Flash Gordon: Series Premiere
Star TrekStargate:AtlantisFireflyJohn and I got to talking about the recent reviews of Flash Gordon and the string of “re-imaginings” and otherwise lousy shows on the SciFi Channel while waiting for our coffee at Starbucks.
I lost my temper.
“I just think it should be a job requirement. If you’re going to run the SciFi Channel, you should like sci-fi,” I ranted, just getting heated up. “I feel like that channel is run by the same preppy cheerleaders who made fun of me for talking Trek in high school and they’re just programming what they think geeks would like because they have no idea what actually makes good sci-fi.”
People were looking, but I had to keep going. I was committed now. “Do you they really think I’ll watch anything with aliens and CG effects? Really? They don’t care. It’s just a resume pad for them!”
I don’t think I can go back to that Starbucks anymore.
So, why the outburst? Because I had read so many lousy reviews of Flash Gordon, which I had been looking forward to, and seemed to promise to be yet another misguided step in SciFi Channel programming history.
But, it wasn’t.
I liked the Flash Gordon series premiere. It wasn’t perfect. The acting was hit or miss. It wasn’t action packed and the action sequences that did make it to the screen were paced like me trying to dance. And I still liked it.
Flash Gordon feels like pulp sci-fi that has no basis in reality whatsoever, where an alien android looks like it was built from a kit in mom’s basement and can be taken out with a combination of a frying pan, a blender and a rolling pin. Where Hans Zarkov’s proton rifle thingy looks like it’s held together with duct tape and Aura is thrilled about the prospect of wearing an old prom dress because she’s just that tacky.
I keep reading that the pilot was slow and boring and the worst television show ever, but at least it wasn’t four hours of suckage like the Battlestar Galactica pilot mini-series.
Remember that? At the time, I thought BSG had already eaten up four hours of my life and there was no way I was going to sit through an entire series. It was boring. It was slow. It was awkwardly written and the soundtrack sucked, too. Then it turned out to be one of the best shows on television.
Flash Gordon Conquers Universe Art Canvas Movie Poster
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Picture Action Series #10 - Flash Gordon, Time Pendulum
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1 CENT DVD: Flash Gordon - Volume 1 - NEW
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Flash Gordon: Trip to Mars - New DVD
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This show isn’t trying to be BSG. It isn’t trying to deliver any grand message about the current state of our society or trying to break new ground in science fiction or trying to be one of the best shows on television. But, it works for what it is - fun and light hearted.
And I’m pretty sure I saw some Hawkmen in the background on Mongo. One of them had better holler “DIVE!” soon and there had better be a rocketcycle in Flash’s future. I love a good rocketcycle.
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