Bad! Bad! Bad!!! do i need to say anything else???

Fun? yes. Campy? Yes. But what do you expect from a TV series based off of an old movie serial and a bad 80's movie remake? This show takes Flash Gordan where it should be. For fans of the series, it's a shame that it won't last.

I think I'm going to be sick..... Even Lexx was better.

Every canceled SciFi show I know of is better than this. SG-1, Firefly, Farscape, . . . The list could go on forever! Bringing anything back instead of this would improve the SciFi channel.

I like to give a show a chance, besides I was looking forward to this one. I watched the whole first episode, it was horrible. I normally give a show the first episode for stage setting, then judge on the second, I made an exception for this one, I didn't watch anymore.

I’ve seen a lot of trash talking about this show, and I feel compelled to defend it. Not because it is super-good and I’m completely happy with it, but because it is a pretty good show that is getting trashed for reasons that aren’t its fault. The consensus of vitriolic opinion here seems to be that the show sucks, its not the Flash that people remember, it’s low budget, woodenly acted, and the stories lack spark – so off with its head and on to the next victim. And that’s not fair. Firstly because the franchise hasn’t been touched in any meaningful way for over twenty five years, but mostly because these starry-eyed critics forget some very basic things about the franchise. If this incarnation is bad, for whatever reasons, it isn’t bad because of the special effects, the plot, the characters, or the budget. It’s bad because Flash Gordon was originally bad. And that’s OK. Flash Gordon, as most people have forgotten, was originally a comic strip – so if the characters seem two-dimensional, that’s how they’ve always been. After five episodes, now, I have to say that the actors have begun to find their characters and that the characters are beginning to escape their two-dimensional origins. We’ve only just met them, after all, and we’ve only seen the histories of the immediate Gordon family. Expecting full-blown characterizations this early in the game ignores the essential nature of episodic sci-fi. The argument that the show is low-budget is unfair. Sci Fi channel isn’t swimming in bucks. Attempting to portray an alien world that doesn’t look like Earth is expensive, and I think that with a little suspension of disbelief and willingness to accept the exotic, this issue will clear up. So that leaves the story, and the story, all the way back to the comic strips was bad. Really bad. An alien invader shooting meteors at Earth for no particular reason? An alien despot with no real past, no real soul, and no real motivation for his actions? A trio of oftentimes-vapid heroes who alternate poor judgment and inhuman bravery all under a cloud of 1950s era cultural mores? Please. The original Flash’s showy heroism wasn’t motivated by much more than a desire to be a bad-ass and a duty to defend the Earth from Communist-surrogate bad-guys. Storywise, it was pathetic. If these detractors are upset with the plotline, they have only Flash to blame. It was never meant to be anything more than a minute and a half of daily escapism, and so the stories were built to those specs. The good things they remember from the strip and subsequent serials, the bravery, the action, cool alien cultures, and scantily clad alien women, are all potentially present in the show. It’s early in the first season – give ‘em a chance to bring more of those things to the surface. The whole point of episodic sci-fi is to tell a complicated storyline over many episodes, not offer a series of thinly-connected one-offs. A few specific observations: I like the rift technology as an answer to the Mongo issue, since interstellar travel is extremely expensive to portray on the small screen. It also fleshes out a more realistic motivation for Flash, with the plotline of his father having invented the technology, than the “whoops, we’re on Mongo, let’s kill someone!” style of the original. I like Dr. Zarkov. There, I said it. He looks like plenty of scientists I’ve worked with, and his slightly-unsavory appearance and whiney attitude are a good counter-point to the Aryan splendor that is Flash. Making him Dr. Gordon’s assistant links him with Flash better than the original kidnapping plot point, and he still comes across as mad enough to be helpful to the story. I wasn’t sure about Ming, at first, but I like him, too. This isn’t your dad’s Ming the Merciless, here, this is a despot who has all of the burdens of world domination to contend with, not just the perks. He has had a few chances to show his vileness, but make him too much of a bad guy and he becomes de-characterized. A little more background on Ming and his people and how they rose to power would be helpful. The Dale Arden storyline is also interesting (and cheap, budgetwise). Her fiancé, Joe, seems like a stable counterpoint to the whackiness of interdimensional invasion. Dragging him into the team looks inevitable. Likewise Flash’s Mom is becoming a compelling character, if she gets the chance. The fact is, the new retelling is trying desperately to make plot sense out of a churlish original, a story that never made sense in the first place. The fact is, the original Flash Gordon was never science fiction, it was barely “sci fi”, and it is best considered fantasy. Still, there is plenty of room for improvement here, and here are my suggestions: 1. More action. Sure, ray gun fights cost like bejeezus in post-production, but the fact is that the main draw for Flash Gordon is action. There should be at least 2-3 good fight scenes every episode. 2. More skin. Where’s the scantily clad alien babes? Where’s the beefcake? Need lots more of both. Flash’s main motivation was his thinly-veiled sexual hunger for Dale. I see a little of that, need to see more. More skin. More sexy. Aura can’t do it all on her own. 3. Dialog. I know sci fi channel can’t afford Joss Whedon (or we’d be in the 4th or 5th season of Firefly, right now) but some Whedonesque dialog would be a welcome injection into the mix. Some of the exchanges have been cute. I’d like to see more Buffy-style patter. 4. Flash needs to get pissed off and start kicking butt. Seriously. Turn him from a track star to a warrior. No mercy. 5. Find some freakin’ way to give the hawk-men real wings. Even big phony ones like in the 1980 movie. Metal ones, even. But the cloak gliding thing was just kind of insulting. 6. I’m liking Barin (have enjoyed Steve Bacic since Andromeda – another show that never quite lived up to its potential) but I think we need to see more Robin Hood style stuff from his people. 7. What about the other tribes/cantons? Let’s get some Lion Men and more Lizard Men. Shark Men? Why the hell not? It’s Mongo, after all. 8. Who the hell was Aura’s mom? And what does Aura want out of life? 9. How come no dangerous Earth stuff has traveled to Mongo to wreak havoc in one of those spare rifts? That would be cool. 10. Finally, we haven’t heard anything further about the Imex. That should be a motivating plot-point by now. 11. Get Flash a real gun, for gods sake. Maybe something with bullets that won’t power-down at an inopportune moment? 12. More opportunities for Ming to be evil would be good. While I like a sympathetic Ming, a little craziness would be welcome. Haven’t the Patriots opened fire on an angry crowd, lately? That’s just a few. I’m sure people will have plenty more. But don’t cancel the damn thing. Sure, it’s technically “bad” sci-fi, but most of us LIKE “bad” sci-fi. It’s possible to do it right without capitulating to campiness. Remember: the Golden Age of Science Fiction is 12, and you aren’t going to make those people happy whatever you do. You’ve got a decent thing going here – better than that horrible Wizard show last season. Much. So run with it, let’s see plenty of bad episodes with big boobs, hunky half-naked men, ray guns and rocketships. Let the ass kickings begin!… Expand

