[vunderba]

I'm not sure I understand why you find those lines particularly comedic. Campy? Most definitely. They also don't really work out of context, so I sat down and watched the actual scene and well... they're still not a particularly funny line, and I don't think the scene is meant to be funny. Are you suggesting that they're intentionally hamming it up? Honestly, I can't even tell if this point.

Wikipedia seems to support this theory as well:

"Lorenzo Semple Jr. wrote the script. He later recalled:

Dino wanted to make Flash Gordon humorous. At the time, I thought that was a possible way to go, but, in hindsight, I realize it was a terrible mistake. We kept fiddling around with the script, trying to decide whether to be funny or realistic. That was a catastrophic thing to do, with so much money involved... I never thought the character of Flash in the script was particularly good. But there was no pressure to make it any better. Dino had a vision of a comic-strip character treated in a comic style. That was silly, because Flash Gordon was never intended to be funny. The entire film got way out of control."

It seems like the kind of show that would fit well in mystery science theater though. This is likely just one of those things that is more of a time capsule, or a period piece, it's likely very difficult for people who grew up watching this type of show to be able to objectively have an opinion about it without nostalgia creeping in.

Personally, I can't fathom thinking the 1980s Flash Gordon was a good movie while the 1980s Dune movie was not.

[WalterBright]

> Are you suggesting that they're intentionally hamming it up?

Oh, absolutely. They're making fun of the inherent silliness of the Flash Gordon serials.

Another gem is the priest at the wedding:

    "Do you promise not to blast her into space?"
    [Ming gives him a warning look]
    "Until such time as you may grow weary of her?"