---
title: "Flash Gordon"
year: 1980
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/flash-gordon"
fi1m_id: "flash-gordon"
imdb_id: "tt0080745"
tmdb_id: 3604
wikidata_id: "Q1427252"
fi1m_score: 70
critics_score: 65
critics_reviews: 10
published: "2026-10-04T04:34:29.221800+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-04T04:34:29.845951+00:00"
region: "AU"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Flash Gordon (1980)

Directed by Mike Hodges · 1h 51m · ACB M · Science Fiction, Adventure, Action, Family

## Identity

Flash Gordon

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/flash-gordon
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** flash-gordon
- **IMDb ID:** tt0080745
- **TMDB ID:** 3604
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1427252
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080745/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/3604, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1427252

**Fi1m score: 70** · Critics 65 from 10 reviews

*In a sentence:* Everyone on Mongo is dressed for a coronation and the hero has turned up in a t-shirt

> Mike Hodges’s comic-strip adventure is knowing, loud and dressed like nothing else, and Max von Sydow plays Ming dead straight. The hero is a blank and the last half hour loses its way, but it remains a good night.

## Synopsis

Hot hail and earthquakes hit Earth, and on the planet Mongo the Emperor Ming (Max von Sydow) is pressing the buttons that cause them. Flash Gordon (Sam J. Jones), quarterback for the New York Jets, shares a small plane with the travel agent Dale Arden (Melody Anderson); a meteor takes out the pilots and they crash into the greenhouse of Hans Zarkov (Chaim Topol), a scientist who has built a rocket, needs a crew and has a pistol to recruit one. The three land on Mongo and are marched into Ming’s court, where the masked Klytus (Peter Wyngarde) and General Kala (Mariangela Melato) run things and the tributary princes Barin (Timothy Dalton) and Vultan (Brian Blessed) kneel. Flash picks a fight he cannot win, and Princess Aura (Ornella Muti) notices him.

## Review

Three years after [*Star Wars*](https://film.one/film/star-wars) (1977) took the Saturday-morning serial and asked us to believe in it, Dino De Laurentiis went back to the comic strip the serials came from and asked us only to enjoy it. Mike Hodges, the director of [*Get Carter*](https://film.one/film/get-carter) (1971), is not the obvious man for the job and turns out to be a good one. He shoots the thing flat and straight, as if the panels of the strip had been photographed in order with the colour turned up. Lorenzo Semple Jr., who wrote the 1960s *Batman* television series, knows that a line announcing fourteen hours to save the Earth must be said with no smile at all. It works more often than not.

Danilo Donati dresses Mongo as if money and shame had run out on the same afternoon, and we mean that kindly. Ming wears red and gold with a collar that rises behind his head like the back of a throne; Klytus is a gold mask and a black robe; the Hawkmen fly on feathered wings strapped over bare chests. Gilbert Taylor, who photographed *Star Wars*, lights all of it bright and even, with no shadows to hide a seam in, so every colour arrives at full strength. The sky over Mongo is a churn of red and orange cloud with no horizon, and the palaces hang in it with the proportions of a trophy. Nothing is pretending to be real, and for an hour that is a pleasure.

Max von Sydow is the reason it holds. He does not wink once. His Ming is a bored tyrant who finds Earth a pleasant afternoon’s distraction, and when he explains that he will destroy it because he is curious to see what it does, he says so with the emphasis of a man ordering lunch. Peter Wyngarde has only his voice to act with behind the mask, and it is enough, silky and amused, a torturer who enjoys the paperwork. Brian Blessed, in wings, shouts every line to the far end of a stadium, and the film needs him; whenever it threatens to become tasteful he arrives and prevents it. Timothy Dalton plays Prince Barin as a straight-faced Errol Flynn in green leather.

The leading man is the hole in the middle. Sam J. Jones is handsome and willing, and he says his lines rather than meaning them. Melody Anderson’s Dale is written to scream and then, oddly, to fight, and she is better at the second. Chaim Topol overdoes Zarkov. And yet the film’s joke is clearest at the moment Jones is most at home in it: an ordinary quarterback with no powers at all taking on the household of a galactic emperor with a game. We laughed, loudly and without irony, when Flash fights Ming’s guards in the throne room with a football and a running play while Dale and Zarkov cheer from the sidelines and the court look on, appalled.

The music arrives from two directions. Brian May, Freddie Mercury, John Deacon and Roger Taylor, which is to say Queen, supply a theme that chants the hero’s name over a drumbeat and a guitar that turns every rocket launch into a stadium entrance. Howard Blake is also credited for the music, and his orchestral passages carry the stretches the band leaves alone, so the score swings between the band and the orchestra every few minutes. That is mostly the fun of it, until the last half hour. We were bored for the first time, and faintly annoyed about it, during the final battle, which Malcolm Cooke cuts as a rush of men in wings against red cloud; we lost the geography and then, for perhaps ten minutes, our interest. A film this gaudy should not be able to bore anyone.

*Barbarella* (1968), another De Laurentiis production, is the closer cousin than *Star Wars*: the same bright nonsense, the same thin story under it, better villains here and a worse hero. See it with people, and not quietly, ideally with someone who has never seen it and will not believe what Blessed is wearing. It runs 111 minutes and carries a PG, and both numbers are about right.

*Fi1m score 70, published 4 October 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics take Flash Gordon as camp and enjoy it on those terms, and the reviews lean positive without much conviction. The praise clusters around two things: the production design, with its sky castles and gaudy colour, and Max von Sydow’s Emperor Ming, which nearly every critic singles out as the straight-faced performance that holds the silliness together. Queen’s score gets its share of affection too, and several reviews treat the film’s absurdity as the point rather than a fault.