FLASH GORDON is great so far, way better than the AQUA-MAN pilot. Which i liked!!

It wasn't Flash Gordon. I'm not a geek but when you say "Flash Gordon" certain images pop into my head. Images of retro rocked ships, evil over the top bad guy, space, (and allot more) and the show has none of that. They took away what makes Flash "Flash". Yes modernise it but keep what makes it Flash. Get rid of the screaming week woman (I hate woman like that no matter what the show/movie is or when it was made) and make them strong non-cowards, update the technology's so they look futuristic too us, update the story so it works better with todays audiences but keep the over the top evil bad guy, give the show a retro look but made with modern special effects and makeup tools, set the vast majority (if not all) of the story on in space and on aliens planets (mostly Ming's planet). But they didn't do any of that. I'd be willing to bet good money that the show wasn't even meant to be a Flash Gordon remake. The title and character name where probably added later to get attention for the show. Well, it hurt it, badly. Beyond the fact that it is not Flash Gordon its pretty good but far from grate. It would make good filler for when they don't have something for a particular time slot. If it weren't Flash, maybe a 4 or 5 but since its supposed to be flash, a big fat zero.… Expand

Flash Gordon was very disappointing--bad acting, bad cast, bad script, and bad effects. It's 90 minutes I will never get back!

Well It's not the worst thing I've ever seen, but it doesn't quite rise to mediocre either. This review is based on the first half hour of the pilot, cuz that's when I turned it off.

this could have been a great show, to bad it seems SciFi did not give a damn about its quality.

