Flesh Gordon

Flesh Gordon (aka Flash Gordon) returns in a sex comedy.

I have never reviewed a porno flick so I feel a bit out of my element here. The title of the movie suggests that we are in for male nudity but the camera is more interested in zooming in on the naked female body, in other words - this film is made for guys!

The special effects range from terrible to outstanding.

The jokes are mostly funny.

Science fiction and comedy are two genres that don't always work when put together, however sometimes we get gems like Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home (1986). But generally speaking, the two themes just don't mix (see TV's Lost In Space season 2).

This puts Flesh Gordon in a unique position as it has some very funny moments and its King Kong-spoof would have to rank as one of the most amusing things seen on the screen since Adam West Batman (1966).

Granted, the bigger budget 1980 movie had better sets but if you want an all round fun flick - Flesh Gordon is the show for you!

The filmmakers of Flesh Gordon spent so much effort lovingly recreating the look and feel of the original Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s that they actually created a soft porn movie with real (if very modest) cinematic worth. In fact, it's in some ways superior to the original Gordon flicks - particularly its special effects - with an extensive and surprisingly good use of stop-action animation.

Fortunately, sub-par acting is common in both porn and the old serials and this adds to the authentic feel of this parody. But there is also some genuine acting going on too. The best actors in the movie deliberately over-play their roles to wonderful effect. Emperor Wang and Dr. Flexi Jerkoff brilliantly recreate the essence of Emperor Ming and Dr. Zarkov. Craig T. Nelson gives the voice of the monster a kind of laid back (yet lewd) sophistication. It's a voice that reminds me of Bing Crosby, which makes the scene just plain weird.

What makes this film work is that instead following the usual porn formula of using the plot as a mere device to show sex, Flesh Gordon uses sex as the fundamental source its humor, enthusiastically blending the rather banal soft-core porn of the seventies with the hackneyed storylines of the thirties. The sex takes the hackney out of the story, and the story takes the banality out of the sex scenes.

Is this movie a masterpiece? Clearly... OBVIOUSLY... not. But it is distinctive and original. Flesh Gordon is an unusual case where the quite good and the very bad somehow manage to complement each other and average out to make a very entertaining movie.

This unique film breaks the barriers on porn by bringing us semi-high-tech special effects (okay...they were bad), dialogue (that was bad also), interesting costumes, and (oh my gosh!) a plot!...(okay it was bad also). The main plot is a mysterious sexbeam is striking the earth, from the distant Planet Porno. Flesh, Dale(his helpless girl sidekick), and Dr. Flexi Jerkoff join forces to over-throw the evil plot made by the Evil Emperor Wang. They encounter "peni-sourauses", a ferocious lesbian tribe, and an all-out orgy in the lairs of Wang. I would also like to commend this movie on its "liberalism", due to the fact that the original owners of Planet Porno are all gay, and the writers aviod the temptation of gay bashing...there was even a very brief scene with Flesh and one of the "merry men of the forest." So, as an overview, I would say that this is a MUST SEE for anyone who loves campy and cult classics, or anyone who still believes that porn can be more than just sex-If you do not fall one of these two catogories...stay away from it! Through all of this, the movie stands as a real gem in the vast universe of cult and pornographic movies.

The beauty of Flesh Gordon is that it has no pretensions to seriousness. Much soft porn of the 70's was so mind-bogglingly asinine that lots of us nearly gave up sex. Flesh is so totally different, being funny, that it remains in my memory from the time I saw it in the Mid-70's. I still remember Dr Jerkoff unveiling his spaceship shaped like a giant erect phallus with the words "Fortunately I was able to complete the design before the Sex-ray took effect".

The word 'Penisaurus' has passed into the vocabulary of Britain now, as an insult, obviously. The rapist robots with their little spring willys still linger in my memory.

If I had seen it alone I would probably have walked out, but as a teenage miscreant with a friend it was hysterical. If you are not offended by the sight of breasts and enjoy a laugh watch it with some friends and a beer or two. Excellent fun.

Which is worse: A cheesy porno flick or one of those old off the wall sci-fi swordfight potboilers?

Answer: How about a crossbreed? A sci-fi swordfight porno flick!

This is an interesting parody of two awful genres, played not against each other, but played INTO each other, dreadful writing and acting parodied by deft writing and clever acting.

Not a family flick (of course, not everything needs to be family fare) but an interesting play on the line of "can we make it so bad it is good?"