Date Posted:20:19:35 07/16/12 Mon Author: Officer Torch Subject: Flash Gordon "????"
The last I checked FG on IMDb, it indicated 2012 for a (possible) movie. It now shows question marks. Not encouraging, but economic conditions and the loss from John Carter may have influenced the principles. I am not an IMDb member, nor follow filmdom trade publications, but I've some comments for what they're worth.
This is based on DVD or cable TV. I saw John Carter on disc. To me, it was so-so at best (subjective opinion) but might have been better if it were longer (trilogy type?) and with more clarification in the story. The book, A Princess of Mars, was understandable..but the film was a bit confusing, rushed it seemed, especially if one did not read the book earlier. Seems the 2.5hr film tried to cover too much in that time.(Premarketing might have also been better.)Identity issue also, was it for kids? adults? who?
Now, Avatar was a long long movie, and it also was CG loaded, but it had a more comprehensible story, for the most part. I thought there was too much fluff, some iffy stuff, but it was far more entertaining than John Carter.
What does this have to do with Flash Gordon? Well, serial wise, we had about 15 hours worth for the trilogy, and some of it was rushed ..to me, especially 1940s FGCTU, but '38 FGTTM seemed too long. Ok,let's keep the serial total to 15 hrs. It was my understanding earlier the "2012" movie would be based on the comics. Whoa! The comics would far exceed the serial material, in my opinion, timewise....there are so many kingdoms, many stories within stories, queens, kings, monsters, good guys, bad guys galore! A lot overall. This, if done in serial format, would need 25 hours easily. (The editing dept. would have a ball.)
The 1980 movie, a fun kind of flick, was I thought fairly decent for it's 2 hours. Though brief, it followed some comic material closer than the serials! Much thought will have to be given to make a good Flash Gordon film (with all trimmings, CG, 3D, IMAX, etc) to avoid failure. There are lessons to be learned in the John Carter work. Perhaps a trilogy plus more like Star Wars or Star Trek as a franchise might have been in order. JC was a good story written by ERB a century ago, and the late, respected, popular Carl Sagan even mentioned Barsoom in his well done 1980 Cosmos TV series, but JC didn't cut it on the silver screen. In our economy, and based on the loss, much care, must be exercised, and good pre-release marketing.
Perhaps FG material from original Alex Raymond comics may be too long for the silver screen. It may fail if not done right. There are many die hard FG fans worldwide to want a good film. FG deserves it..and if it was good enough for NASA to mention, it's certainly good enough for me.
Perhaps a good TV show, or well done longer miniseries with limited commercials could work. The last series was not satisfying to many. Any thoughts re any of the aforementioned?
The last I looked, the new movie is in pre-production with preliminary casting in progess. They're always delays, but it could turn out to work when they get it released. A mini-series could work if it panned out. I don't think the material is too old, but they could make it work. It all depends if it's meant to be. Time will tell.
On a side note, Sam J. Jones, star of the 1980 Flash Gordon film that Officer Torch mentions, appears in the new comedy film, Ted. Apparently Flash Gordon (1980) is the favorite movie of John (Mark Wahlberg), and he gets a chance to meet Sam Jones, who plays himself.
The trailers I have seen for Ted have not impressed me. The humor seems based on a great deal of profanity, not very creative in my opinion. But I have not seen the film.
The Flash Gordon connection and the appearance of Sam Jones are worth mentioning to FG fans, as trivia if nothing else. Here is a recent interview with Jones.
Flash Gordon "????"