FLASH GORDON (1980) ** Despite the wonderfully cheesy sets, indescribably incompetent and unendearing leads, and abhorrent taste, it's not very good. In fact the first half is painfully bad, a terrible waste of time, even for an insurance salesman or accountant. But the climactic battle scene that takes up nearly the entire second half; replete with hawkmen, explosions and a psycho-wedding, all to the accompaniment of heavy metal music (or as close as anything associated with Queen, anyway), the second half's alright. It's too bad that they even tried to set up the battle scene, but they got confused by the inherent potentialities of the cast. Ornella Muti is so naturally slutty (replete with Italian accent) as Princess Aura that they get confused, think or hope that she's the lead, and play several scenes closer in spirit to Flesh Gordon than to the original. For the betterment of all, having pretty much exhausted her trick, she goes into eclipse about the time that Brian Blessed shows up as a camp rendering of a flying hybrid viking/Hawkwind roadie. It's not about plot, this one. It's about action, and the Flash Gordon mythos is a mere backdrop for scenes that would probably had more hope considered independently. It's too bad. Someone else could have made a historic film with these resources, and a few real actors from the local playhouse.
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