“Gordon’s Alive!” In Honest Sam Jones Documentary LIFE AFTER FLASH [Review]

Posted on June 30, 2018 in Movie Reviews, Movies

Ever wondered what happened to Sam Jones after his staring role in the film Flash Gordon? The documentary Life After Flash, directed by Lisa Downs, has all the answers. Featuring Sam Jones’s rise to fame, details of where he went next and his return to stardom, this documentary covers all the bases.

The documentary has Sam Jones as the central focus as the cameras follow him around his house, conventions, film premieres and other areas of his life. It not only goes into the falling out a young Sam had with Dino De Laurentis, but also the tragedies he has has to suffer throughout his life that he has not talked much about before. Sam is very honest about bad behaviours in the past, and his reformation as a family man.

The documentary not only covers Sam’s current successes and his role as Flash Gordon, but also talks about how Sam had to uproot his life and change career when acting wasn’t working out for him. Not only do the filmmakers talk to Sam, but they also interview his wife, children and close friends about his past and what he is like today.

The documentary not only follows Sam as he describes his life, but also talks a lot about memories of making the cult classic film and what went on behind the scenes. Cast members such as Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde, Melody Anderson and Topol feature heavily in the documentary reminiscing about the past as well as talking about their own lives.

Brian May appears to talk about how Queen came to be involved with the film and the making of the soundtrack. A lot of the cast members support Sam’s story about what happened to him, and describe the pitfalls of fame and how much of a family man he is.

Life After Flash manages to get interviews with a lot of those that were involved with the film, but there are some missing names from the list. Timothy Dalton is a major missing part, and whilst Dino De Laurentis does not appear, his spirit lives on through everyone in the documentary that talks about him.

As well as the documentary including interviews with the cast members and directors of Flash Gordon, it is also padded out with interviews with comic creators such as Mark Miller, memorabilia collectors, musicians and stars of various film and TV shows at conventions ,who give their thoughts on the film and the impact it had. With a running time of over an hour and a half, it does feel like some of the interviews could have been cut down to keep the story more relevant to Sam’s life.

Life After Flash has it’s European premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival on the 28th of June, and will have one more showing on Saturday the 30th (this afternoon!) where Lisa will be in attendance to answer any questions from the audience.