Flash Gordon

[rayman]

Let's see where do I start, it was the worst sci-fi pilot I've seen in a longtime. The acting was not good combined with the usual television clinched writing, actors had no chemistry whatsoever. You have to sit through long drawn out scenes until the action started which was unimpressive. Flash just ran a marathon but he's hardly sweaty and his hair is perfectly in place. Ming isn't very menacing, he looks more like a reject bad guy from a Diehard movie. This is what happens when writer/producers stray away from the source material and try to do their own version of "Sliders". I mean its Flash Gordon for crying out loud, how can you screw this up?

[cooky37]

it took me a day to figure it out
the hair, the one sided business deals......
MING IS TRUMP

Will someone shut that man up
NEVER!

[fringey]

Not the worst sci fi I have seen, but not great. Dale is not near hot enough, but Aura is. As for the rest, meh. I will give it a couple of more eps. I DID love the whole Imex thing.

Patrick
a.k.a. Fringey, The Fringe Element
"A life lived without passion is a life not lived.

[rayman]

[fringey]

Ah, Ray, I could go so much farther in trahsing it. But, I found it mildly entertaining, even with the plot holes. I try not to judge a show strictly on the pilot. I was the one who actually suffered through ALL of the episodes of the new Kolchak just waiting, praying, and hioping it would get better. I was relieved when it was cancelled. FG is better than that by a long shot. I give things a chance.

Patrick
a.k.a. Fringey, The Fringe Element
"A life lived without passion is a life not lived.

[fringey]

Oh yeah, and the Imex thing WAS clever, and related back to something learned towards the beginning of the episode, too.

Patrick
a.k.a. Fringey, The Fringe Element
"A life lived without passion is a life not lived.

[rayman]

[offworldgirl]

When I first heard the announcement that they were going to do a "Flash Gordon" series I was excited. One of the books I read over and over when I was growing up was one my Dad had owned as a kid - "Flash Gordon On the Planet Mongo" published in 1934. On New Years Eve one of the local TV stations would run a marathon of Flash Gordon serials through the night and I'd stay up with my Dad and watch them. When the 1980's movie with the Queen soundtrack came out of course I had to see it. Yes it was campy, but also didn't stray too far from the source material. It's too bad Sci-Fi Channel decided to "re-imagine" this classic, because when they did they got it all wrong in every possible way.

Flash is a team player, whether it's on the Polo Grounds or Football field. His name might evoke notions of a marathon runner, but it's wrong for his idiom. Yes, Flash is supposed to be the All-American Boy who is good to his mother, but he shouldn't still be LIVING with her.

If they hadn't made a point of TELLING us Dale Arden and Flash had been a couple you'd have thought they were estranged siblings.

Dammit, I like my Ming's Merciless. Oh, and add Megalomaniacal too. Less like Donald Trump and more like Adolph Hitler. Hmm, my theory is that maybe "Ming the Merciless" was this Ming's granddad, but he's building a kinder, gentler Mongo with at least some mercy. Emperor Ming is supposed to be badass, he's the original "Grim Shady" Palpatine tried to emulate! Chaotica in the "Captain Proton" episodes of Voyager was able to get the character right in style if not in name. Why was this beyond the grasp of Sci-Fi's writers?

Dr. Zarkov is supposed to be a brilliant, if misunderstood, scientific genius. NOT the neurotic lab assistant of Flash's missing Dad (and don't even get me started on the tired old "Find His Father" plot device).

No Zeppelinesque rocket ships? Jeez, dangle them on obvious strings we can see in the shot, stick sparklers in their tailpipe - it's Flash F---ing Gordon, we'd be okay with it! Nope, they decide to go with dimensional gateways, but don't even make them look as nice as the one's from "Sliders," and Quinn Mallory made his with a remote control he modded in his basement! Just how low budget was this stinker, anyway?

And, oh yes, let's shoot yet another sci-fi show in the forests of Canada, pretend it's the United States, and then use bad special effects to connect it to a strange alien world or dimension. Don't you think "Stargate SG-1" beat that dead horse enough in 10 years on the air? I actually miss the days when sci-fi shows did all their location shoots in front of that same angled rock in the California desert. And, you know, if you HAVE to shoot in Canada, the X-Files did the New Mexico scenes of the "Anasazi" episodes in a quarry up there - couldn't THAT desolate backdrop be Mongo? Please?

Let's see, what else? Pacing of the story: slow to stalled. Writing: formulaic and generally terrible. Acting: wooden, with no two actors ever demonstrating on-screen chemistry. Oh, and lastly if Sci-Fi is going to insist on using the Queen theme song in all the ads, the least they could do is actually use it in the show, though Freddie Mercury would probably roll over in his grave and then rise seeking vengeance and succulent brains if they did. But who doesn't want a Zombie Mercury belting out an undead rendition of "Princes of the Universe?" It would certainly be light years more entertaining than this dreck.

Well, if I'm looking for a silver lining, I guess my Friday nights are still free, since there's clearly nothing to rush home and watch.

[fringey]

Rayman, I will give it a few more eps, but I go to Dragon Con in two weeks. If it hasn't gotten better by then, I am off the hook. LOL

And Offworldgirl, I don't mean to quibble, but Princes of the Universe was from Highlander. I loves me some Queen music!

Patrick
a.k.a. Fringey, The Fringe Element
"A life lived without passion is a life not lived.

[rayman]

Fringey have fun at Dragon Con. The show has gotten a lot of negative feedback so it might not be around for much longer unless it gets a major retooling.

Offworldgirl, I think the major problem is the writing staff for Flash Gordon, look at their show credits.

Teen Titans
Dragon Tales
South Beach
Relic Hunter
Lymelife
Dante's Cove

As for your review it was dead on how I feel about this show. Although you forgot to add that you can deflect a plasma blast with a frying pan.

[offworldgirl]

Fringey: Yes, I'm well aware "Princes of the Universe" is from "Highlander." It's a damn good song too! That comment had more to do with Zombie Freddie Mercury - because if he came stumbling back from the dead which would you rather hear him perform - the theme song from the "Flash Gordon" movie or "Highlander"? "Flash! Ahhhhhh. He'll save every one of us" vs. "Here we are, born to be kings" - no contest!

Rayman: Yikes! With script credits like that it's a wonder the Writers Guild doesn't revoke membership. I didn't mention the deflection of a plasma blast with a frying pan, not because that plasma had to be hotter than the sun but because - when they've already gotten all the major things wrong it's a little like pointing out a paper cut on someone with a gushing head wound.

[fringey]

[fringey]

Ya know, I hate not supporting sci fi on television, so I usually give shows more of a chance than I would something non-sci fi. TV has a tendency to cancel sci fi shows too quickly. But, after viewing this weeks second ep of Flash Gordon, I find I just can't do it with this show. Though I didn't think the pilot was horrible, it was definitely very "eh" for me. Friday night's episode was horrible. With the exception of Ming showing how merciless he really is, I found the rest of the show laughable in part, and it made me groan in others. I definitely can find something better to do on Friday nights.

Patrick
a.k.a. Fringey, The Fringe Element
"A life lived without passion is a life not lived.

[cooky37]

It's taken half their first season but i see some improvements.
I was afraid that they had "starbucked" Baron into Bailen, luckily thats not the case. They brought in Baron and set up a Baron/ Aura story line They have a guest appearance by Sam J Jones. Still no Ships or big action scene like the Atack on War Rocket Ajax but at leat Flash is stunk on Mongo

Will someone shut that man up
NEVER!

[fringey]