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Post by Finarvyn on Aug 7, 2011 19:19:25 GMT -6
Not the [queen music]"Flash ... aaaaah"[/queen music] but the 2007 series that aired on SciFi Channel for one season.
At the time I was really ticked off about the fact that they killed the Dresden Files TV series and replaced it with Flash Gordon. Flash really tanked in the ratings and everyone slammed it as garbage.
Well, I bought the DVD set and finally got around to watching it. Well, I'm about halfway through so far and I think it's a lot of fun. Dimensional rifts, conspiracy theory, a lot of action. Sure it's a bit cheezy, but it's Flash Gordon.
Has anyone else seen the series? Does everyone hate it?
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Post by Falconer on Aug 7, 2011 20:20:34 GMT -6
I haven’t seen it. When I wanted to get into Flash Gordon, I watched the 1980 movie. I was turned off from the 2007 series by this: “We have Hawkmen, but they're guys that follow the way of the hawk and are all about birds, and they do kind of fly, but they're not guys with wings sprouting out of their backs...”
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Post by thorswulf on Aug 7, 2011 22:13:12 GMT -6
I didn't hate it per se, but it didn't do much for me either. It had a lot of potential, but it just wasn't Alexander Raymond's Mongo, or Ming.
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Post by coffee on Aug 8, 2011 12:24:14 GMT -6
I saw an episode or two when it was on. Didn't think much of it.
I have the first book of the comic strip and DVDs of the serials from the 30's. I'm also not a big fan of people "reimagining" things that weren't bad the first time around.
And I have the 1980 version (with music by Queen), and I still like it, too. It was much more of an homage than a reimagining.
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Post by DungeonDevil on Aug 8, 2011 13:09:15 GMT -6
I've got the 3 serials and Book One of the Alex Raymond strip (I had once read all of them back in college). Checker Publishing is now reprinting the strip, IIRC. I excitedly looked forward to the SciFi channel FG, but after 10-15 minutes of viewing the pilot ep, my hopes sank like an anvil to the bottom of the sea.
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Post by talysman on Aug 8, 2011 23:44:52 GMT -6
The old serials were the first version I ever saw. The second version was a couple episodes of the Saturday morning cartoon. The third version was... uh... Flesh Gordon.
Haven't seen any other versions that I recall.
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Post by Finarvyn on Aug 9, 2011 19:22:31 GMT -6
Several more episodes into the TV series and I still am enjoying it. I don't know why it got such bad reviews because it seems very "sword and planet" style.
What are the best Flash Gordon books to track down? I assume the original comic strip, but can someone link to the exact book I should buy? (I'd hate to buy the "wrong one" and be disappointed.)
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Post by Finarvyn on Aug 9, 2011 19:24:24 GMT -6
The third version was... uh... Flesh Gordon. I saw this once, decades ago. The only thing I recall about it is "bad."
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Post by talysman on Aug 9, 2011 20:11:05 GMT -6
The third version was... uh... Flesh Gordon. I saw this once, decades ago. The only thing I recall about it is "bad." In general, it is. Very. But some of the jokes were mildly amusing, and the dialogue (and delivery) for the Great God Porno was hilarious. "This is my tower of murder. It's where I like to hang out." I would probably watch it again just for that section. The R-rated version should be no worse than more recent crude humor offerings, like those Date Movie/Scary Movie films.
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Post by coffee on Aug 10, 2011 12:30:42 GMT -6
From my understanding, you want to watch Flesh Gordon right after watching the first serial. It's not just porn, it's an homage.
(I'm still not saying it's any good, mind you.)
You also, apparently, want to completely avoid Flesh Gordon II. I've never seen it, but based on what I've read about it I really really don't want to.
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Post by DungeonDevil on Aug 10, 2011 14:00:45 GMT -6
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Post by crusssdaddy on Aug 10, 2011 14:28:57 GMT -6
I couldn't get through the first episode of the SyFy Flash. Too much talking, setting up a story, etc. It's Flash Gordon, it should just be like a bunch of music videos strung together, with swords and lasers and green chicks. But getting good music is tough, and paying for it is a backbreaker for a cable series.
Love to see a reboot of the Queen movie...
