FlashGordon Tagged Articles at Cinematical

When I closed my eyes and pictured the greatest villain costumes in sci-fi movies, I was surprised how often hair -- and headpieces -- come into play. That makes sense for those of us who are not costume purists because we're thinking of the character as a whole, and in movies we're very often looking at close-ups of villains. We want to get up close and personal, to study the sneer, to examine the evil eyes, to absorb the dismissive scowl, to observe the raised eyebrows.

Isn't it the whole package that sells a character as a villain? The actor makes all the difference in the world, no matter if he's buried under a ton of makeup or becomes nearly unrecognizable, but the costume plays an important role. In honor of all those who will sally forth this weekend in costumes that are good, bad, and ugly, we salute the designers of the top ten (plus a couple of bonus selections) greatest villain costumes in sci-fi movies, and the actors who wear them.

The Emperor Ming (Flash Gordon)

It takes a truly evil villain to pull off this particular outfit. Arrayed in varying shades of deep red and gold, Ming (the always game Max von Sydow) threatens to steal the show when those eyebrows are raised. Somehow Ming looks both sartorially forward-thinking -- what is that raised cowl doing back there except to frame his bald head -- and ridiculously, gloriously silly.

Read the rest over at SciFi Squad

Duncan Jones cut his teeth on the sets of Labyrinth and The Hunger, but for his directorial debut, he opted for something that didn't star his dad (I'll let you guys and girls mull over the common thread).

Rather, Moon is a showcase for star Sam Rockwell, who gives what is surely one of the year's more uniquely layered performances. As the film opens today in NY and LA before rolling out in the weeks to come, Jones spoke with Cinematical about shooting sci-fi on a small budget, releasing an indie in a season of blockbusters, and cracking his skull out of pure giddiness for a movie.

Which one, you ask? We'll tell you after the jump...

Usually when a harebrained idea like remaking Flash Gordon starts to make the rounds, you can usually count on it being at least a few years down the line -- but I guess today I'm just not that lucky. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless have now signed to pen the update of the classic sci-fi tale with Sahara director Breck Eisner at the helm. Eisner signed to direct last May, and with the addition of the screenwriting duo, it could mean the project just entered the fast track. Sazama and Sharpless have had a busy 2008, and were already hard at work on scripting duties for Alex Proya's Dracula Year Zero and Zack Snyder's Cobalt 60 when the Flash deal finalized.

For those of you out there not familiar with the Depression-era hero, Flash Gordon centered on a dashing polo player who is abducted and taken to the faraway planet Mongo. Along with his gal-pal *Gail and scientist Hans Zarkov, Flash lands in the middle of a battle with the dreaded Ming the Merciless (possibly one of the best villain names around). Originally, Universal was holding the rights to the title, but when the project fell through, the rights reverted to King Features Syndicate and eventually found a home at Sony.

This latest incarnation of the adventurer/polo player will mark the third time the classic comic strip has had a home on the big screen (including the original serial). Now that Hollywood is mining the comic book store at a furious pace, the third time could be a charm for Flash.

But it's going to be pretty hard to top Dino DeLaurentiis' psychedelic trip of a film back in 1980 -- don't ya think?

*Correction: Apologies to all the Flash fans out there; Flash's better half was Dale Arden.

Don't worry, I'm not going to go off on a tangent here about how things were better in my day, but I will say that watching the whacked out 80's incarnation of Flash Gordon is one of my favorite childhood memories (I can hear the strains of Queen's theme song as I type this). So you can imagine I wasn't exactly thrilled with the news that the man behind the 'swashbuckling bomb' Sahara had signed to direct an update of the classic sci-fi story. Variety reports that Sony has won the bidding war for the rights to make a live-action film based on Alex Raymond's original comic strip with Breck Eisner at the helm.

In the original story, "Flash was a handsome polo player who is kidnapped and taken to the planet Mongo. He is pitted against an evil ruler named Ming the Merciless." Some of the other incarnations of Flash included making him a football player, and a hover-boarding teen in the 90's (um, OK). In 2007, the Sci-Fi channel also attempted to reboot the series with Eric Johnson in the lead, but the series was canceled shortly after.

Believe me, I know the 1980 film was a total flop, and most of it looked like it was conceived on a mushroom trip. But how you can say no to flying hawk men, Timothy Dalton dressed like Robin Hood while in a fight to the death, and Max Von Sydow in a skull cap?

OK, so it's hardly big news to those of you who visit Cinematical to read about the big-time summer blockbusters and Oscar nominations and such, but it's an announcement that pretty much just made my whole day: Mike Hodges' 1980 sci-fi camp classic Flash Gordon is finally (finally!) getting the full-bore special edition treatment from the fine folks at Universal Home Video. How much do I love this movie? Well, I'd been unable to land a copy of the long out-of-print Image DVD -- so I went out and bought what's called a "region free" player. See, there's a Flash Gordon special edition that was produced for U.K. DVD players ... and I just had to have it. (Let's just say I saw this rollicking space adventure at a very formative age and I've grown to really adore the flick over the intervening years.)

