Flash Gordon making friends (custom updated with Part III)

Yes, Flash Gordon was indeed an inspo for Star Wars, it was mentioned extensively in one of the 'official' books I owned back in the day about the influences on the Original Trilogy.

Inspiration for Leia's famous buns:

Haha yeah, everything is connected. I think I saw it on some Bonus material docu VHS. Glad it went how it went though, if Lucas made that Flash Gordon movie we might not be here at all. This forum might not exist.
And I won't mention anything about any 'Jodorowsky Dune' influences on the Flash Gordon movie.

Since we started to post old Sci Fi trailers and I think it's a great distraction, so I will just continue. Zardos was kinda weird fun, much more serious from what I thought from the ridiculous outfit. I wondered once if anyone ever made a 1/6 figure of him. The outfit might be easier than getting all that hair on the body.

Speaking of Connery, Outland is a really great movie from what I remember, love the look and atmosphere. Might give it a rewatch since I don't remember much of the plot anymore, likewise with Silent running and Darkstar.


By the way,
The Japanese Star Wars (War in Space?)


And of course this deep French arthouse film, although even it's trailer is so intellectually challenging it's hard to sit through. (The music even reminds me of Flash's Queens song. Or Queen's Flash song)

skywalkersaga wrote:Yes, Flash Gordon was indeed an inspo for Star Wars, it was mentioned extensively in one of the 'official' books I owned back in the day about the influences on the OT.

Inspiration for Leia's famous buns

Oh yes, I had forgotten about that! Leia's buns, so quintessentially Star Wars are... Flash Gordon!

Ovy wrote:Haha yeah, everything is connected. I think I saw it on some Bonus material docu VHS. Glad it went how it went though, if Lucas made that Flash Gordon movie we might not be here at all. This forum might not exist.
And I won't mention anything about any 'Jodorowsky Dune' influences on the Flash Gordon movie.

Since we started to post old Sci Fi trailers and I think it's a great distraction, so I will just continue. Zardos was kinda weird fun, much more serious from what I thought from the ridiculous outfit. I wondered once if anyone ever made a 1/6 figure of him. The outfit might be easier than getting all that hair on the body.

Speaking of Connery, Outland is a really great movie from what I remember, love the look and atmosphere. Might give it a rewatch since I don't remember much of the plot anymore, likewise with Silent running and Darkstar.


By the way,
The Japanese Star Wars (War in Space?)

LOL Yes, indeed, we are lucky Lucas didn't get Flash Gordon. He couldn't possibly have created Star Wars then... and Flash Gordon is still around to be redone (as in the recent TV series).

I saw Outland (this or some newer version) advertised when I was looking for trailer links, might have to check it out.

Don't make me show you what has been called "Turkish Star Wars" but might in fact be "Turkish Flash Gordon"

Ahh, Outland. A si-fi remake of High Noon.

Great work on giving Flash a new body! Love the pics!

Flash Gordon is one of those movies that were so cheesy that they became entertaining again. I remember well that I was really hyped to see it in the cinema when it initially came out, but I was too young to actually get in. Of course, by today's standards, the movie is near unwatchable -- but it is also charming for all its stupidity.

Oh, speaking of 80's Scifi movies, I actually loved Disney's "The Black Hole" as a child...

Ovy wrote:And of course this deep French arthouse film, although even it's trailer is so intellectually challenging it's hard to sit through. (The music even reminds me of Flash's Queens song. Or Queen's Flash song)

Oh, i loved that Louis de funes movie.  

Randam Hajile wrote:Great work on giving Flash a new body! Love the pics!

Flash Gordon is one of those movies that were so cheesy that they became entertaining again. I remember well that I was really hyped to see it in the cinema when it initially came out, but I was too young to actually get in. Of course, by today's standards, the movie is near unwatchable -- but it is also charming for all its stupidity.

Oh, speaking of 80's Scifi movies, I actually loved Disney's "The Black Hole" as a child...

I could not sleep some nights after seeing maximillian ( the robot, not the actor Maximilian Schell )  killing the doctor.

Off topic now, but let´s forget no Piece of Movie Art.  






Intresting is... Star Wars, Buck Rodgers, Krull, Flash.... there´s always a Princess to rescue. The Alien Creature was in the first movie not 100%. But this Space movie from the 80´ is definitly not trash to me.

Randam Hajile wrote:Great work on giving Flash a new body! Love the pics!

Flash Gordon is one of those movies that were so cheesy that they became entertaining again. I remember well that I was really hyped to see it in the cinema when it initially came out, but I was too young to actually get in. Of course, by today's standards, the movie is near unwatchable -- but it is also charming for all its stupidity.

Oh, speaking of 80's Scifi movies, I actually loved Disney's "The Black Hole" as a child...

