Flesh Gordon
Theatrical release poster.
Directed by	Michael Benveniste Howard Ziehm
Produced by	William Osco Howard Ziehm
Written by	Michael Benveniste
Music by	Ralph Ferraro
Cinematography	Howard Ziehm
Editing by	Abbas Amin
Distributed by	Mammoth Films
Release date(s)	July 30, 1974
Running time	78 min
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$700,000 (estimated)
Followed by	Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Flesh Gordon was a 1974 science fiction and comedy adventure film. It was an erotic spoof of the Flash Gordon serial films from the 1930s. The screenplay was written by Michael Benveniste, who also co-directed the film with Howard Ziehm. The cast included Jason Williams, Cindy Hopkins, and William Dennis Hunt. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... is the 211th day of the year (212th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders is the sequel to the sex comedy Flesh Gordon. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey, an archetypal science fiction film Science fiction film is a film genre that uses speculative, science-based depictions of imaginary phenomena such as extra-terrestrial lifeforms, alien worlds, and time travel, often along with technological elements such as futuristic spacecraft, robots, or other technologies. ... Comedy film is a film genre designed to be humorous. ... Flash Gordon is a science fiction comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond, first published on January 7, 1934. ... Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ...

The film reportedly had an MPAA rating of X, but was edited for a reduced rating of R. It had a run time of 78 minutes, and the collector's edition released later ran for 90 minutes. The dialogue was in English, the picture was filmed in color, and the sound was mono. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is a non-profit trade association formed to advance the interests of movie studios. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Monaural (often shortened to mono) sound reproduction is single-channel. ...

Plot

The storyline is familiar to anybody who has watched the original Flash Gordon works, but with a generally campy sexual flavor to it. The character names are weak sexual innuendo, with the hero Flesh Gordon (Williams), his lust interest Dale Ardor (Hopkins), the evil Emperor Wang the Perverted (Hunt), as well as names such as Dr. Flexi Jerkoff and Amora, Queen of Magic. The term camp—normally used as an adjective, even though earliest recorded uses employed it mainly as a verb—refers to the deliberate and sophisticated use of kitsch, mawkish or corny themes and styles in art, clothing or conversation. ...

The plot has the Emperor Wang aiming a "Sex Ray" at the Earth from his home world of Porno. The entire planet becomes hopelessly sexually obsessed, and it is up to Gordon to save the day. The film generally has nudity whenever possible, and the scenes are shot in a style that is nearly identical to the original black & white Flash Gordon serials. A sample of the humor style of the dialogue: The rocket ship has just landed on the planet Porno. A long necked, sauropod dinosaur with a glans-like head is seen out the window in the landscape. Flesh asks Dr."J", "What's that"? "Must be some kind of penisaurus", Dr. "J" replies matter-of-factly. glans Well known Street Art artist from Copenhagen, Denmark. ...

A towering, demonic-looking monster (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) brought out of hibernation by Emperor Wang steals the show with his brief appearance, muttering all manner of obscenities in a very unmonster-like velvety voice. Example: Flipping the bird at the title character and grumbling, "Up yours, Gordon!" The monster's fate is a major plot point. Craig T. Nelson (born Craig Richard Nelson on April 4, 1944 in Spokane, Washington) is an American actor. ...

Production

The film employed a number of young special effects artists who would go on to greater notoriety, among them Mike Minor, Greg Jein and John Dykstra. The film's low-budget effects were achieved through the clever use of some very old-fashioned techniques. For instance, the model of Wang's palace was created using everyday objects like drinking glasses, and was designed to resemble Griffith Observatory so that footage of actors shot at the base of the observatory could be blended in with the model. Mike Minor was born Dec. ... Greg Jein creates miniatures for use in the special effects portions of many films and TV shows. ... John Charles Dykstra (born June 3, 1947 in Long Beach, California, United States) is a special effects supervisor and pioneer in the development of the use of computers in film making. ... Panorama of Los Angeles and Griffith Observatory viewed from the Hollywood Hills. ...

The film's climactic monster was not originally designed with a voice, but proved so expressive during animation that one was dubbed in later, with dialogue devised to match his pre-existing mouth movements.

Sequels

A sequel, Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders, eventually followed in 1989, and a one-off comic book by Aircel Comics in 1992 (which seemed to be an alternate ending to the first film). Rumours of a third Flesh Gordon film are rife at present, but so far nothing has yet come to fruition. Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders is the sequel to the sex comedy Flesh Gordon. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ...

External links

• Flesh Gordon at the Internet Movie Database