the last version of him I should think.

Sharr

 

[Guy Gardener]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

Just trying to translate Polo into some sort of fighting style?

Skuttering about on a huge lizard whacking peoples faces clean off the bone with a hammer.

I watch Nip/tuck with pop corn.

Hardly anything keeps ones dermis adhered to the rest of their head that Flash Gordon couldn't too difficultly make a coat out of the cleaved faces of Ming's dog soldiers... Which is hardly no more disgusting than Cruella Devil (or Mr Burns.) wanting to make a coat out of puppies.

"Those of you who are lucky, in winter your flesh will keep me warm. Those who are not, will be tanned and then flayed into toilet paper."

Great shades of Reavers I'm too sober to be posting here this morning.

 

[drasche]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

About time we have Flash Gordon again. Forgive me if I don't consider that series to be Flash Gordon It only got the name, as it's been pointed out earlier.

The Moon is supposed to crash on Earth in 14 hours dammit!

 

[Christopher]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

About time we have Flash Gordon again. Forgive me if I don't consider that series to be Flash Gordon It only got the name, as it's been pointed out earlier.

Pointed out quite wrongly. As the series progressed, the show spent far more time developing Mongo, and the latter half of the season was quite rich with Flash Gordon mythology. Eric Johnson's Flash was very much a true Flash Gordon -- a stalwart, selfless everyman who inspires the divided factions of Mongo with his basic goodness and unites them against Ming's tyranny. Sure, you have to sit through too much Smallville-Lite stuff in the first half of the season to get to it, but it's absolutely there. Plus this series gave us one of the best, richest characterizations of Princess Aura there's ever been, and the troubled, complex relationship between Aura and Ming became deeply compelling. Ming initially seemed like a banal, bureaucratic sort of tyrant, but as the season progressed, he descended into truly chilling malevolence and insanity -- although it's true that the actor was nowhere near as good as he could've been. (This being a Canadian cast, I would've loved to see Tony Amendola as Ming.)

 

[davejames]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

If they do a good, pulp adaptation it'll become a cult classic and make no money, because the general audience won't get it and think it's stupid that all the spaceships look "all old and stuff." Apparently only Star Wars has enough pull to get away with that.

If they go out of their way to appeal to that audience, they'll make millions of dollars with a bland, by the numbers sci-fi flick.

Well yeah, there's always the possibility some director will turn it into another "Sky Captain" or something. But if it's done RIGHT-- as a big, fun, mega-budget popcorn movie with lots of action and FX-- then I think it'll draw enough people in.

Sadly, they'd probably have to modernize it a bit though, and get away from the retro look we all love so much.

 

[Samurai8472]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

Sadly, they'd probably have to modernize it a bit though, and get away from the retro look we all love so much.

I think if star trek can keep the suits and still have knobs and button consoles flash gordon can too. It's part of flash gordon's charm.

 

[davejames]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

Sadly, they'd probably have to modernize it a bit though, and get away from the retro look we all love so much.

I think if star trek can keep the suits and still have knobs and button consoles flash gordon can too. It's part of flash gordon's charm.

Yeah the TOS uniforms are pretty much the same, but it looks they've modernized just about everything else.

With a Flash Gordon movie, I was hoping for gleaming metal rocket ships, classic ray guns, and all the rest of that old comic book stuff. Somehow I DOUBT that's going to happen.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

As long as some one has a sword in one hand and a disintergrator pistol in the other then the movie should be enough to satisfy us stylistically.

 

[drasche]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

About time we have Flash Gordon again. Forgive me if I don't consider that series to be Flash Gordon It only got the name, as it's been pointed out earlier.

Pointed out quite wrongly. As the series progressed, the show spent far more time developing Mongo, and the latter half of the season was quite rich with Flash Gordon mythology. Eric Johnson's Flash was very much a true Flash Gordon -- a stalwart, selfless everyman who inspires the divided factions of Mongo with his basic goodness and unites them against Ming's tyranny. Sure, you have to sit through too much Smallville-Lite stuff in the first half of the season to get to it, but it's absolutely there. Plus this series gave us one of the best, richest characterizations of Princess Aura there's ever been, and the troubled, complex relationship between Aura and Ming became deeply compelling. Ming initially seemed like a banal, bureaucratic sort of tyrant, but as the season progressed, he descended into truly chilling malevolence and insanity -- although it's true that the actor was nowhere near as good as he could've been. (This being a Canadian cast, I would've loved to see Tony Amendola as Ming.)

Well, I can't say I'm right since I only watched the first couple episodes and stopped after that. And I don't like Smallville either. But thanks for those tips anyway

 

[Cap'n Caveman]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

I watched the first few episodes of the SciFi series out of curiosity because I was/am a huge fan of the old serials, and decided that it hopelessly sucked. One night some weeks later, nothing else was on, so I decided, what the heck, let's give this thing one more chance, and ended up watching a bunch of grown men hopping around flapping their capes and making bird noises. And that is when I came to the inescapable conclusion that it was beyond hopelessly sucky. Kind of like I know that if I step out into the path of a bus I know it is going to hurt, but hey, what the heck, let me test that theory by stepping out into the path of a bus. Ouchy.

 

[grabmygoblin]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

I REALLY hope this works out. Flash Gordon is one of those stories that I've always felt would be amazing if done well.

still, I won't get my hopes too high until I've read enough to be assured that it's not another idiot version.

 

[theenglish]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

I hope the movie works.

The recent series suffered from starting off very, very badly and showing its cheap budget. If the producers had been able to skip a half dozen or so of the early episodes I think it would have had a better reception.

 

[Pingfah]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

The new movie better have Queen do their soundtrack.

Is that a joke?! I really hope so because it's an awful, awful idea.

Quite beside the fact that Queen are one quarter dead and one quarter retired, and the band that remains are not the same band they used to be, why would people filming a story for a 21st century audience want to use the same band that did the soundtrack for a totally campy 80s version of the same story?

 

[Guy Gardener]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

The song is and always be amazing.

In fact. I must listen to it now.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Re: Flash Gordon TV series flopped...so they're making a theatrical mo

The new movie better have Queen do their soundtrack.

Is that a joke?! I really hope so because it's an awful, awful idea.

Quite beside the fact that Queen are one quarter dead and one quarter retired, and the band that remains are not the same band they used to be, why would people filming a story for a 21st century audience want to use the same band that did the soundtrack for a totally campy 80s version of the same story?

Do you want to tell this to the Highlander franchise?

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN "FLASH GORDON APPROACHING"???!!"

Did you know that he's just a man, just a mans courage nothing but a man who can never fail? True story.

14 hours. Count them.