45 Years Ago, An Iconic Space Opera Wasted Its Potential With A Fatal Mistake

"Chronologically, most would claim that John Carter, of Edgar Rice Burroughs' novels, starting with A Princess of Mars (1912), is the beginning of the science fiction tradition of a lone man out to save the universe. Second in line is the comic strip hero Buck Rogers, who came from Philip Francis Nowlan's novella Armageddon 2419 A.D. in 1928,and then became a smash hit comic strip in 1929. And finally, in 1934, Flash Gordon emerged, created by Alex Raymond."

"Flash Gordon rapidly became the most popular of these space bros, partly because Raymond's art was just so damn compelling. The ostentatious look of Flash, bolstered by the mega-popular film serials starting in 1936, starring Buster Crabbe, solidified him as a foundational sci-fi hero, before we even used the term "sci-fi." George Lucas even wanted to remake Flash Gordon outright in the early 1970s, but couldn't get the rights, which then resulted in Star Wars."

"Forty-five years ago, on December 5, 1980, a major live-action Flash Gordon film appeared, directed by Mike Hodges, with a script from Lorenzo Semple Jr. (who was probably most famous at that time for having written several scripts for the 1960s Batman TV show). The result was a colorful, tongue-in-cheek tribute to the comic strip roots of Flash. The problem? Both then and now, the movie is too in its own jokes to really feel like a movie."

Flash Gordon traces to a lineage of early space-opera heroes including John Carter and Buck Rogers and emerged in 1934 via Alex Raymond's comic strip. The character's vivid visuals and 1936 film serials established Flash as a defining sci-fi hero and briefly drew George Lucas's interest, indirectly leading toward Star Wars. The 1980 live-action Flash Gordon, directed by Mike Hodges with a Lorenzo Semple Jr. script and a Queen soundtrack, aimed for a colorful, tongue-in-cheek homage. The film's heavy reliance on in-jokes and pastiche left it insufficiently funny and not convincingly sci-fi, securing cult status but limiting broader appeal.

Read at Inverse