Saturday, August 11, 2007

Sci-Fi Channel's Flash Gordon

...is meeting lukewarm-at-best reaction from critics. The writing is uneven, the acting so-so, but I'll give it an episode or two more. I do have some questions:

If Flash Gordon must be a runner, why is he a marathoner and not a sprinter?

Why do all the women, Dale Arden, bounty hunter Baylin, and Princess Aura, look alike?

Is Flash Gordon's given name really Steven?

3 comments:

Graham Powell said...

Bletch. I turned this on yesterday morning thinking it was the uber-cheesy (but still exciting!) movie from the 80s. I quickly turned it off.

Bryan Thao Worra said...

From a craft perspective, is there any way to re-introduce the series to a new generation that would somehow meaningfully justify using this specific character instead of just making up an all new one?

Don't get me wrong, I've watched a lot of previous Flash incarnations, but if we're going to go through all this trouble to bring the series back, what can really be done to take it to a new level?

Most of the time with franchises like this , the 'update' of the storyline consists of little more than stripping out the politically incorrect or overdosing on the special effects, eschewing the deeper themes and storylines that captured the attention of the original audiences.

At this point, I'd be fascinated to see the business and marketing plan that greenlit the idea that a revival of Flash Gordon is just what today's TV audiences were clamoring for.

Even if he barely resembles any of his previous incarnations.

lily said...

Yeah...why DO all of the Flash Gordon women look alike? Even his mother seems to be a clone. ???
Spooky! (Reminds me of Harry Mudd's androids.)
Maybe the producer's trophy wife or girlfriend is the prototype.