Reviews

The BBC were absolute idiots with their messing with the scheduling of this excellent program - I was absolutely infuriated by it, not least because it was originally moved and replaced with repeats of Only Fools and bloody Horses. This was during the tenure of Lorraine Heggessey, who's other dubious decisions included recruiting Graham Norton to the BBC.

The good news is that the CDs of the Radio 4 broadcasts make great listening and perhaps even benefit from better comic timing than the TV series managed. The radio series retains the same cast as the television production.

I also seriously recommend Andy Hamilton's other Radio 4 series, Old Harry's Game, also available on CD and well worth owning. The man is a comic genius.

Fortunately I read the comments on here before viewing this movie and was therefore able to enjoy it purely as the giggle-fest that it is.

The DVD box cover shows a black and white photograph of the Whitehouse, which is also the title screen of the DVD itself. This is only really worth mentioning because the Whitehouse features at no point in the film. This is a clue.

The box also lists its Special Features as Scene selection and Trailer. There is, of course, no Trailer on the disc. This is a clue.

The disc itself is just plain white bearing only the title and certification. This is a clue.

The stunts are laughable, the dummies are appalling (see other comments here for more vivid descriptions of how truly dreadful they are) and continuity errors abound - at one point we see a gun battle from two sides of the same door which has three times as many holes on one side as on the other.

There are many, many flaws in this piece of celluloid nonsense which have been picked apart most ably by others on this site but what truly amazed me was the out-takes at the end which showed what had been taken out but gave no excuses for the ninety minutes which had been left in.

Very much a film of its age, this film is relentless, unmitigable shite from beginning to end, and yet it is a delight to watch.

It will particularly appeal to anyone who thought the special effects in the original Flash Gordon TV series were over the top.

The plot-holes are gargantuan, the continuity errors are abysmal, most of the story is absolute nonsense and yet this film is an absolute pleasure to watch. The fantastic excuses used to divest Jane Fonda of various pieces of her costume will have you choking into your popcorn.

The seventies' view of a future of decadence is a breath of fresh air and the idea of absolute, insane evil is camped up to the max. You'll either love it, loathe it, or do both simultaneously.

I was surprised to be really impressed with this. When I first heard the pre-release hype, I wasn't interested because it just sounded like a marketing tool for another god-awful soap.

In truth, the soap doesn't even come close to the dizzy heights of god-awful, but the backdrop of the behind the scenes action makes viewing it exquisite.

I imagine the writers are having a whale of a time letting rip at producers and some of the politics behind television, although what we see is clearly exaggerated at least in Ben Miller's wonderful character. How ITV got hold of such a good idea is beyond me. Let's hope it maintains the level it's started out with.

Accion Mutante are a group of disabled terrorists who think of themselves as mutants and who see their mission as being to rid the world of pretty people and superficiality. Unfortunately, they are quite fabulously inept at what they do, and they are totally mistrusting of each other (with good cause, it turns out!)

This film is a comic masterpiece: the direction is a cinematic treat and the more times you watch it, the better it gets.

To give you an idea of just how impressed I was, I rented the film once and then went back to the rental shop and bought that copy from them.

If you enjoy off-beat, quirky movies that defy genre then you're going to love this; if you don't enjoy such eccentric celluloid expeditions then you may surprise yourself by enjoying this anyway. I can assure you that it'll be unlike anything you've seen before - go on, take a chance.

This film was a total travesty. I cannot believe that anyone would consider a remake of such a superb conception as the original movie and produce such total dross. At no point did I find myself remotely interested in any of the characters and the plot, such as it was, was shallow at best. The surprise ending made me want to destroy my television set and gouge my eyes out. Total rubbish doesn't even come close to adequate to summarise my complete disgust at this piece of cinematic toilet paper.