Thank you very much, Ralf, I'm glad you enjoyed them! And the movie -- I agree with your comments. Interesting... I did not realize (or had forgotten) that The Black Hole was by Disney! At first I thought you meant some other movie with the same name (and was going to offer up Titan, A.E., as another cool sci fi cartoon), but lo and behold, that was Disney!

Ephiane wrote:Off topic now, but let´s forget no Piece of Movie Art.  




Intresting is... Star Wars, Buck Rodgers, Krull, Flash.... there´s always a Princess to rescue. The Alien Creature was in the first movie not 100%. But this Space movie from the 80´ is definitly not trash to me.

I loved Krull... and in a way it is a little sci fi, isn't it?

This series you showed, apparently it is called Space: 1999 in English. How odd that it looks so retro for the 1990s, yet was more advanced than the 1990s in terms of space exploration. Actually, not that surprising. Anyway, for some reason it reminded me of my old Lego Space Classic sets, like this one:

Ha, I think my husband has shown me some scenes from that Space: 1999 series.  He is also a huge fan of the original Battlestar Galactica tv series, which definitely has great nostalgic charm.  

But to stay on topic, I bet your new Flash figure will be so fun to play around with in various humorous sci-fi photo shoots and scenes. :')

Ovy wrote:By the way,
The Japanese Star Wars (War in Space?)

Okay, I gotta say, The War in Space looks really cool!

On the not-so-cool end of the 1980s sci-fi spectrum, there was Kirk Douglas -- yes, really -- and Farrah Fawcett -- yup -- in: Saturn 3!

skywalkersaga wrote:Yes, Flash Gordon was indeed an inspo for Star Wars, it was mentioned extensively in one of the 'official' books I owned back in the day about the influences on the Original Trilogy.

Inspiration for Leia's famous buns:

Let´s not forget C3PO´s Grandma from this 100 Years old sience fiction.

Yes, that's a good one!

Yeah, Saturn 3 was pretty bad (I was embarrassed for Kirk being in that turd). Some of those other movies (like Krull) are movies I still enjoy; (look for young Liam Nelson and Robbie Coltrane in Krull). Metropolis is a masterpiece of the Silent Film Era.

Oh, God, I have actually seen Saturn 3! Strange that the original director worked on Star Wars and ESB! And that Kirk Douglas was obsessed with appearing naked... at his age. LOL Haven't seen Metropolis yet, but I should...

Part II -- Embrace the Goofiness

For Part III, see here.

Now back to topic (although the general cheesy sci fi discussion is totally welcome here)...
Remember Flash's sweet ride through the air of Mongo? Well, something came in yesterday, and I just couldn't resist...













Hope you found it mildly amusing... Does anyone have a favorite? Perhaps someone could FaceApp a goofy smile on their favorite version!

For Part III, see here.

Flash Gordon meets E.T.!

I like the second pic and the last one, because the background colors remind me of the garish "space effects" of the film.

davidd wrote:Flash Gordon meets E.T.!

I like the second pic and the last one, because the background colors remind me of the garish "space effects" of the film.

Thank you very much, that's exactly what I was going for with these, but with regular natural sunset images.

Flash Gordon is one of those movies that was constantly running on HBO when we first got cable. I saw pieces of it, but never watched the whole thing. You would think that as a 14 year-old comic nerd I would have been all over it, but I guess my friends and I were more interested in MTV and trying to get a peek at “Emanuelle in Bangkok” on the scrambled “adult” channel.

Your figure still brings back memories, though. It’s a great representation of the character and captures that uniquely early 80s combinations of camp, cool, and slightly bizarre..

Ahh, to give figures a idiotical look ! That´s my Job.

Awesome take on that iconic character! I remember enjoying that movie a lot when I was a kid, I still like giving it a watch, a bit like the original Clash of the Titans, the poor sfx, the shiny costumes, the bad acting, timothy dalton in thighs... It's a classic lol (now I got that Queen song stuck in my head, thx Gub!)

I'm surprised people actually know that scifi movie with Louis de Funes and Jacques Villeret (playing the alien). I discovered only recently that it's not such an old movie, De Funes was a french comedy star mainly in the 60's and 70's, this movie is actually from 1980-1981 while it looks like it was made in 1965

@GF
The pics of Flash on the bike are great. Very funny! Eph's Faceapp edit makes it hilarious!

Xavion2004 wrote:Flash Gordon is one of those movies that was constantly running on HBO when we first got cable.  I saw pieces of it, but never watched the whole thing.  You would think that as a 14 year-old comic nerd I would have been all over it, but I guess my friends and I were more interested in MTV and trying to get a peek at “Emanuelle in Bangkok” on the scrambled “adult” channel.  

