I can remember watching ‘Flash Gordon’ when I was a kid and thinking that besides, ‘Star Wars,’ it was the coolest movie ever made. All of the characters wore really bright costumes and the music was awesome. I loved this flick so much that after my parents dropped the big bucks for a VCR, I would rent it from the local Curtis Mathis video store no less than once a week. Hell, I even had a ‘Flash Gordon’ coloring book!

So when I picked up the flick to watch after so many years, I was worried that it might not hold up, thus tarnishing the childhood memories of a film so close to my heart. Well, I’m happy to say that it did hold up. In fact, I think that I might have enjoyed it more than I did in my youth.

For those of you not familiar with this film, you really should be ashamed of yourselves. But I’ll forgive you if you promise to check it out ASAP.

The flick is about a football player named Flash Gordon who is kidnapped along with a really hot chick (girls were called chicks for a brief time in the 1980’s), launched into space and forced to do battle with Ming the Merciless. Throughout this kick ass chronicle of feathered hair and spandex, Flash has to maneuver through many difficult obstacles, such as Ming’s super-fine daughter’s attempts at getting him into bed, a nasty swamp, a fight to the death, and even the gas chamber in order to save the Earth from certain doom and get the girl. ‘Holy underpants Batman,’ does it get any cooler than that?

This film doesn’t make any excuses for being what it is, which is a good time in front of the boob tube. The actors are perfect fits for their on-screen personas and the girls are all wearing skimpy outfits (almost never a bad thing). You didn’t have to have grown up in the 80’s to enjoy ‘Flash Gordon’. If you like action, phallic space ships, scantily clad women and a rocking sound track, then you’ll agree with me when I say that ‘Flash Gordon’ is a killer film.

Now excuse me while I search Ebay for another “Flash Gordon” coloring book.