DVD Review: Flash Gordon

Flash Gordon
[DVD Flash]

This 1980 film is one of my guilty pleasure films. It first played in theaters while I was in high school, and I saw it twice on the big screen, before buying it on VHS when that was the home video format in vogue.

The movie is a campy adaptation of the groundbreaking serialized sci-fi adventure comic strip that started in the 1930s (and continued in various forms until the early 21st century). In this film, Sam J. Jones plays Flash, superstar New York Jets quarterback, Melody Anderson is his beautiful girlfriend Dale Arden, and Topol is the eccentric scientist, Dr. Hans Zarkov. From the far distant planet Mongo, its despotic rule, Ming the Merciless (Max Von Sydow) has been using his own super-science to wreak natural disasters upon the Earth. Flash, Dale and Zarkov are snatched from the Earth and brought into Ming’s realm, where Flash must fight numerous battles, forge alliances with other kingdoms fighting against Ming (led by handsome Timothy Dalton and winged Brian Blessed), and hold off the amorous advances of Ming’s lascivious daughter Prince Aura (Ornella Muti). Meanwhile, Ming plans to take Dale as one of his concubines, and Dr. Zarkov is being help captive to assist Ming in his intergalactic plans of conquest and destruction — if he can’t have Earth, he’ll destroy it.

It is all comic-book style action and adventure, with technicolor sets and garish costumes, and outrageously over-the-top acting. And the best part is that the rock band Queen created the soundtrack, which is unforgettable!

Flash! Ah-ah Savior of the universe!

Flash! Ah-ah He’ll save everyone of us!

In all honesty, there’s really not a lot to recommend about this cheese-fest, but on the other hand, if you grew up in the 1980s, it is one of the more indelible sci-fi/fantasy film memories you can have. And that Queen music was marvelous!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the syndicated Flash Gordon series that ran for one season, 2007-2008, out on DVD.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Flash Gordon web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon

The Season of Styx Malone
by Kekla Magoon (j Magoon)

The Season of Styx Malone is a book about the summertime adventures of Caleb and Bobby Gene: two brothers in a small town. It has a similar warm, nostalgic feel to the movie The Sandlot. First they get in trouble and are assigned daily chores with a boy who has a history of bullying them. Then they run into a new teenager in town, Styx Malone, who comes from a big city and seems like the coolest person they’ve ever met. Styx uses his negotiation skills to get them out of a jam. After that, the boys start working on their “elevator trade” scheme: trading an item for a more valuable item until they can trade up for a custom moped called “The Grasshopper.”

Bobby Gene has concerns that maybe not everything Styx is doing is strictly legal, while Caleb is more intent on copying Styx’s laid-back style. Older readers will realize early on that Styx is in foster care. The brothers initially believe Styx’s freedom is all up-side, but they come to realize that Styx is coping with the lack of some things they’ve been taking for granted in their much-complained-about “ordinary” life.

This is a great book that catches kids’ attention right away with shenanigans, but gives them real opportunities to improve their understanding of themselves and others along the way.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Maniac McGee, by Jerry Spinelli.]

[ publisher’s official The Season of Styx Malone web page ] | [ official Kekla Magoon web site ]

Recommended by Garren H.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Where We Find Ourselves by Hugh Mangum

Where We Find Ourselves: The Photographs of Hugh Mangum, 1897-1972
by Hugh Mangum and Margaret Sartor (779.12 Mag)

For me, it’s a delight to get a glimpse of the period in American history known as “The Jim Crow South” through the viewfinder of Hugh Mangum’s camera.

Mesmerizing individually, taken as a whole, these portraits tell the enlightening story of the people who came to have their images recorded. Mangum, in an economical solution to the expense of negative plates, often used the same negative for multiple exposures. This is fascinating for two-fold reasons: his clients were not segregated by color—here they are recorded for posterity in the order that they came to the studio, and I believe the smaller exposure area made for a quicker portrait, allowing the subject to strike a natural pose. Many of the portraits are charmingly informal.

On one plate, you will see a young black man, experimenting with different poses, different hats, with his jacket on, or off. He’s followed by another black man, also experiments with hats and “looks”. Next two white women are recorded with fancy hats, without hats, together and individually. Another plate starts with a joyful portraits of four white young women, group photos where they take turns being in front of the camera, reminiscent of a modern photo booth. They are followed by five poses of young white man, in some he’s wearing a distinguished bowler hat, in some he’s sideways, and some looking straight at the camera. The final subject on this plate is a spirited young black woman, smiling and posing playfully at the camera.

This book tells a story, not of separate water fountains and separate establishments, but the story of people who were living alongside each other. It’s a moving, spectacular witness to an age and mental geography in America that is still rife with stereotypes and assumptions.

[ page at Duke University dedicated to Hugh Mangum exhibit ] | [ official Margaret Sartor web site ]

See our specialized reading list The Essential Photographers on BookGuide for works by/about other noteworthy photographers

Recommended by Carrie K.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!