Am I right in saying it only flopped in America?

In that era American audiences had little or no taste for that kind of camp. Jaws and Star Was had found the magic formula: take the material seriously but leave room for light comic relief that rises organically from the characters. FG was a throwback to Lorenzo Semple's Batman, an era that had passed. I can't peak for kids everywhere, but where I lived the great Batman TV show was held in very low esteem.

I've a love/hate relationship with Flash Gordon. So much of it is endlessly watchable - driving score, brisk pace, glorious visuals including retro art design...but the script is painful. Von Sydow and Topol are perfect but Sam Jones is wooden and Blessed is beyond the top. It's a mixed bag that keeps drawing me back no matter how much it makes me wince. Good enough to make me wish it were better.

Every kid seems to have that one movie that they can watch over and over again...to their parents dismay. Flash Gordon was that movie for me. They played this endlessly on HBO and I made sure to try to watch it every time it was on (sometimes twice a day) I remember receiving the VCR tape for Christmas and being so excited about it. I still get teased by family over my childhood Flash Gordon obsession.

As an adult, it doesn't hold quite the same luster as it did. The soundtrack is awesome, I still have a little crush on Timothy Dalton, a soft spot for Brian Blessed and yes Von Sydow and Topol are also great. But, some of the acting is horrible, mainly Sam Jones and Melody Anderson, I can't help but blush at some of their deliveries. Still love it though!

As far as I'm concerned, the best thing in that movie is Timothy Dalton. I love a campy movie, but this movie went WAY OVER the top!

@NotoriousRio said:

The first time we ever saw Flash Gordon in color, great over the top performances by Brian Blessed, Timothy Dalton, Topol and Max von Sydow, excellent henchmen: Klytus and Kala, with killer music by Queen.

But even for the time some of the special effects weren’t that great and certainly not comparable to Star Wars, critics didn’t like it either, I’m not sure how it was marketed but it’s a great camp fun movie and was worthy of a sequel!

I don't think it was a complete disaster, theatrically. It was huge in the UK, I know.

Seeing that most movies these days are reboots and/or remakes, Flash Gordon might be coming back.

I gotta admit, as a kid I was WAY into Star Wars and this film just looked so damn cheesy next to it and although I watched it, I was never a huge fan. Nowadays I simply love it because I take it for the camp that it is. Its MEANT to be cheesy and that was something that went over my head as a child.

Flash Gordon (1980) - 3 outta 5 stars

@movie_nazi said:

I gotta admit, as a kid I was WAY into Star Wars and this film just looked so damn cheesy next to it and although I watched it, I was never a huge fan. Nowadays I simply love it because I take it for the camp that it is. Its MEANT to be cheesy and that was something that went over my head as a child.

Flash Gordon (1980) - 3 outta 5 stars

I felt exactly the same. I appreciate it more now than when I was a kid.

@NotoriousRio I think that part of the reason Flash Gordon bombed was because even though the FG comic strip and movie serials were popular in the 1930's and 40's, most Americans in the year the movie was released had no prior knowledge of FG.

The story was flat... I could tell even as a kid that they weren't playing it straight. Queen were at their best with the soundtrack!

@PhelpsFan said:

Seeing that most movies these days are reboots and/or remakes, Flash Gordon might be coming back.

Why not? Considering this one was already a remake, and they remade it after as a tv series. It's a story that always returns sooner or later. I know Mathew Vaughn has been trying to remake it.. Also I know there were plans to make a Mandrake the Magician Movie (to be released in 2019), and a Phantom reboot. Maybe after they make all three they can do a Defenders of the Earth movie.

@Innovator I think Matthew Vaughn would be a great director for a Flash Gordon movie.

When this came out, I thought it was a great movie. It was something you didn't think about...you just watched it and enjoyed. Like with Highlander, the Queen soundtrack was an important part of the experience.

I think it was more popular in Europe because of the Queen soundtrack