ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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The Empire Strikes Back is my least favorite of the original trio, despite it being the most popular with many fans.

Flash Gordon (1980) was an odd movie, produced in the age of Star War’s popularity. But it made no attempt to immolate the quality and sincerity of those movies.

Altered States (1980) was a fascinating movie when I first saw It in 1980, but I have seen it since then. I’d should probably watch it again.
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Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

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_Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - Trailer


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The 1st sequel to the original Star Wars (77) and the 5th chapter in a 6-part movie series (though a 7th chapter is due in 2015).

This takes place about 3 years after Star Wars, which concluded with the rebels blowing up the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star (Luke Skywalker did the honors). Things have not been going very well for the rebellion after this triumph. The Empire's forces have chased them off their hidden base and they were forced to relocate to the icy planet of Hoth.

Luke (Mark Hamill) has become something of a leader, according to the opening scrawl, and he has continued to learn a bit about the use of "The Force" — such as levitating objects, but he has no teacher. That's where Yoda comes in — this was the first appearance of the small, green Jedi Master (though chronologically his earlier appearances were in the 3 prequels).

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What happens is this.

Luke gets bushwhacked by a Yeti-like snow monster. After escaping, he's rescued from the cold by Han Solo (Harrison Ford). Meanwhile, Leia (Carrie Fisher) is confused over her feelings for Luke & Han — seems like a triangle has formed.

Then the Empire finds their base and attacks. The rebels have to relocate once more, but Luke, seeing a ghostly image of Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness in cameo), instead goes to the planet Dagobah with R2D2, a swamp world where Yoda hides in exile.

At the same time, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and C3PO — flitting about in the suddenly unreliable Millennium Falcon — do their best to avoid the Imperial fleet, headed by Darth Vader and a number of officers whom Vader swiftly disposes of when they fail him.

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Han's group, after some adventure in an asteroid belt, end up in a cloud city which is run by an old buddy of his named Lando (Billy Dee Williams).

Unfortunately, Vader's forces have somehow preceded them there and Lando turns them over to save his city. I'm not sure how the Imperial troops were so quick, except that it has to do with one of the bounty hunters hired by Vader, Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch).

As established in the 1st film, Han owes money to a slug-like gangster named Jabba the Hut, so Fett will earn a nice bounty by delivering Han. To facilitate this, Vader has Han frozen in Carbonite. Vader's primary goal, however, is to capture Luke. He had consulted with a hologram of the Emperor and determined how important Luke is.

Luke has been undergoing training with Yoda (FX puppetry & voice by Frank Oz), but senses that his friends are in trouble. Against Yoda's advice, he goes to the rescue.

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As many viewers would suspect, all this was simply a prelude for the main show — Luke's confrontation with Vader. And, this epic sequence does not disappoint, also containing one of the most startling, dramatic revelations in film history.

But when I first watched this film in theaters in 1980, I was disappointed in the lead up. It all seemed so frivolous and inconsequential — all the chasing and running about — and I was surprised by how little the story actually advances in this one. The structure of the script is simply less elegant than the flawless pace of the first one.

It also came across as 'smaller' than the 1st Star Wars (77); it was all confined to the main characters, besides the 1st act on Hoth and then that cloud city on Bespin. The central act just seems like filler for the most part. I also wasn't as impressed by Yoda as were many fans. His profundities were not all that extraordinary, even if the mystical leanings and overall tone were aimed at a slightly older crowd.

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On top of all this, I was not enamored of the characters as much as I was in the first film.

The weakest one is the new one, Lando, as played by Williams. He always seems to be holding back, stiff and even clenching his teeth. I think he was miscast as the supposedly roguish gambler. The main characters from the first film are also all more awkward, less natural. The humor seems forced at times, though Ford gets better by the middle of the film.

The one who shines is Anthony Daniels as C3PO — his comic timing is always on the mark. And, of course, Vader — voiced by James Earl Jones again and costumed by Dave Prowse — is commanding as ever. His scenes are the ones everyone waits for.

In all, this was still an entertaining sci-fi epic, with no real conclusion because it continued in Return of the Jedi (83).

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Empire of Trivia: This was the highest-grossing film of 1980, much like the first Star Wars (77), but it only sold about two-thirds of the tickets of the first one. In the upgraded 1997 version, the scene with the holographic Emperor was changed to include actor Ian McDiarmid, so that it matched his appearance in Return of the Jedi (83).

BoG's Score: 8 out of 10



BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus
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Flash Gordon (1980)

Flash Gordon Official Trailer[/size]


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Based on one of the oldest sci-fi comic strips, begun by artist Alex Raymond way back in 1934, the titular hero was in the classical hero mold, a blonde-haired athlete who wound up in adventures on another world ruled by the emperor Ming the Merciless.

There were famous but very cheap serials made based on this strip starting in 1936, but this one — this concept — is more suited to color pictures, and well-budgeted ones.