But today one of my favorite DVD sites broke the news: Universal is finally preparing its very own special edition for the region 1 marketplace. The cover art is really slick -- and I'm so psyched about this release that I don't even mind that they chose to call it the "Saviour of the Universe Edition." (I'm not a big fan of the gimmicky DVD names.) My theory is that the studio aims to make this release a "tie-in" with the Sci-Fi Channel's new Flash Gordon series, but I just want the discs in my geeky little fist already. Universal hasn't announced their special features just yet (or if they'll be using any of the goodies from the region 2 release), but the U.S. 2-disc set is scheduled to hit stores on August 7th.

And to those of you who just can't figure out why this news makes me so happy, here's a list of Top Ten Coolest Things About Flash Gordon:

10. The slimy Prince Baron is played by eventual Bond Timothy Dalton.
9. "No, not the bore-worms!!"
8. Brian Blessed plays an awesome winged sidekick.
7. The Queen soundtrack. Of course.
6. The "evil tree stump" scene is really intense and creepy.
5. The production design looks like Barbarella hooked up with Star Wars at a hot disco club.
4. All the evildoers have really creatively gory death scenes.
3. There's a totally ridiculous "football brawl" that always makes me chuckle. ("Go Flash Go!")
2. Max Von Sydow as Ming the Merciless. Freakin' priceless.
1. Two words: Ornella Muti.

Born in late 1971, I was raised on a steady diet of Star Wars, Willy Wonka, King Kong and The Sound of Music -- but once I got just old enough to figure out the correlation between TV Guide and the family tube, I was off and running. And let me tell you this: If you were a teeny little sci-fi geek in the early-to-mid '80s, and you didn't mind digging back a few years for your cinematic treats, you probably sat through some exceedingly weird flicks. I'm not here to trash or praise these movies, but to shine an affectionate little beacon on the fact that ... damn, those were some weird-ass movies!

Flash Gordon (1980) -- OK, here's where I break two rules right out of the gate: 1. Flash Gordon was released in 1980, so technically it's not from the '70s. Sorry. 2. I said I wasn't here to trash or praise the films, but if there's one flick out there that makes me feel like I'm nine years old again, it's Mike Hodges' adorably kitschy Flash Gordon. Boasting a production design that's as dazzling as it is kooky, a wonderfully out-of-place (yet still rockin') Queen score, a handful of really ripe acting performances, and more than a few bizarre occurences, Flash Gordon is grade-A loopy, but it's still a whole lot of fun.

Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) -- Ape-maker Arthur P. Jacobs was absolutely intent on squeezing just a few final drops of blood from his played-out simian series, and the result is a movie in which apes and the human slaves do battle with a bunch of mutants who somehow have lots of nifty weapons. Plus, c'mon, you know you wanna see Claude Akins, Paul Williams and John Huston dressed up in full ape-face regalia.

Silent Running (1972) -- Special effects genius Doug Trumbull makes his directorial debut -- with a screenplay by Stephen Bochco ... and Michael Cimino? OK, sign me up. Let's check the back of the box ... hmm, an outer-space greenhouse manager is told to destroy his beloved forests (which happen to be the very last ones in existence) and return home. But since the main character is played by Bruce Dern, I suppose "he goes a little insane" is a foregone conclusion. Plus the flick has shrubbery, murder and robots -- and despite my snarky attitude, I think it's actually quite a good movie.

Soylent Green (1973) -- We all know the "surprise ending" by now, but Richard Fleischer's 1973 sci-fi / murder mystery still holds up surprisingly well, despite its rather outlandish "2022 New York" setting. Look beyond the somewhat meandering gumshoe machinations and you'll find one of the grimmest and darkest depictions of the future ever created for a mainstream movie. Plus, Chuck Heston is always good for a few great pieces of over-ripe scenery-chewing, and he does not disappoint here.

A Boy and His Dog (1975) -- A post-apocalyptic Don Johnson wanders through the wastelands while telekinetically chatting with his furry canine companion. Things seems to be looking up for Don when he stumbles his way into a community full of women who need impregnating, but (believe it or not) things get even weirder after that. Based on a novella by Harlan Ellison, this flick's enjoyed a pretty solid after-life as a forgotten cult classic ... but I just don't get it.

Logan's Run (1976) -- Also known as "the very first sci-fi movie I ever saw, and the one that blew my brain out the back out my skull, but not literally." Here's the scoop: It's the 23rd Century, and once you hit the age of 30 you go to "Carousel," which is where your body is zapped dead by lasers, but your soul is transported to the body of a lovely new baby -- or so everybody thinks. (Why is everybody in the future so damn gullible?) Those who doubt that "Carousel" does what it promises decide to "run," and that's where the nasty "Sandmen" come in: Their job is to track and kill the "runners" before they make it out of the domed city, but what happens when a "Sandman" is forced to become a "runner"? Well, let's just say it involves Farrah Fawcett, a frozen robot, and some of the wackiest set design ever caught on film. But for all its accidental goofiness, I think Logan's Run still holds up as a damn fine sci-fi adventure. That robot sure was silly though...

Zardoz (1974) -- Sean Connery, clad only in an ill-fitting red diaper, leaps from a giant floating evil god's head and must deal with stuff like Eternals, Brutals, Apathetics, Renegades, Vortexes and forced erections. (Don't ask.) Despite being one of the very strangest sci-fi flicks ever produced, Zardoz is actually pretty darn watchable, what with all its outrageous costumes, indecipherable dialogue, and semi-lofty concepts. If anything, Zardoz proves that it's entirely possible for a major motion picture to be made while the entire production crew is zonked out on LSD.