While the series premiere was pretty poor, I gave it another chance, and I actually think it's gotten to be a pretty good show. It's certainly not on the level of Battlestar Galactica or Eureka, but the show has heart and a growing sense of humor. I think this show merits a little patience. Hopefully, since SciFi doesn't depend on huge ratings, Flash Gordon will be given the chance it deserves.… Expand

Flash Gordon was a campy but fun show that started soft but got better as it went on. I think the writers were hitting their stride by the end of the first (only) season, but I think they knew they were being axed and tied up most of the loose ends for the season finale.

This show is horrible beyond belief. In fairness, I have given this show a chance, but it just sucked every time and it goes on and on and on. I cannot believe that SCIFI canceled Dresden Files and Stargate SG1, for something really awful. Also, Ming is more of a tyrant than a metro sexual, but this show gives emphasis on Ming being much more of a metro sexual than a tyrant. Come on. SCIFI should rethink to reinstate Stargate SG1 and Dresden Files to somehow bring the luster they lost. It does not take a lot of brain power to notice the major suckiness of this show.… Expand

The show is abysmally bad. I'll sit through most sci-fi shows but this is horrible. Bad acting, rubbish stories and cheap production. Sci Fi needs to extend the next season to at least 20 episodes for Eureka and bring back the Dresden Files if it hopes to keep it's audience.

I don't understand why this show is called flash gordon, if we ignore the newer, more realistic technology, the compleatly different Flash Gordon charicter and everything else the only thing that reminds me of the original show is the bad acting...if we look beyond the fact that this show is in no way flash gordon...well it still under performs when compared to even the worst of shows in the sci fi genra.… Expand

What a piece of junk, gee lets do smallville meets Sliders and pretend its Flash Gordon. I am 36 years old and i guess i might have to wait another generation for somehow who to create a new version of Flash Gordon that works. Great junk sci fi !!!

Simply unwatchable

I feel alseep. I want the 2 hrs of my life back.

Completely uninteresting.

Dale (Gina Holden) as the female lead would not have been my chose. A Flash Gordon with no piloting or fighting skills was kind of a major let down. Sci-Fi canceled The Dresden Files for "THIS". Maybe if you changed writers from the wrestling show this might at least be remembered fondly before being canceled. The new fall tv schedule begins this week and when it does this show is "KAPUT"!

Absolutely horrible. Terrible Acting. Abysmal scripts. Cheesy Dialogue. There are no redeeming qualities to this trite.

I love this show and I do not want it cancelled, please keep it on the air!

I can't believe this crap! I never saw such a cheap story, bad actors and strange CGI-tricks. It's a shame!

The only reason this show could even consider having a score above zero is that Baylin is hot. Other than that, weak plot, dialogue, casting and crap visual effects. Oh - and Terry M, who wrote the 28-page rant above, you should spend more time honing your writing for Flash than for Meta critic. I love it when a show's writers come pollute the forums, defending their shoddy work. Bad, bad, bad - and it doesn't matter who's fault it is. It's just awful TV. This marks the beginning of the end of the Sci Fi Channel.… Expand

I never saw anything this stupid in my whole life. And SciFi canncelled Dresden Files it was 10X better than this.

An insult to a venerable comic strip!

So joyless. MIng the Merciless looks like a dyspeptic accountant and he runs and evil water utility. I've seen community theater manage better costumes out of the local goodwill. And "Flash" isn't an astronaut, or even a sprinter. He's a marathoner. But worst of all, no one on this show is having any fun.

Talk about the worst adaptation of a classic !! How the hell can Flash save the universe when he cant even defend his own kitchen? Acting is crap, special effects are crap, and as for the political correctiveness of the whole thing, when did the real world start dictating our imagination ? I want the whole thing just to go away!

Gawd awful. Flush Gordon!

SciFi Channel cancelled Stargate SG1 and Dresden Files, and only gave Eureka 13 episodes, for this pile of stinky poo? Unbelieveable how some people keep their jobs.

The worst show on tv.

Wow. This show really sucks. I watched the first episode and thought, maybe it is just the first one. But no, they all suck. What has happened to Sci Fi? They got rid of Dresden Files and made this crap instead? Somebody is making some really poor decisions at that network.