{"id":15469,"date":"2020-12-01T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=15469"},"modified":"2024-03-02T21:17:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T05:17:29","slug":"flash-gordon-and-the-music-video-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/flash-gordon-and-the-music-video-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"Flash Gordon<\/i> and the \u2018Music Video\u2019 Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On August 1st, 1981, a new channel called Music Television (or \u201cMTV\u201d for short) hit the airwaves, beginning a decade-and-change run exclusively showing a film form combining the advertisement and the short subject known as \u201cmusic video.\u201d Of course, MTV didn\u2019t invent the music video, as music and songs had been part of cinema virtually since the medium\u2019s inception, only gaining more prominence as the years continued. The music video\u2019s biggest innovation as a format was in allowing music to have total dominance over the narrative\u2014unlike a film score which sees music supporting the action, or an integrated musical which necessitates plot being furthered by song, a music video defers to the song at all times, throwing out logic, structure, or coherence if need be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1980\u2019s Flash Gordon<\/em>, while far from the mess that it was dismissed as upon its initial release, is a movie that similarly isn\u2019t too concerned with such elements. Intended by producer Dino De Laurentiis as a competitor to Star Wars<\/em>, the movie\u2019s world-building is a little haphazard. However, it endures and remains a rousing and incredibly enjoyable film to this day thanks to the score by the band Queen. Their music fills the film so much that it drives it, turning Flash Gordon<\/em> into one of the earliest examples of a \u201cmusic video\u201d movie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cmusic video\u201d movie isn\u2019t always an intentional form, per se\u2014when a film isn\u2019t about a musical group yet features a pop music score, it\u2019s something that can happen accidentally, usually with movies that emphasize style over substance. Whatever else you can say about it,  Flash Gordon<\/em> has an abundance of style.. De Laurentiis originally wanted Federico Fellini to direct the film, and while the movie ended up in the hands of Mike Hodges, a Fellini vibe can still be seen in the movie\u2019s opulent, lavish sets and costumes. The effects sequences, especially those regarding the depiction of Mingo City, recalls prior De Laurentiis psychedelic productions such as Barbarella<\/em> and Danger Diabolik<\/em> (both 1968). Virtually the entire cast are supermodel-pretty, and screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr.\u2019s knowingly camp take on the material is picked up by Hodges, allowing his actors to go as broad as they like. No element of the film is understated, and while its brazen outr\u00e9 earnestness causes some to find it unintentionally hilarious, it\u2019s intentionally pitched so highly that only an equally outrageous music score could balance its elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Queen were a natural choice to provide such a score. Not only did their brand of geek culture-infused prog rock help them rise to prominence during the \u201870s, but they were one of the early pioneers of the music video itself. While musicians and bands had been experimenting with short films promoting themselves and their songs since the \u201850s, the music video form began to coalesce in the mid-\u201870s. Queen\u2019s 1975 Bruce Gowers-helmed clip for \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d not only helped solidify the band\u2019s visual style but continued to get airplay for decades to follow. Bands creating a visual as well as aural signature for themselves had become common by that time, thanks to films starring such acts as the Beatles (whose A Hard Day\u2019s Night<\/em> from 1964 could be considered the first proper music video movie) and the Who, and the movie soundtrack had gained popularity in the pop music world thanks to films like 1977\u2019s Saturday Night Fever<\/em> (which leaned heavily on the music of the Bee Gees, though that score wasn\u2019t primarily by the group). Music acts had done full-length original scores for non-musical films before, such as Issac Hayes\u2019 score for 1971\u2019s Shaft<\/em> and Curtis Mayfield\u2019s work on 1972\u2019s Super Fly<\/em>. Yet Queen raised the stakes with Flash Gordon<\/em>, creating a score in conjunction with composer Howard Blake that doesn\u2019t just support the film, but takes it over completely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Queen\u2019s work turns Flash Gordon<\/em> into a hybrid of musical and rock concert, giving the film a propulsive pace that it otherwise might not have. With the rousing strains of \u201cFlash\u2019s Theme,\u201d the score opens with a song that is all at once an overture, a Greek-chorus-esque statement about Our Hero (\u201che\u2019ll save every one of us!\u201d) and the first movement of a rock opera. As the score continues, the band weaves in Brian May\u2019s guitars and the band\u2019s synths, blending them with Blake\u2019s orchestra. Remarkably, it avoids sounding like numerous other genre scores of the period\u2014the work of John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith had made Wagnerian-style symphonies the norm. The score was written and arranged in the same manner the band had constructed their previous albums, with each band member taking the composing reins for alternating cues, allowing for variety in the music without turning things into a jukebox. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each cue sounds like a song sans vocals (though Freddie Mercury\u2019s soaring voice occasionally provides some wordless accompaniment or short lyrical reprises). In place of sung lyrics, Queen treat the film\u2019s dialogue as spoken word, integrating it with their music so much that they make sure to include large swathes of dialogue on the album itself. It\u2019s a choice that somewhat predates Quentin Tarantino\u2019s soundtrack albums, which include dialogue tracks but keep them separate from the music. By contrast, Queen blend Flash Gordon<\/em>\u2019s dialogue with their score to make the entire film a sort of musical or operetta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For that reason, Flash Gordon<\/em> is a genuine thrill to watch, a film that\u2019s more of an experience than a grounded, traditional piece of cinema. It works like most classic music videos work, providing a constant stream of stunning and imaginative visuals while musical accompaniment keeps proceedings moving, despite any lapses in logic. In that way, it perhaps taught Hollywood some bad lessons, signaling to producers and music supervisors that loud and fast needle drops could paper over subpar material. Yet it also paved the way for a decade that fell in love with the music video, so much so that films primarily featuring source music\u2014from genuine musicals such as Footloose<\/em> to not-quite-musicals like Flashdance<\/em> and Top Gun<\/em>\u2014became an accepted norm. It also opened the door for bands and musicians to become film composers, turning some of the movies they work on into de facto visual albums, like 2010\u2019s Daft Punk-scored Tron: Legacy<\/em>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever the case, there\u2019s no denying the vibrant exuberance of Flash Gordon<\/em> as a musical experience. The film\u2019s end credit song, \u201cThe Hero,\u201d functions as a summation of the score, the movie and its themes like a final symphonic movement. It also rocks so hard that it climaxes with the sound of a literal explosion. It\u2019s a wild and fantastic choice that marries the music with the film\u2019s images, entwining them inextricably. Flash Gordon<\/em> may not have a ton of character and narrative depth, yet it is truly transportive, making a story about a goofy football player and Hawkmen and the like not just acceptable but even transcendent. Like walking away from a great rock concert with your ears still ringing, like watching a music video that blows your mind, the film and Queen\u2019s score are more than the sum of their parts. \"\"\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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