Flash Gordon: New Takes Don't Hurt

A great take!

Science fiction movies are not stagnating. It's not the reboot that is turning movies into tripe.  Reproducing these works is like new takes on Shakespeare, the artistic vision and thematic direction of each production allows the artists involved to get comfortable with epic scope without becoming Tolstoy or an abject failure. I bring this up after seeing so many YouTube critics are weary of basically anything J.J. Abrams and Marvel or Star Wars from Disney and most of post 2000 Star Trek. Me too, Brother and Sister, I am developing a bias against big money movies with catered-to internet fan bases. As for long standing stories, the reboot of a classic tale of speculative fiction whether it be a TV series or film, it is like fresh water from a nearby mountain stream that freshens up things up in a landscape well known the a person. Flash Gordon while fully trademarked and copyrighted by its owner Hearst Communications, is a cycle of speculative fiction that is right up there with John Carter of Mars, War of the Worlds, and even Frankenstein, in my opinion, in terms of potential and impact on imaginative stories to be told. As much as I bemoan the stagnation of fantastic culture losing its creative spark, I can't say I mind reboots for the most part.

My pick for Thun the Lion-Man in Flash Gordon: Disney Defeated available 2027

I still need to clarify this. TV shows shouldn't be rebooted or turned into motion pictures. That is at least without the original casts. If one wants to do an homage, do one; do not revamp a decent piece of culture into hardcore camp. Big name actors in movies "introducing new audiences" to "old television classics" from twenty years ago in a 90-120 minute with format-scripted modern changes should be left to realm of parody.

It's been a long ride with Flash for me. My first introduction to the Flash Gordon cycle was in Germany about '74. It was in English but had been produced in Berlin from the 50s with Steven Holland. I can't remember Ming or Mongo ever being mentioned. There was something about Pluto or Charon and a space-based FBI--kind of boring and hokey. In the States in like 1979, I started watching an animated series Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All on Detroit's Channel 20 (I think). There I started learning the classic Ming Vs. Earth saga. Someone drove me to the mall to catch the 1980s sexual chocolate take on Flash Gordon with Freddy Mercury as Ming (wink) and some dude with dyed hair as Flash's stunt double-- still a good movie, a lot of hot chicks and hawk-men.  When I got my license, I'd be introduced to the serials by late night TV on CABLE at my sister's apartment. It was all so cool. Throughout the years, I'd read works from the 30s and still be like "Wow. That is kewl." Most recently, I've been taking a look at comic books, mostly diminishing any respect I ever had for comic book producers and writers. Today, I catch a comic strip, which I think is net-based, but the writing is great. It is even adding to the vast lexicon of my favorite Science Fiction heroes and villains yet. It has been anything but a straight line, but now that I know the chronology of releases, it's only gotten better. I absolutely adore the CBC's take on Flash Gordon from 2007-- got problems with it? I'll fight you.



Indeed, with this "franchise" it still evokes excitement when I hear about the next take. I am much happier with my varied experiences with Flash Gordon, since the 1970s, than I have been with, say, Star Wars or Star Trek. I suppose it's because the milieu of this spaceship-laden folklore isn't based off of internet searches of vocabulary to determine what is the next popular thing, but has a long catalog of themes and ideas already discovered awaiting interpretation.