VinnieRattolle
Spoiler-lite. 13 years before the series begins, Flash Gordon's scientist father vanishes in a lab fire. Now grown, marathon runner Flash encounters Dr. Gordon's jittery lab partner, Hans Zarkov, who clues him in to "rifts," which are portals to other universes -- on the other side of the rifts is planet Mongo, ravaged by drought and ruled by debonair but greedy and sadistic Ming, who plans to steal Earth's water. Soon Flash and ex- girlfriend/reporter Dale find themselves traveling back and forth to Mongo to search for Dr. Gordon, along with alien hunter Baylin, who sought refuge from Ming on Earth. Quickly Flash earns a word-of-mouth reputation in the foreign land for his bravery and willingness to fight for what's right, and he becomes a key player in a planet-wide movement to collapse Ming's corrupt empire.The majority of the countless negative IMDb comments about this show were penned in August 2007, shortly after a butchered 1-part SciFi Channel edit of the longer 2-part pilot aired (seems the network wanted to sabotage it from the start). Thing is, this update is a series that plays better on DVD than it did over 6 months on the TV. Yes, there were some major problems in the beginning -- mainly cheap effects and an overtly comedic tone which permeated the first half of the series -- but they ironed out a lot of wrinkles as the season progressed and were well on their way to a great second year when the show was unceremoniously canceled. And aside from some major surface deviations with Ming (who's no longer an inhuman, politically incorrect Asian slur), they took the essences of the earlier incarnations and injected them into modern characters. (And yes, I'm a lifelong Flash fan, from Buster Crabbe to the porn spoof; from the Filmation cartoons to the campy 1980 DeLaurentis flick.)The biggest problems were budgetary constraints which forced them to set the bulk of each of the early episodes on Earth with the gang having to fend off the alien-of-the-week. "Sliders" and "Stargate" comparisons were rampant and the backlash against the show was LOUD and immediate, which forced the network to give them some more money to work with. Unfortunately, the CGI team clearly wasn't given more funds but eventually they shifted the bulk of the episodes to Mongo (with plans to keep the characters stranded there for season 2) and phased out the characters of Joe, Dale's cop boyfriend (a character which was a bad decision from the get-go), and Nick, Flash's best friend. The alien-of-the-week had been tedious on a week-to-week basis, but it ultimately served as good framework, since it slowly established most of the characters who would go on to be pivotal in the overall season storyline. Matter of fact, this was a character-driven show with a lot of development and character arcs. Eric Johnson exuded charisma as Flash, who went from being dumb jock to defender of the universe (or of Mongo, anyway). The prim and proper Dale got to kick ass a few times -- and even be slutty once when a evil witch stole her body. Ming, who showed some signs of real humanity when the show began, became more "merciless" as he found his empire drawing nearer to ruin. And Ming's daughter Aura, who began the show as a spoiled, bratty princess probably went through the biggest character arc of all. Also worth noting are the show's two original characters -- warrior Baylen and creepy, droid-ish scientist Rankol -- as both seemed to get more layered and intriguing with each passing episode.It's a shame this show never recovered from the backlash against initial episodes (or from the childish, mob-like mentality of Sci-Fi viewers who trolled all of the message boards, making civilized discussion utterly impossible), but I commend the crew for getting it on track and telling a complete story by the finale - so few serialized shows get closure. If only fans and the network had stuck with it, the 2007 "Flash" could've gone on to become a show that was truly great. As is, it falls short of that, but it's a show with a lot of heart, humor, action and lovable characters. If you're willing to stick with it through the first 12 episodes, or if you like light, family-friendly "Xena" and "Hercules" type of fare, it's worth the $5 at Walmart for Mill Creek's complete series DVD release.
John
I just finished watching the last 4 episodes of this series and thought everything came together pretty well. See, I'm not a purist like most of the commenters on this board, so I didn't know what to expect. Taking their budget into account, everything was as well done as could be expected. Sure, they didn't go all out with effects, but when that happens series tend to be incredibly short-lived (BSG). When shortcuts are taken and they don't adversely affect the storyline much, it's fine that there isn't a lot of CG and everything is more of a standard variety.That said, I enjoyed the 1st season & I hope there are more seasons to come.
alanbill1074
I generally don't pass comment much on movies or shows here on IMDb but I felt compelled to write a few words of support following the terrible things getting written about this show.It is not that bad. In the UK we have just had the third episode aired and I am beginning to get into the characters and enjoy the show. Granted, it could do with a lot more money spending on it, but it is early days, and no doubt the show has to demonstrate it has legs in order to ensure further commitment and a bigger budget.I'll keep watching because I think with more time the show will definitely improve. It has a lot of the elements needed for good TV. It just needs more development to fully bring them out.
CWinst8928
I DON'T THINK ANYTHING HERE WOULD QUALIFY AS A 'SPOILER BUT ... There is just something about this show that make me feel like it should be shown on the Saturday morning slot when all the kids shows are on. Of course then we wouldn't get to see the good looking women like Dale Arden, and Baylin, etc., in scantily clad outfits. They, and the character Rankle (Jonathan Walker) are the only reason I watch the show if I watch it at all.There is just something about the show that has a non-adult quality to it. But that is just me. Others may not feel that way. If it was more 'tongue n' cheek' I could understand it but I don't get that sense to it. As for the star, Flash Gordon/Eric Johnson, I find his character in this show as being 'weak.' He is just not believable as Flash. I see him more as a pretty boy with a nose job and not the strong masculine Flash I'd expect. I don't mean to be cruel but that is the impression I get. Perhaps with a better director and better writers my perception of him in this role would be different.
