The influences behind Flash Gordon

1980

Flash Gordon

Film by Mike Hodges

New Hollywood blockbuster era. United Kingdom / United States. In English.

Mike Hodges' Flash Gordon (1980), produced by Dino De Laurentiis and written by Lorenzo Semple Jr., is a camp, brightly coloured space opera adapted from Alex Raymond's 1934 comic strip. In it, football player Flash Gordon and his companions defy Ming the Merciless, tyrant of the planet Mongo. Its lineage runs through the 1930s Universal serials, Star Wars and 1960s camp cinema back to the earliest literary voyages to other worlds.

Where it came from

Where to watch

Rent Amazon $3.99, Google Play $2.99
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1968

Barbarella

Film by Roger Vadim

1960s European pop cinema. France / Italy. In English.

Dino De Laurentiis's adaptation of Jean-Claude Forest's comic. Jane Fonda plays a 41st-century astronaut on an erotic, episodic adventure across a decadent alien planet.

What it handed down

To Flash Gordon (1980)

Stylistic influence, probable.

De Laurentiis produced both films. Flash Gordon revives Barbarella's model of an adult, erotically tinged, lurid comic-strip space adventure on a decadent alien world. The ornate palace sets, fetishistic costumes and winking performances follow the earlier film's pop manner.

Where it came from

Flash Gordon (serial), film by Frederick Stephani 1936

Where to watch

Stream DirecTV On Demand
Rent Amazon $3.99, Apple TV $3.99, Fandango at Home $3.99
Buy Amazon $12.99, Apple TV $12.99, Fandango at Home $12.99

In the US, as of October 21. Prices and services change.

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1936

Flash Gordon (serial)

Film by Frederick Stephani

Classical Hollywood serials. United States. In English.

Universal's 13-chapter serial starring Buster Crabbe, the first screen adaptation of Raymond's strip. Flash, Dale and Zarkov fly to the rogue planet Mongo to stop its collision with Earth.

What it handed down

To Flash Gordon (1980)

Direct source, well documented.

Both films adapt Alex Raymond's strip, and Hodges' film keeps the serial's core cast of Flash, Dale, Zarkov, Ming and Prince Barin, along with the Hawkmen and the rocket journey to Mongo. The 1980 film exaggerates the serial's cliffhanger rhythm and cardboard heroics into knowing camp.

To Star Wars

Direct source, well documented.

Lucas has said that Star Wars began as an attempt to remake Flash Gordon. When he could not get the rights, he wrote his own space opera. The opening text crawl, the wipe transitions and the cliffhanger pacing come from the Universal Flash Gordon serials Lucas watched as a child.

To Barbarella (1968)

Thematic kinship, probable.

Jean-Claude Forest drew on the Flash Gordon tradition when creating Barbarella, the comic Vadim adapted. The film keeps its winged men, cruel queen, labyrinthine city and episodic captures and escapes, now played for erotic comedy.

Where it came from

Where to watch

Stream Prime Video, The Roku Channel
Free Tubi, Hoopla, Amazon Freevee, Fawesome
Buy Amazon $9.99

In the US, as of October 21. Prices and services change.

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1933

When Worlds Collide

Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie

Depression-era pulp. United States. Written in English.

Two rogue planets approach the solar system, one destined to destroy Earth, and a small band of scientists builds a rocket to escape.

What it handed down

To Flash Gordon (serial) (1936)

Direct source, well documented.

Raymond's strip took its opening from the Balmer and Wylie novel: a rogue planet hurtles toward Earth and a scientist launches a rocket to meet it. The 1936 serial opens the same way, with Mongo on a collision course and Zarkov's rocket carrying Flash and Dale into space.

Where it came from

The Star, H. G. Wells 1897

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1897

The Star

H. G. Wells

Late Victorian. England. Written in English.

A short story in which a wandering body from outer space enters the solar system and passes perilously close to Earth, causing global catastrophe.

What it handed down

To When Worlds Collide (1933)

Thematic kinship, probable.

Wells's story set the template for the cosmic-collision tale: an intruding body from outside the solar system bears down on Earth and astronomers track its approach while catastrophe builds. Balmer and Wylie expanded this premise to novel length, adding an escape by rocket.

Where it came from

The line stops here: grounded in contemporary astronomy rather than a literary model.

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Where it came from

What it handed down

To Flash Gordon (1980)

Where it came from

What it handed down

To Flash Gordon (1980)

To Star Wars

To Barbarella (1968)

Where it came from

What it handed down

To Flash Gordon (serial) (1936)

Where it came from

What it handed down

To When Worlds Collide (1933)

Where it came from

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