Film Marketing Spotlight: The One About Mike Hodges’ Flash Gordon
We celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the iconic movie Flash Gordon as well as the release of the 4K Blu-Ray 5 Discs Box set, In this extract from ‘Two Geeks And A Marketing Podcast’ recorded in 2020.
We look back at our favourite moments, the sometimes wacky set design, the songs from Queen and the challenge of marketing to a global audience a movie that is quintessentially British!
Photo: Melody Anderson and Sam J. Jones at the GalaxyCon Richmond 2020.
“I REALLY WANT TO TAKE THE AUDIENCE BY THE HAND AND TAKE THEM SOMEWHERE THEY HAVEN’T BEEN BEFORE.”
This vision of filmmaking and storytelling could not be more true than in the 1980’s cult movie Flash Gordon. Inspired by the original comic strip, the 1930’s film serials and the 1950’s live action TV series, this extravagant adaption has been perfectly described by fans and critics as the finest example of what space opera should look like, feel like and most importantly, sound like!
- Director: Mike Hodges
- Writers: Lorenzon Semple Jr. (screenplay); Michael Allin (Adaption); Alex Raymond (based on characters created by)
- Music By: Queen, Howard Blake
- Stars: Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Ornella Muti, Max von Sydow, Topol, Timothy Dalton, Mariangela Melato, Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde and many more
- Tagline: Pathetic earthlings… Who can save you now?
- Budget: $20,000,000 (estimated)
- Released on: 5 December 1980 (US Premiere), 10 December 1980 (UK Premiere), 28 January 1981 (France), 16 April 1980 (Australia)
Film Marketing Review Highlights
- Four decades of celebrations and the opportunity to be discovered by new audiences, perhaps a fantastic example of what could be called ‘re-marketing’
- A strong sense of heritage and the evolution of the character and his adventures from hand-drawn stories to black and white silent movies and more
- Almost constructed and filmed in an effort to move away from the recognisable style set by George Lucas’ Star Wars and other late 1970’s science-fiction movies
- Interesting that they should have gone for an end of year release, which did add to the British pantomime feel at the time, perhaps to avoid competing against summer blockbusters and claim the festive season market
- Mixed reception and a clear divide between UK, Europe and US initially, but it was only matter of time until Flash Gordon was embraced by a global audience
- Being different, looking for innovation and surprising your audiences with memorable characters, iconic locations, set design and of course the songs by Queen
- It is all about creating a unique experience that will stimulate word of mouth marketing, and let’s not forget the memorable lines and quotes (all by Brian Blessed?)
- The teaser trailers was cut and edited to imitate the original 1950’s cliiffhanger endings of the tv series as a homage and as nod to the fans
- The importance of staying true to your vision and avoiding outside influences as much as possible, be confident that your creation will find its audience and vice versa
The Official Sites:
Thank you for listening, watching and reading this Film Marketing Review with Pascal Fintoni and Roger Edwards. Feel free to send us your movie suggestions and favourite film marketing tactics for a future episode.
Until the next time, continue to make your film marketing campaign better and faster.
Additional Credits:
Photo of the screening of Flash Gordon at British Museum in 2014 by Paul Hudson from United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo of Melody Anderson and Sam J. Jones at the GalaxyCon Richmond 2020 by John Manard, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
And Finally…
The opinions expressed are the authors’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the filmmakers, distributors, marketers, cast and crew mentioned. Whilst we take every precaution to ensure that facts are correct, errors and omissions may occur and the authors assume no responsibility or liability. For a full version of our disclaimer notice please click here.
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