The effects are cheesy
question: How is the effect?, context: So why the 5-star review, you might ask?There is just something about this movie that I can't put my finger on.  The actress playing Dale Arden (sp?) is painfully bad, especially during the football fight scene where she claps her hands, joyfully egging Flash on with "Go, Flash, go!  Go, Flash, go!"  Topol (Fiddler on the Roof) is over-the-top as the mad genius scientist who is the only one on Earth to realize that all of the natural disasters are a direct result of an alien attack.  Max von Sydow plays his villainous role as Ming the Merciless with "muhahahahaha" glee.  Timothy Dalton doles out his dalliance as Prince Barin, ruler of Arboria.  Brian Blessed is priceless as Vultan, leader of the Hawkmen; how he got through the enitre movie wearing what had to be uncomfortable (and very upsetting) leather shorts is admirable.The effects are cheesy (although, at times, brilliant - The Sea of Fire near the beginning is still eye candy for me).  The acting is campy.  The drama is laughable.So why does it continue to fascinate me?  Despite its horrible trappings as a stand-alone movie, it truly is an embodiment of the Saturday morning serial (which Star Wars PROFESSES to be, but has degenerated into a contest of making something fake look real).  With THAT in mind, the movie plays out as good, cheesy campy fun and always has you wondering how the hero continues to cheat death in a nearly 2-hour movie (as opposed to the next weekly installment).  The matter-of-fact discussions about Earth's imminent destruction, our hero and damsel-in-distress somehow instantly falling in love and the inexplicable onset of early jealousy after having only traded about 10 lines of dialogue, the sometimes brilliant lines of dialogue delivered by Max von Sydow (especially how he discusses with Zarkoff why it's HIS fault that Earth is being destroyed), etc., brews an unusual beverage of serial episode fun that was purely misunderstood back when this was released.  That, and what has to be one of the most unusual (and quite good!)soundtracks by Queen--especially the In the Space Capsule theme--has me coming back and watching just another curious addition to a catalog of Dino de Laurentis films. 
How is the effect?
The effects are cheesy (although, at times, brilliant - The Sea of Fire near the beginning is still eye candy for me).
So why the 5-star review, you might ask?There is just something about this movie that I can't put my finger on.  The actress playing Dale Arden (sp?) is painfully bad, especially during the football fight scene where she claps her hands, joyfully egging Flash on with "Go, Flash, go!  Go, Flash, go!"  Topol (Fiddler on the Roof) is over-the-top as the mad genius scientist who is the only one on Earth to realize that all of the natural disasters are a direct result of an alien attack.  Max von Sydow plays his villainous role as Ming the Merciless with "muhahahahaha" glee.  Timothy Dalton doles out his dalliance as Prince Barin, ruler of Arboria.  Brian Blessed is priceless as Vultan, leader of the Hawkmen; how he got through the enitre movie wearing what had to be uncomfortable (and very upsetting) leather shorts is admirable.The effects are cheesy (although, at times, brilliant - The Sea of Fire near the beginning is still eye candy for me).  The acting is campy.  The drama is laughable.So why does it continue to fascinate me?  Despite its horrible trappings as a stand-alone movie, it truly is an embodiment of the Saturday morning serial (which Star Wars PROFESSES to be, but has degenerated into a contest of making something fake look real).  With THAT in mind, the movie plays out as good, cheesy campy fun and always has you wondering how the hero continues to cheat death in a nearly 2-hour movie (as opposed to the next weekly installment).  The matter-of-fact discussions about Earth's imminent destruction, our hero and damsel-in-distress somehow instantly falling in love and the inexplicable onset of early jealousy after having only traded about 10 lines of dialogue, the sometimes brilliant lines of dialogue delivered by Max von Sydow (especially how he discusses with Zarkoff why it's HIS fault that Earth is being destroyed), etc., brews an unusual beverage of serial episode fun that was purely misunderstood back when this was released.  That, and what has to be one of the most unusual (and quite good!)soundtracks by Queen--especially the In the Space Capsule theme--has me coming back and watching just another curious addition to a catalog of Dino de Laurentis films. 
