 | |
| Author | John Walsh |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy film |
| Publisher | Titan Books |
Publication date | November 27, 2020 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 192 (first edition, hardcover) |
| ISBN | 9781789095067 (first edition, hardcover) |
Flash Gordon: The Official Story of the Film is a book by John Walsh published on November 27, 2020. This is a behind the scenes look at the making of the film Flash Gordon from 1980. Walsh had previously written Harryhausen: The Lost Movies .
The book features new interviews with cast and creative, including stars Sam J. Jones and Brian Blessed and director Mike Hodges, who wrote the foreword, as well as behind-the-scenes photography. [1] [2]
John Walsh, film-maker and author, retrieved about 40 designs for director Nicolas Roeg's unmade version of the film from the British Film Institute archives. In an interview with Dalya Alberge of The Observer , Walsh describes the unseen materials from who attempted the make the film in the late 1970s: "It's public knowledge that Roeg worked on the film’s development. What hasn't been seen is its artwork". [3]
Forbidden Planet TV's Andrew Sumner interviewed Walsh about the task of tracking down the missing images for the book and why it has taken so long for the film to receive its new status as a cult classic. [4]
In an interview with The Book of Man, Walsh explained the difficulty of getting this book agreed for publication: "My plan to write a book about the making of the film was a long process. After writing Harryhausen: The Lost Movies for Titan Books, in 2019. I planned to follow up with a book on the making of Flash Gordon. Wondering why no one had thought of making this before I was confident my publisher would say yes, and they did. What I didn't expect was what followed. For years my publisher and many others had tried and failed to secure the rights to get a book about the making of the film published. I was warned by a friend who worked in as an attorney in Hollywood that the rights for the project were a hornet's nest. For eight months, I worked with the various rights holders and along the way, uncovered another uncomfortable truth. Even if I can secure the rights to pen this making-of book, there are very few images that will help tell the story or convince readers it is worth shelling out £35.00". [5]
Josh Weiss at Syfy Wire wrote about the task of getting an accurate picture of a film that was over 40 years old. Walsh said: "I had to go around to each and every person who took part in the film, find out what they thought was the truth, then go back to them, and actually verify. A lot of what happened in 40 years was that people had created their own mythology. I started with Post-It notes, then got a massive whiteboard in my office, and got loads of cards and had to do strings and everything. [I noted] where the evidence was confirmed, where it was contradictory, and who I could go back to, and how I could try and get people to admit they were wrong or maybe find out that they were wrong". [6]
BBC Online’s Nicholas Barber discussed with Walsh the appeal of the film and how it was portrayed in the book: "In 1980, if you'd just seen Superman and The Empire Strikes Back, you would have been underwhelmed by the flying and the other special effects. But time has been kind to Flash Gordon. Once you stop obsessing over the technical aspects, you can see that it was meant to be quite stylised, and the energy very much comes through". [7]
Den of Geek's Kirsten Howard asked Walsh what the most surprising revelation he discovered writing the book: "There were two big moments. The first was when I discovered there had been an entirely different film planned – and we got the artwork, it's in the book. Then, I found out that the film was supposed to have an entirely different ending". [8]
In 2021 the book was nominated as Book for the Year for the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.[ citation needed ]
Flash Gordon: The Official Story of the Film was published in November 2020 by Titan Books. [9]
Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip.
Nicolas Jack Roeg was an English film director and cinematographer, best known for directing Performance (1970), Walkabout (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Bad Timing (1980), and The Witches (1990).
Raymond Frederick Harryhausen was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for Mighty Joe Young (1949) with his mentor Willis H. O'Brien ; his first color film, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958); and Jason and the Argonauts (1963), which featured a sword fight with seven skeleton warriors. His last film was Clash of the Titans (1981), after which he retired.
