Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All
An animated film that preceded the 1979 TV series.
Filmation produced the 1982 American animated TV movie Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All, scripted by Samuel A. Peeples. It premiered on ITV in the UK on December 27, 1981, and later aired on NBC in the US on August 21, 1982.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Space opera; Superhero
- Based on
- Characters, Alex Raymond
- Writer
- Samuel A. Peeples
- Director
- Gwen Wentzler
- Starring
- Robert Ridgely
- Diane Pershing
- Bob Holt
- Vic Perrin
- Music
- Ray Ellis; Norm Prescott
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
Facts from the source article.
Plot
During World War II, Flash Gordon is on a mission in Warsaw under heavy bombing. He arrives too late; his dying contact can only utter the word "Mongo" before dying. Flash travels to find Doctor Zarkov and meets reporter Dale Arden, who is also seeking Zarkov. Meteorites damage their plane, forcing them to bail out. On the ground they flee lava flows, discover a secret cave and a rocket ship. Zarkov ushers them aboard and they blast off. He explains he is on a mission to the wandering planet Mongo to convince its leaders to stop their attack on Earth, using a gravity weapon if necessary. Flash and Dale agree to help. Hostile ships shoot them down, and they crash-land. After surviving an attack by two clashing dinosaurs, they are captured by animalistic savages and nearly sacrificed. They escape and meet King Thun of the Lion Men, helping him flee Amazonian hunters led by Princess Aura. Flash and company are forced into war against Emperor Ming and his robotic army. They lead an alliance of freedom fighters including King Thun, Prince Barin of Arboria, and King Vultan of the Hawkmen. Thun explains Ming uses a strategy of 'separate and attack', which Flash notes is 'divide and conquer'. Ming has secretly given military technology to Hitler. Ming's Mole Men attack Arboria by destroying tree roots, but Zarkov's warning allows the attack to be repulsed. Flash and allies use a captured drilling machine to assault Ming's palace but are overwhelmed. Prince Barin demands a trial by strength. Ming duels Flash with a flaming sword and ion blaster, but Ming is revealed to be an android imposter; the real Ming escapes.
Production
The film was produced by Filmation as a made-for-television feature, partly in response to the success of Star Wars in 1977. When NBC saw the finished work, it was turned into the 1979 Saturday-morning animated TV series Flash Gordon. Although developed before that series, the film did not premiere on NBC until 1982. It aired earlier in the UK on ITV on December 27, 1981 at 12.30pm. Some scenes from the film were used in promotional spots for the series in the summer of 1979. The only known commercial releases were by VAP Video in Japan (catalog #67019-128), circa 1983, on laser disc and NTSC VHS, and in Bulgaria on VHS twice. The film also aired on Bulgarian cable stations in the late 1990s. The Japanese release is uncut with the original English voice track and Japanese subtitles; it includes a trailer for the De Laurentiis live-action film and other VAP Video titles. The covers use comic-strip panels with stills from the movie. Bulgarian releases and TV airings were dubbed. The film was also released theatrically in some European countries. Notable differences from the later series include the trio's departure from Earth: Zarkov invites Flash and Dale aboard when they flee into his hidden laboratory, threatened by molten lava, and they board without hesitation. The film shows Flash and Zarkov using 1939 terrestrial firearms upon arrival. A discussion between Flash and Thun indicates that Ming's Lizard Woman overseers eat human prisoners. The subplot of Ming giving advanced weapons to Hitler is not touched upon in the animated series.
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