Movie Review 'Life After Flash'

I can’t lie, the documentary Life After Flash puzzled me. Until now, I was convinced that the film was a debacle. And yet, this lovely documentary appears to indicate that, in some ways, the film has been reevaluated. I have seen little evidence of this beyond this documentary, and the film remains—in my mind—a camp relic, but director Lisa Downs should be commended for the effort she puts into trying to convince us all otherwise regarding the quality of Flash.

Life After Flash combines the making of story of how legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis brought the disparate elements of Flash Gordon together to make the long sought adaptation of one of the first comic book superheroes and the story of what happened after the movie. Naturally, much of what we see is classic talking head documentary filmmaking. The key difference is that the heads doing the talking are really interesting.

Leading the way, of course, is Flash Gordon himself, actor Sam Jones. While Jones has had something of a pop culture resurrection in recent years with his delightful cameos in Ted and Ted 2, the former Flash Gordon wandered in the woods for many years after his 1980 screen debut was widely panned and his behind the scenes clash with the legendary producer left him unwittingly blackballed from Hollywood.

Today, Sam Jones is an ebullient family man and a man of deep faith who is enjoying his modest resurgence and the seeming reevaluation of Flash Gordon as a cult classic. Back in the day, Sam was loved by his fellow cast members, but struggled with demons that separated him from his family and led to the end of more than one marriage. Now, he’s found a stable new love and reconnected with his family and friends in ways that are legitimately inspiring.

I really enjoyed a sequence that juxtaposed Sam’s remarkable workout regimen, for a man of his age, and a recounting of the kind of delusional behavior that led to him being replaced with a stand-in near the end of filming. The sequence is not intended to make Sam look bad, rather it plays with the image of the Sam Jones who struggled with overwhelming fame and fortune, and the healthy, happy, and wise man he is today.

Jones isn’t the only great thing about Life After Flash. The absolute highlight of the documentary is longtime character actor Brian Blessed, whose anecdotes on the behind the scenes goings on on Flash Gordon are jovial and naughty. Blessed’s voice is as booming and exciting as it was when he portrayed Prince Vultan, and his recounting of the story of how fellow character actor Peter Wyngarde, who played the metal-masked baddie, Klytus, delayed filming because he desperately did not want his character to die at the end is a rousing laugher.

Then there are the Flash Gordon fans who, for the most part, are an earnest group who truly believe in the quality of the movie. While comedian Rich Fulcher appears to recognize the camp appeal of Flash Gordon, fans such as writer Jason Lenzi, director Robert Rodriguez, and actor Sean Gunn appear to legitimately love the movie. The film features a pair of memorabilia collectors as well whose collections of Flash Gordon paraphernalia are as remarkable as any collection of Star Wars collectibles in sheer mass.

Holding all of this together is the steady hand of director Lisa Downs. Directing at a brisk pace and featuring a very colorful talking head cast, Downs tells a terrifically entertaining story in Life After Flash. I still don’t believe the movie is any kind of forgotten classic, but I appreciate chutzpah in attempting to rehab the movie into a lost classic. Downs appears to be making Life After into something of a series. Her next feature is called Life After Navigator and tells the behind the scenes story behind another 80s relic, Flight of the Navigator.

Of course, the truly most memorable thing about Flash Gordon is the legendary Queen soundtrack. Queen guitarist Brian May is featured in the film and offers a couple of fun stories about how the band came to be part of the movie, going almost as far as scoring the entire movie. The music of Queen became iconic, even as the movie faded from memory… for most of us anyway.

Life After Flash is now available on demand, and whether or not you are a fan of Flash Gordon, I believe you will find it engaging, funny, and very entertaining.