Flash Gordon
Short description
A football player named Flash Gordon, his companion Dale Arden, and the scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov are drawn into an interstellar conflict when unusual energy waves push the Moon off its orbit and threaten Earth with destruction. The three travel to the planet Mongo, whose ruler, Emperor Ming, is behind the danger. There they find both enemies and allies, including Ming's daughter, Princess Aura, and the prince Barin, and must navigate the rivalries among Mongo's peoples in order to save their home.
Mike Hodges directed the film, which sits between Get Carter and A Prayer for the Dying in his filmography. Lorenzo Semple Jr. wrote the screenplay, and Dino De Laurentiis produced. Sam J. Jones plays Flash, with Melody Anderson as Dale, Max von Sydow as Ming, Topol as Zarkov, Ornella Muti as Aura and Timothy Dalton as Barin, among a credited cast of 73 and a credited crew of 60.
Released in December 1980, the film had a budget of 35 million dollars and took about 27 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.5 out of 10 from some 60,000 votes, on TMDB 6.3 from roughly 1,140 votes, while a critics' rating stands at 6.9 from 53 reviews, so audiences and critics landed in a similar range.
What's left behind the scenes
- Max von Sydow's costume weighed over 30 kilograms, so he could only stand in it for a few minutes at a time.
- According to Sam J. Jones, while filming the fight on an unsecured disc-shaped platform, the actors were constantly getting silver paint on themselves because the platform had been painted shortly before the scene began, and they had to wash the paint off between takes.
- The final scene, in which Sam J. Jones (who played Flash Gordon) jumps toward the camera shouting 'Yeah!', was devised by the lead actor himself. For some time prior to this, the filmmakers had been unable to figure out how to end the movie.
- All members of the main cast were signed for numerous sequels, but the box office returns of the first film of the proposed franchise did not meet expectations, and the sequels were never filmed.
- Producer Dino De Laurentiis originally intended to involve Federico Fellini in the film.
- All the songs for the film were written and performed by the band Queen. The album had the same name and reached number ten on the British charts.
- Sam J. Jones had a falling out with producer Dino De Laurentiis over the size of his fee, so he was not called back for reshoots by the second unit or for the post-production period. A significant portion of his character's lines were dubbed, and for many years, even Jones himself remained unaware of whose voice was actually speaking for Flash Gordon.
- Kurt Russell auditioned for the role of Flash Gordon, and Dennis Hopper for the role of Dr. Zarkov.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