<hl> The effects are cheesy <hl> (although, at times, brilliant - The Sea of Fire near the beginning is still eye candy for me).
So why the 5-star review, you might ask?There is just something about this movie that I can't put my finger on. The actress playing Dale Arden (sp?) is painfully bad, especially during the football fight scene where she claps her hands, joyfully egging Flash on with "Go, Flash, go! Go, Flash, go!" Topol (Fiddler on the Roof) is over-the-top as the mad genius scientist who is the only one on Earth to realize that all of the natural disasters are a direct result of an alien attack. Max von Sydow plays his villainous role as Ming the Merciless with "muhahahahaha" glee. Timothy Dalton doles out his dalliance as Prince Barin, ruler of Arboria. Brian Blessed is priceless as Vultan, leader of the Hawkmen; how he got through the enitre movie wearing what had to be uncomfortable (and very upsetting) leather shorts is admirable.<hl> The effects are cheesy <hl> (although, at times, brilliant - The Sea of Fire near the beginning is still eye candy for me). The acting is campy. The drama is laughable.So why does it continue to fascinate me? Despite its horrible trappings as a stand-alone movie, it truly is an embodiment of the Saturday morning serial (which Star Wars PROFESSES to be, but has degenerated into a contest of making something fake look real). With THAT in mind, the movie plays out as good, cheesy campy fun and always has you wondering how the hero continues to cheat death in a nearly 2-hour movie (as opposed to the next weekly installment). The matter-of-fact discussions about Earth's imminent destruction, our hero and damsel-in-distress somehow instantly falling in love and the inexplicable onset of early jealousy after having only traded about 10 lines of dialogue, the sometimes brilliant lines of dialogue delivered by Max von Sydow (especially how he discusses with Zarkoff why it's HIS fault that Earth is being destroyed), etc., brews an unusual beverage of serial episode fun that was purely misunderstood back when this was released. That, and what has to be one of the most unusual (and quite good!)soundtracks by Queen--especially the In the Space Capsule theme--has me coming back and watching just another curious addition to a catalog of Dino de Laurentis films. 
So why the 5-star review, you might ask?There is just something about this movie that I can't put my finger on. The actress playing Dale Arden (sp?) is painfully bad, especially during the football fight scene where she claps her hands, joyfully egging Flash on with "Go, Flash, go! Go, Flash, go!" Topol (Fiddler on the Roof) is over-the-top as the mad genius scientist who is the only one on Earth to realize that all of the natural disasters are a direct result of an alien attack. Max von Sydow plays his villainous role as Ming the Merciless with "muhahahahaha" glee. Timothy Dalton doles out his dalliance as Prince Barin, ruler of Arboria. Brian Blessed is priceless as Vultan, leader of the Hawkmen; how he got through the enitre movie wearing what had to be uncomfortable (and very upsetting) leather shorts is admirable. <hl> The effects are cheesy (although, at times, brilliant - The Sea of Fire near the beginning is still eye candy for me). <hl> The acting is campy. The drama is laughable. So why does it continue to fascinate me? Despite its horrible trappings as a stand-alone movie, it truly is an embodiment of the Saturday morning serial (which Star Wars PROFESSES to be, but has degenerated into a contest of making something fake look real). With THAT in mind, the movie plays out as good, cheesy campy fun and always has you wondering how the hero continues to cheat death in a nearly 2-hour movie (as opposed to the next weekly installment). The matter-of-fact discussions about Earth's imminent destruction, our hero and damsel-in-distress somehow instantly falling in love and the inexplicable onset of early jealousy after having only traded about 10 lines of dialogue, the sometimes brilliant lines of dialogue delivered by Max von Sydow (especially how he discusses with Zarkoff why it's HIS fault that Earth is being destroyed), etc., brews an unusual beverage of serial episode fun that was purely misunderstood back when this was released. That, and what has to be one of the most unusual (and quite good!)soundtracks by Queen--especially the In the Space Capsule theme--has me coming back and watching just another curious addition to a catalog of Dino de Laurentis films.