A legendary Star Wars clone that has been a cult film for 43 years despite hair-raising set disasters

A legendary Star Wars clone that has been a cult

Rocket mopeds, falcon men in underpants with war hammers and a professional football player who is supposed to save the earth: these are just a few of the bizarre ideas that make up the story of Flash Gordon. The endlessly entertaining sci-fi film had an extremely chaotic history, but has developed into a beloved cult hit since 1980. Today it’s on TV.

On TV: Sci-Fi cult with 1000 bizarre scenes, whose star left the film out of anger

Flash Gordon is about a young football quarterback Gordon (Sam J. Jones) who unexpectedly has to become the savior of the earth. This is threatened by the galactic Emperor Ming (Max von Sydow), who covers the blue planet with disasters out of pure desire for power. Together with the tour guide Dale (Melody Anderson) and the scientist Zarkov (Topol) faces Gordon Ming and his armada of flying Falconmen.

Check out the trailer for Flash Gordon here:

Flash Gordon – Trailer (German) HD

Flash Gordon is based on an influential comic series, the George Lucas also served as a source of inspiration for Star Wars. But it was only after the success of the first Star Wars film that producer Dino De Laurentiis felt able to adapt the sci-fi franchise for the cinema (via JoBlo).

The shoot was chaotic. Author Lorenzo Semple Jr. remembers “catastrophic” script changes, which transformed Flash Gordon from a serious sci-fi film to a humorous trash spectacle, which, according to Semple Jr., was a “terrible mistake” (via The 007 Dossier). Lead actor Jones argued so much with De Laurentiis that he quickly quit and left the film (via Maxim). Missing dialogue in the original was then replaced by a voice actor.

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Many critics liked the film, particularly because of the bizarre camp humor (via Metacritic). And for fans, legends surrounding the chaos of filming only added fuel to the fire of the cult status that the film has enjoyed for 43 years now.

When is Flash Gordon on TV?

Flash Gordon is on today, Saturday, December 30, 2023, at 11 p.m. on Kabel 1. In addition to its production escapades and its bizarre humor, the film is known, among other things, for the soundtrack by the rock band Queen.

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