Your figure still brings back memories, though.   It’s a great representation of the character and captures that uniquely early 80s combinations of camp, cool, and slightly bizarre..

Thank you very much! I'm glad this made these sweet memories of youth come back to you, and reflected them well enough.

Ephiane wrote:Ahh, to give figures a idiotical look ! That´s my Job.

Thank you very much, Ephiane, this looks even better than what I expected, as it seems to add an additional layer of self-conscious humour to the goofy "I'm flying" grin.

blackpool wrote:Awesome take on that iconic character! I remember enjoying that movie a lot when I was a kid, I still like giving it a watch, a bit like the original Clash of the Titans, the poor sfx, the shiny costumes, the bad acting, timothy dalton in thighs... It's a classic lol (now I got that Queen song stuck in my head, thx Gub!)

I'm surprised people actually know that scifi movie with Louis de Funes and Jacques Villeret (playing the alien). I discovered only recently that it's not such an old movie, De Funes was a french comedy star mainly in the 60's and 70's, this movie is actually from 1980-1981 while it looks like it was made in 1965

Thank you very much, Alex. Although apart from the occasional new prop it is basically a body swap. Yes, the original Clash of the Titans had a similar sense of fun (arguably so did Beastmaster). And I'm old enough to remember when Louis de Funes and Alain Delon were the two most instantly recognizable French actors to young people internationally.

Randam Hajile wrote:@GF
The pics of Flash on the bike are great. Very funny! Eph's Faceapp edit makes it hilarious!  

Thank you very much, Ralf, I'm glad you liked them. And I'm delighted Ephiane took me up on this suggestion and created another FaceApp masterpiece.

Flash Gordon is one of those characters where I have never seen any of it yet I know they are talking about a very old sci-fi character. I think this is a pretty good figure, specially if he's wearing pants and would you look at that sci-fi bike!

I might have to see this movie at some point, I like those old 80's movies.

Theboo-bomb wrote:Flash Gordon is one of those characters where I have never seen any of it yet I know they are talking about a very old sci-fi character.  I think this is a pretty good figure, specially if he's wearing pants and would you look at that sci-fi bike!  

I might have to see this movie at some point, I like those old 80's movies.

I know the feeling. In this case, he is a very old sci fi character, although this iteration goes back only to 1980. Glad you liked him. And he did get more modern sport shorts for the bike.   Is the movie going to rock your world? Doubtful. Though it might bring some back come cheesy 80s nostalgia. And it is a cult classic. Of course, that could be said for all sorts of things, of varying appeal.

Part III: Upgrade and Making Friends

Well, I was not going to back to the overly tight pants that came with the set, so I first went back to the sport shorts (which are at least a nod towards Flash's sports background -- variously specified).



Then I found and used some Hasbro Star Wars imperial officer pants. They are a bit wide, but they fit easily enough and do not restrict the articulation. They are also a tad short, but that's fine, as they would hide under the tall boots.





The new look seems to be working well enough, as Flash was immediately rushed at by an eager fan.



He was his usual friendly self, but somehow her little gift diverted all his attention...







Making friends fast has always been one of Flash's greatest abilities.

Hmmm. I don’t know if I’m feeling the Hammer Pants; I’m more for the original pants that came with the figure. Nice photo story though — the mini Ted is cute.

Very nice portrayal of an 80s "guilty pleasure". While i dont remember the movie in detail, what comes to mind is b-picture "trash" in a good, entertaining way, plus as mentioned above the cameo in ted really made me like the actor even more so many more movies of the same kind/era that ,for the life of me, cant remember its titles, flash gordon stood out in a good way.

Stryker2011 wrote:Hmmm. I don’t know if I’m feeling the Hammer Pants; I’m more for the original pants that came with the figure. Nice photo story though — the mini Ted is cute.

I agree with you the wider pants are farther removed from the source, but I needed something more practical for this body. Futzing can remove the billowing effect in most cases -- from a particular angle at least, though that is not the same as having the right pants in the first place. Glad you liked Ted.

Tjolnir wrote:Very nice portrayal of an 80s "guilty pleasure". While i dont remember the movie in detail, what comes to mind is b-picture "trash" in a good, entertaining way, plus as mentioned above the cameo in ted really made me like the actor even more so many more movies of the same kind/era that ,for the life of me, cant remember its titles, flash gordon stood out in a good way.

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it. I feel much the same way about these movies.

GubernatorFan wrote:
I agree with you the wider pants are farther removed from the source....

Further from the 1980s source, yes, but the 1930s movie serial Flash Gordon often wore "riding breeches," particularly in early chapters of each serial when he is wearing his "Earth clothes" before he changes in to his "futuristic" uniform. I like the "Hammer pants" because they are reminiscent, to me, of the Buster Crabbe incarnation of the character.