The reservations are consistent. The leads are judged weak, the plot thin and the dialogue clumsy, though most critics count those failings as part of the fun. The Guardian finds the final battle loses momentum. The spread is wide, from Empire’s wholehearted enthusiasm at the top to Variety at the bottom, the lone negative notice, which calls the film gaudy and silly while still admiring von Sydow. Three of the ten reviews are only partly available.

## Straight answers

**How long is Flash Gordon, and what is it rated?**

*Flash Gordon* runs 1h 51m and is rated M by the ACB in Australia. It is a science fiction and adventure film.

**Where can I watch Flash Gordon in Australia?**

*Flash Gordon* is streaming on Amazon Prime Video in Australia, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from A$4.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**What should I watch after Flash Gordon?**

After *Flash Gordon*, try [*The Adventures of Robin Hood*](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-robin-hood) (1938, Fi1m 90): Where Dalton’s Barin comes from; Errol Flynn in green, in Technicolor, enjoying himself. Then [*The Fifth Element*](https://film.one/film/the-fifth-element) (1997, Fi1m 73): Luc Besson’s version of the same idea: colour first, costumes second, plot some way behind.

### Reviews we read (10)

- **Empire**, Adam Smith (90/100, inferred): Smith finds the film an exuberantly entertaining piece of interstellar campery. He especially praises its over-the-top characters, colourful production design and Queen score. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/empire-essay-flash-gordon-review/)
- **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (75/100, inferred): O'Sullivan finds the film a marvellously terrible romp that remains a blast forty years later. She singles out its absurd pleasures, including Flash's lack of superpowers and the clever wedding vows. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/flash-gordon-film-review-a4520191.html)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (70/100, inferred): Bradshaw finds the film a deliriously colorful, bizarre piece of intergalactic entertainment, though it loses momentum in the final battle. He singles out Max von Sydow’s straight-faced performance for keeping the film’s absurdity alive. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jul/31/flash-gordon-review-mike-hodges-superhero)
- **Time Out**, CPea (65/100, inferred): The available excerpt presents the film as a return to baroque, old-fashioned science fiction. It singles out its wedding-cake sky castles, but the page text is unavailable to establish the critic’s overall verdict. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/flash-gordon)
- **RogerEbert.com** (64/100, inferred): The page could not be accessed, so the critic’s verdict is unavailable. No praise or complaint can be verified from the page provided. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/flash-gordon-1980)
- **The New York Times** (64/100, inferred): The headline presents the film as a return to simpler days, but the article itself was inaccessible. Its specific verdict and any singled-out praise or complaint cannot be determined. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1980/12/05/archives/screen-flash-gordon-a-return-to-simpler-days-in-mings-palace-saving.html)
- **Radio Times**, David Parkinson (3/5): Parkinson finds the film great fun if viewers set aside the plot and enjoy its campy performances and effects. He especially praises Max von Sydow’s Emperor Ming, while noting that the weak performances of the leads add to the film’s charm. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-yox5ez/flash-gordon/)
- **Variety**, Variety Staff (30/100, inferred): The review finds the film gaudy and silly, though its badness is part of the fun. It singles out Max von Sydow’s adroit performance for praise. [Read](https://variety.com/1979/film/reviews/flash-gordon-1200424749/)
- **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (70/100, inferred): Kermode finds it silly but timelessly entertaining, despite weak lead performances. She especially praises Max von Sydow's commanding Emperor Ming. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/flash-gordon-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)
- **Den of Geek**, Mark Pickavance (65/100, inferred): Pickavance finds the film a flawed but wonderfully kitsch experience, with its absurdity often becoming entertaining. He especially praises the sumptuous production design, Queen’s soundtrack and Max von Sydow’s performance, while criticizing the dialogue and acting. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/looking-back-at-mike-hodges-flash-gordon/)

## Details

- **Director:** Mike Hodges
- **Director:** Mike Hodges
- **Screenplay:** Lorenzo Semple Jr.
- **Cinematography:** Gilbert Taylor
- **Editor:** Malcolm Cooke
- **Music:** Howard Blake, John Deacon, Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury, Brian May
- **Costume design:** Danilo Donati
- **Producer:** Dino De Laurentiis
- **Cast:** Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon; Melody Anderson as Dale Arden; Max von Sydow as The Emperor Ming; Chaim Topol as Dr. Hans Zarkov; Ornella Muti as Princess Aura; Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin; Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan; Peter Wyngarde as Klytus
- **Runtime:** 1h 51m
- **Certificate (ACB):** M
- **Release (Australia):** 16 April 1981
- **Genres:** Science Fiction, Adventure, Action, Family
- **Budget:** $35 million
- **Box office:** $27 million

## Where to watch in Australia

- Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent A$4.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy A$14.99, uhd

*Checked 2026-10-04.*

Also available in: AT, AU, BG, CA, CZ, ES, GB, HR, IE, IN, IT, LT, NZ, PT, RO, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor 1981: Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *Barbarella* (1968): The same producer, the same painted skies, and Jane Fonda keeping a straighter face than anyone here
- *Danger: Diabolik* (1968): Mario Bava turns a comic strip into a film without once apologising for it
- *The Adventures of Robin Hood* (1938), Fi1m 90: Where Dalton’s Barin comes from; Errol Flynn in green, in Technicolor, enjoying himself — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-adventures-of-robin-hood.md)
- *The Fifth Element* (1997), Fi1m 73: Luc Besson’s version of the same idea: colour first, costumes second, plot some way behind — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-fifth-element.md)
- *The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension* (1984): Pulp heroics played with a straight face and a rock band, and even stranger

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/flash-gordon