Movie Reviews for the Bad Movie Lover: Flash Gordon

The Contestant:
Flash Gordon (1980)

The Review:
My roommate first showed me this movie, and it's certainly something else.  Apparently quite a few of my friends have seen it, but I didn't know it even existed for the longest time.

How is the overall quality?

All that shiny?  That's all individual beads!

Well it was made in the early 80's, so I cut it some slack as far as video quality and special effects.  Although even for the time, I think they are pretty decent.  One thing that stands out to me in this movie are the costumes.  I wish I could own just one of those costumes.  While they are rather outlandish, as to be expected from a science fiction movie, they are incredibly detailed.  Take a look at the picture to the right.  Not a spoiler since he is on the cover, but just look at his details around his collar.  All of the costumes are like this.  I think the entire budget of this movie was spent on the costumes (and sets!).  The music also heavily plays into how awesome this movie is.  If you haven't already seen this movie, or aren't a huge Queen fan, you might not know this, but Queen does all of the music for the movie.  That's right.  Queen.  It's pretty fantastic.

How are the plot and characters?

The plot starts off a bit slow, but it really picks up towards the middle and end, so if you can get past the boring parts, its pretty entertaining.  We (my roommates and I) usually spend the first half making jokes about the movie, or coming up with our own lines for the characters to say, but we have also seen the movie a bunch of times.  The characters themselves are amazing, even if just for the hilarity.  They're over-the-top and stereotypical, but I think this is what makes them so fun to watch.  There are a couple of scenes that I think make the whole movie, but I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't say which ones.  They just stand out as far as how ridiculous they are.  There is action and romance and intrigue, but all are so poorly done that everything comes across as comical.  I definitely watch this movie for a laugh.

Is it so bad its good?
Indeed it is!  The plot and characters are awful, awfully hilarious that is.  The music is fantastic, and the costumes make me want to try to make one of their costumes for myself.  It's best when watched with a bunch of snarky friends so you can make fun of the ridiculous love triangle and pretty much any time Flash is on screen.

So would you watch it again?
Very much so.  My roommate owns it on dvd, so I don't think I could escape seeing it again if I wanted to.  If you haven't seen it, it is definitely worth the watch.