Flash Gordon (1980)

A football player (Sam J. Jones), a travel agent (Melody Anderson) and a scientist (Topol) take a rocket into outer space where they land on the planet Mongo which is ruled by an evil Emperor (Max Von Sydow). The merciless Emperor has plans to destroy the planet Earth. Can the planet Earth be saved in time? Based on the 1934 comic strip created by Alex Raymond and directed by Mike Hodges (GET CARTER). A box office failure when first released, it has since acquired a cult following. Intentional camp is a slippery slope and this movie slips but I'm not sure it would have worked if played straight either. It doesn't help that you have two bland ciphers (Jones and Anderson) in the leads. It's not a film where the acting matters much but a little charisma wouldn't have hurt. Fortunately, the drab leads are offset by the two marvelous villains. Max von Sydow as Ming The Merciless seems to be having fun being deliciously evil and he's matched by Ornella Muti as his nymphomaniac daughter. But the real star of the film is Danilo Donati whose stunning production design and costumes dominate the movie so when you get bored, there's still plenty to look at. A missed opportunity. With Timothy Dalton, Mariangela Melato, Peter Wyngarde and Brian Blessed.