This film actually follows the plot of the original strip — Ming (Max von Sydow) is bored and pelts the Earth with a variety of natural disasters (stock footage so early in the film that it does not bode well). We first see Flash (Sam J. Jones) sitting in his car on a small airstrip, as the latest bad weather — hot hail — hits. He doesn't look too worried.

He meets the pretty Dale Ardon (Melody Anderson) as they embark on a trip in a single engine airplane. Due to Ming's continued manipulation of the weather, they soon crash-land at the scientific lab of Dr. Zarkov (Topol).





Zarkov, though a scientific genius, also comes off as a bit crazed. He intends to journey to the source of all the bad weather in his own rocket, but Flash & Dale are alarmed at his spastic attitude and only go along due to a scuffle which accidentally activates the rocketship.

It's after this point that the audience begins to see the visuals which this film is known for. The ship travels into a swirling mass of reddish miasma resembling an ocean rather than deep space, and then more fantastic scenery resembling volcanic activity (and called "The Sea of Fire" in the film).

Finally, they break through to the alien landscape of the planet Mongo, whereupon we see the magnificent city-palace of Ming. The trio are swiftly captured and brought to the court of the emperor.


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If you thought the film was colorful until now, then you'll really be wowed by the colors and set design of Ming's court. Red continues to be the color of choice — for the costumes, the sets, everything.

It's not simply garish, however — it's a triumph of over-the-top splendor and opulence, especially evident on DVD-or-BD (that's the only way to view this film. Many of the pictures in this post are from VHS-level quality sources and do not do the film justice).

Some of the later visuals, such as sky effects, dip into surreal animation. The film also takes on the semblance of a fevered dream — Flash even states this outloud to Dale after they're imprisoned — as if Zarkov's ship crashed on Earth and this is all a delusion of one of the trio (probably Zarkov) in the last moments before death.

It helps to view the film in this context. Otherwise it comes across as too bizarre and silly. Flash, for example, reverts to his prowess at football in Ming's court to deal with Ming's guards. This goes a bit overboard in showing off his particular skills.


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During this early scene in Ming's court, we are introduced to the other major characters of the film and Ming's world. The winged Prince Vultan (Brian Blessed in probably the most entertaining performance), Prince Barin (Timothy Dalton), Klytus, Ming's chief enforcer with the metallic face (Peter Wyngarde), and Ming's daughter, Princess Aura (Ornella Muti).

All of these are competent actors and — unfortunately — they show actor Jones in a bad light . He is, by comparison, stiff and amateurish, whereas they are all relaxed and professional.

Even the notion that this should be viewed as some strange dream is not enough to mitigate Jones and his line delivery. His flat delivery sort of fits in with that notion, yes, but I still can't help but wince every time he speaks. He was apparently dubbed over by some other actor for many of his scenes, and this probably makes matters worse.

There's a lot of corn in the dialog, mostly in the hero's case, but there are also moments of lucidity. Ming explains that his decision to destroy Earth is based on Zarkov's detection that these were not natural disasters. Hence, Earth poses a threat to Ming's empire in this equation.


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In the plot, Flash is quickly scheduled for execution in Mongo's version of the gas chamber, but he is revived under orders from Aura (suggesting that he is brought back from the dead). She is, of course, attracted to him in a schoolgirl sort of way.

Zarkov, meanwhile, is supposed to get his brain reprogrammed, while Dale is to be Ming's sex slave.

It's established that there are various moon kingdoms ruled by princes, but they are all under Ming's sway. Flash ends up in Barin's arboreal moon kingdom and Barin has issues with him mostly over Aura.

Later, they all end up in Vultan's Sky City. Vultan thinks it's too soon for a revolt and he has issues with both Barin and Flash.

One problem with this set up, for me, is that these princes seem only a bit less sadistic than Ming, so it's like the lesser of two evils. However, it's mostly tongue-in-cheek, so I can't take it very seriously. One surprise during all this is that Dale reveals herself to be almost as effective a kick-ass hero as Flash, even though she usually speaks like some love struck damsel in distress, and she only enters this action mode in one scene.

Anyway, it's no surprise that the final act involves everyone teaming up against Ming's forces.



The film is entertaining, no doubt, though it's geared mostly towards the early teen to pre-teen crowd. The few villains do meet somewhat grisly ends, though a couple of these death scenes also take their cue from The Wizard of Oz i.e. the demise of the wicked witch.

For my part, I was usually distracted by the colorful sets and scenery — the arboreal moon with its huge tree trunks and swamps, the spiffy Sky City, the stark surface of the rocky Mongo, and the retro futuristic rocketships.

Another distraction was the music score by Queen — it doesn't really fit, though you'll probably run that song in your head over & over after watching this, and that thump-thump tempo which usually begins an action sequence admittedly adds to the juvenile thrills and tension.

BoG's Score: 7 out of 10


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Flash Trivia: actor Jones played himself in the comedy-fantasy Ted (2012) because the main characters in that film were his greatest fans.