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Post by Finarvyn on Aug 10, 2011 15:06:59 GMT -6
I couldn't get through the first episode of the SyFy Flash. Too much talking, setting up a story, etc. It's Flash Gordon, it should just be like a bunch of music videos strung together, with swords and lasers and green chicks. But getting good music is tough, and paying for it is a backbreaker for a cable series. Sorry to hear that. I've seen the pilot episode a couple of times and finally got around to watching the acutal series. I'm down to the final two-part episode (hope it's not a cliffhanger) and by now there are plot threads all over the place all coming together. I keep thinking "Man, I want to run a campaign like this!"
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Post by Finarvyn on Aug 11, 2011 5:12:57 GMT -6
Finished the series and I may watch it all over again since my son happened to walk in during the end and seemed interested. They leave a second season open (never happened) but mostly concluded the storyline to my satisfaction. All-in-all I think that it was 16.5 hours well spent. (22 episodes at 45 minutes each.)
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Post by crusssdaddy on Aug 11, 2011 7:33:23 GMT -6
Any parts you're thinking specifically of yoinking for a campaign?
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Post by Finarvyn on Aug 11, 2011 12:22:02 GMT -6
Well, the whole sweeping plot arc is a good one. I know that Edgar Rice Burroughs did this over and over, but Flash gets tossed into an unfamilar environment (on Barsoom it was the "something colored men", for Flash it's bird men or lion men or whatever) and has to perform a quest for them. But then he gets sidetracked and has to do something extra in order to return to the quest. Then he finished up the quest and that particular culture loves him. Very "sword and planet" and cliche but a lot of fun.
Then, once enough factions are on Flash's side there is the whole "overthrow Ming" thing. The campaign shifts focus from individual questing to more of a battle thing. Along the way there would be some confusion as to who is on which side, but at the end a huge pitched battle for the future of Mongo.
To be more specific about the TV version, they used rifts from one dimension to another instead of rocket ships. A neat little spin on travel. (Sort of like Original Star Trek and the transporters that break and have to be fixed. In Flash's case it's a little hand-held gizmo that opens the rifts, and they can lose or break it so more questing occurs in order to fix the problem.)
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Post by Finarvyn on Aug 17, 2011 13:49:08 GMT -6
Thanks to Geoffrey I now own the first three of these, and am plowing through them. A lot of fun. What I find most interesting is the pace of the adventure. Since they were published as single-page sunday comic strips, there isn't a lot of room for extra details. Flash and company quickly move from one crisis to the next, encounter something and defeat it within a few panels, and just when you think things are good there is another plot twist around the corner. A little cheesy, but high-tempo.
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Post by DungeonDevil on Jun 25, 2012 2:20:08 GMT -6
Very sadly, since I put up those links, I found out that Checker Publishing is no more. I don't know what happened, but just as I was gearing up to buy them in one fell swoop the website vanished into nothingness. Titan Books (UK) is allegedly publishing the FG strips in a three volume set starting in Sept. It was slated for release about now, but it was pushed back twice into September. I don't know what the quality will be like, however. I emailed the publisher directly about two months ago to get infos, but to date they haven't responded.
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Post by owlorbs on Jun 25, 2012 9:50:21 GMT -6
Is there any difference in the Checker books from 2004 to the ones coming out this fall?
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Post by DungeonDevil on Jun 26, 2012 5:33:39 GMT -6
Don't know yet. I hope to get some intel about it in the next few weeks. Failing that, I'll wait to see what the reviews for it are like over on amazon.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2012 22:43:33 GMT -6
Pardon my late entry, but I noticed no one mentioned the old Saturday morning Flash Gordon series from the 70's. Sure, it's 70's animation and, sure, it's... Filmation, but I thought they really did a pretty good job all things considered. At least for the first season. The second season was completely destroyed by the same thing that destroyed much of Saturday morning back then- the cutesy sidekick. Anyway, I'm just here to recommend the Flash tv movie that came out after the series, but was produced before it (I think.) And here it is. Get it while it's hot. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAJ1wE0vvno
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Post by DungeonDevil on Dec 30, 2012 11:33:28 GMT -6
I've recently been catching the old FG cartoon from '79 on HULU. For filmation it's okay, I guess -- not anywhere as good at their Star Trek cartoon, mind. I can spot the places where they adhere to either the comic or, esp., the Buster Crabbe serials, but they differ wildly in most cases. And why is Princess Aura always riding around on those ostriches?!
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