Delicious cheese! One of my favorite movies from my childhood (so my rating is boosted by the nostalgia factor), but the art direction and costumes are amazing.

**_Go Flash Go!!!_** One of the least appreciated movies made in my lifetime. Done right after the glory that was _The Empire Strikes Back_ and released to a public that had forgotten who Flash Gordon was or what the 1930's serials with Larry "Buster" Crabbe represented. Although the public was drooling desire for more high tech special effects and serious Space Opera, Flash went in the opposite direction and brought Campy back with a style all his own. This movie PERFECTLY recreated everything that those early B&W serials threw at those screaming kids sitting up in the movie theater balcony. Not to mention that the actor recreations were done as if the drawn characters came to life and leapt out of the funny papers to star on the silver screen. Max von Sydow IS Emperor Ming. Brian Blessed IS Prince Vultan. Sam Jones and Melody Anderson came in as the unknowns they needed to be and stole the show. Topol, as Hans Zarkov, and a young Timothy Dalton (Prince Barin) were at the opposite ends of their careers. Dalton was just starting out and Topol had reached his zenith a decade earlier in Fiddler on the Roof. Both wore the campiness extremely well and embraced their characters with a robust fervor. The soundtrack by Queen is one of the best in movie history. That pounding baseline with Freddie Mercury's unbelievable vocals should have won an academy award. The ONLY downfall to this movie was the fact that it did so poorly at the box office and never received the sequel it hinted at in its ending.

What am I going to say about this movie that a million other Sci-Fi geeks haven't already covered? This movie is so whacked that I'll watch it anytime it's on. Its gaudy and bright. All of the acting is bad except for Max Von Sydow's "Ming". The story is run-of-the-mill but the Queen soundtrack is so original and bombastic that it makes "Flash Gordon" worth watching. This is not a good movie but it truly has a "what in the Hell?" appeal.

This movie is the hottest of hot hot garbage... and I love every moment of it. The production design and costumes are spectacular, it's just a shame that the effects are so bad.

Saw the glorious 4k restoration at the cinema last night, the colours are stunning, costumes are great, and the music is fantasic, full on cheese, but loved every second of it! Great movie