Clash of the Titans is a 1981 British-American fantasy adventure film directed by Desmond Davis and written by Beverley Cross which is loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus. It stars Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith, Maggie Smith and Laurence Olivier. The film features the final work of stop-motion visual effects artist Ray Harryhausen. It was released on June 12, 1981 and grossed $41 million at the North American box office, which made it the 11th-highest-grossing film of the year. A novelization of the film by Alan Dean Foster was also published in 1981.
Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and comics references and art titles. Its imprints are Titan Books, Titan Comics and Titan Magazines.
Don't Look Now is a 1973 English-language film in the thriller genre directed by Nicolas Roeg, adapted from the 1971 short story by Daphne du Maurier. Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland portray Laura and John Baxter, a married couple who travel to Venice following the recent accidental death of their daughter, after John accepts a commission to restore a church. They encounter two sisters, one of whom claims to be clairvoyant and informs them that their daughter is trying to contact them and warn them of danger. John at first dismisses their claims, but starts to experience mysterious sightings himself.
Flash Gordon is a 1980 space opera film directed by Mike Hodges, based on the King Features comic strip of the same name created by Alex Raymond. The film stars Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Ornella Muti, Max von Sydow and Topol, with Timothy Dalton, Mariangela Melato, Brian Blessed and Peter Wyngarde in supporting roles. The film follows star quarterback Flash Gordon (Jones) and his allies Dale Arden (Anderson) and Hans Zarkov (Topol) as they unite the warring factions of the planet Mongo against the oppression of Ming the Merciless, who is intent on destroying Earth.
Tony Garnett was a British film and television producer, and actor. Best known for his thirteen-year association with director Ken Loach, his work as a producer continued into the 21st century.
Rebecca James is a writer of young adult fiction.
TidalWave Productions is an independent production studio of comic books and graphic novels. Based in Portland, Oregon, United States, Bluewater publishes biographical comics, adaptations from films, and original titles with self-created characters.
John Walsh is a filmmaker and author. He is the founder of the film company Walsh Bros. Ltd. His film work on subjects such as social mobility and social justice have received two BAFTA nominations.
Andrés Muschietti is an Argentine filmmaker who achieved wide recognition with the 2013 film Mama which he made with Neil Cross and his sister, producer and screenwriter Barbara Muschietti, based on their three-minute film of the same name. This film, which he made at age 39, had attracted the attention of Guillermo del Toro, who then served as executive producer.
Ray Harryhausen: Movement Into Life is a British documentary for made by John Walsh when he was a student at the London Film School. Its subject was the art and animation of Ray Harryhausen. The film looks at the stop motion animation process employed by Ray Harryhausen focusing on the creatures from his 1981 film Clash of the Titans. The voice-over was provided by Doctor Who actor Tom Baker, who had won the main role after series producer Barry Letts saw him in the Harryhausen film The Golden Voyage of Sinbad in 1973.
Harryhausen: The Lost Movies is a book by John Walsh published September 10, 2019. This is a guide to unrealised cinema films of Ray Harryhausen from 1940s to the 2000s.
Life After Flash is a 2017 British documentary film directed, produced and edited by Lisa Downs.
Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema is a book by Vanessa Harryhausen. Daughter of stop motion animator Ray Harryhausen, the book was written to mark her father's centenary in 2020, examining his life and films through 100 personally selected objects from his archive.
Jonathan W. Rinzler was a film historian and writer, known for publishing books about the behind the scenes of blockbuster movies such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Rinzler also wrote the novel Indiana Jones and the Mystery of Mount Sinai, as well as All Up, about the Space Race.
Barry Joule is a Canadian writer, and a long-time friend of the artist Francis Bacon who died in 1992 and left a substantial amount of his archive material to Joule. He was also a friend of the dancer Rudolf Nureyev and model Toto Koopman.
Escape From New York The Official Story of the Film is a book by John Walsh published December 14, 2021. This is a behind the scenes look at the making of the film Escape From New York from 1981. Walsh had previously written Harryhausen: The Lost Movies and Flash Gordon: The Official Story of the Film.