My go-to fondest childhood reminiscence is watching movies like Popeye, Superman, Flash Gordon, Clash of the Titans, Annie and Raiders of the Lost Ark. They all came out when I was 10-11 years old, and they remain among my cherished favorites.

If Flash Gordon really played for the Jets, the horrors of an evil space emperor wouldn't be that bad for him.

I begged my dad to take me to see Popeye. He never forgave me.

The Queen soundtrack (which I'm surprised they didn't mention) makes Flash Gordon worth watching, but I also love the movie itself because it came out when I was 11 and has remained a wonderful part of my childhood.

took my waay younger bro to see Flash Gordon and he was enthralled, munching thru 2 tubs of corn without moving his eyes from the screen. It was a good fit for his age.

Flash Gordon is actually a lot more similar in style to BARBARELLA than frigging Star Wars! .. . with the camp humor, psychedelic imagery, sexual innuendo, quirky sensibility, . . and which is, coincidentally, by the SAME PRODUCER (Dino Delaurentis) and also has a comic-strip origin. If you need another flick to compare this one too, then THAT would really be a much more apt and intelligent choice than frigging star wars!

Flash has a lot going for it: good enough story , great production sets, excellent supporting actors, great humor, & Queen. A hit w me! 2:00 SC 8:25 Popeye 14:08 BBB 19:55

Bluto played the sadistic prison guard in Midnight Express..

It's a trip to hear Sam J Jones' actual voice in the Flash Gordon clip. The show was given the footage before Peter Marinker had dubbed the actor's dialogue.

Stir Crazy is so much fun

I could fall asleep to that WTTW 11 promo on a loop. 😂

"Bye, Bye Brazil" is one of my all-time favorite films.

I remember going to see Popeye. I also remember my dad saying "oh no, it's a musical..."

Popeye, Stir Crazy and Flash Gordon are classics. EDIT 2024: It seems Flash Gordon is enjoying something of a comeback. I've seen a few reaction channels feature it lately. It's trendy!

I saw all three in the theaters and remember it like yesterday. No one showed up for popeye n flash Gordon but STIR CRAZY??? theater was packed

I LOVE POPEYE! It’s just delightful. It’s one of my favorite movie musicals. As for Stir Crazy, sure, the last half hour or hour could have moved faster, but the undeniable power of that film is the teaming of Wilder/Pryor. I wish Siskel and Ebert would have mentioned Stir Crazy was directed by the legendary great actor Sidney Poitier.

The best thing about “Flash Gordon” was Ming’s daughter 😍

Alligator was sooo much fun.

I saw FG opening weekend. Loved it! When "soundtrack by Queen" came on we all cheered. Nobody knew what lightning in a bottle that was ⚡Flash - aah-aahhhhhh

Siskel is such a stick in the mud .... Flash Gordon is a classic ... beautiful to look at in it's consciously camp and colorful way. They don't even talk about the score by Queen.

I like Flash Gordon and Stir Crazy.

I really think that the wonderful music by Harry Nilsson was a tremendous asset to "Popeye" and should've been mentioned!

Love me some Flash Gordon!

Siskel was right, at least in my case. I saw Popeye, or at least a bit of it, on HBO when I was 6 or 7 and grew disillusioned and gave up on it when a bunch of spinach-powered fights didn't quickly materialize. I'm honestly shocked that they both enjoyed Popeye as I had always figured it was a critical failure. Might be time to give that flick another chance.

Robin Williams barely spoke above a whisper as Popeye.

“Is he here for rehabilitation?” 😂🤣

I liked Alligator.

I can’t understand the appeal of the Popeye movie. It looks and sounds like a nightmare.

I was a kid when Popeye came out and i DID NOT get it, i watched it years later and liked it A LOT more. it has been a good while since i watched and that Baby Oil clip just made me literally LOL. Flash Gordon has its own charm, i dont love it but i dont mind it either. Stir Crazy was great when i was a kid and still enjoy it. that huge bald guy "Erland van Lidth" was a really interesting person i would have loved to see him in more things. i had known him at that time because he was in "The Wanderers" which was one of my favorite films back then. i also remember "Alligator" being pretty big on cable and it seems like there were a few rip off films going around at that time as well. just like the slew of killer bee films maybe a few years before?

I remember watching this episode on TV.

Haha. I like it when they quietly chuckle during each other’s comments on the worst movie of the week.

I liked Popeye & Stir Crazy

there was a lot of Flash Gordon merch in 79-80. the cartoon had a great toy line faithful to the comics and the live action movie was great.

Popeye had all the makings to be a success. A great cast, perfectly chosen. A gifted director. Cute songs. Incredible production design. But it was an almost total calamity. As I understand it, the film was only completed on schedule due to massive amounts of cocaine, and everyone's drug-addled brains must have thought everything in front of the camera was funnier than a fart at a funeral.

Omg I love the movie Stir Crazy!

did siskel and ebert review the movie tom horn 1980?

Update: I just found out Sam Jones’ voice was replaced. I hate when film makers do that :(. If the studio hates his / her voice, get a different actor. I can think of no cases when this is a good idea:(

What ? "Row - Day - O" 13:24

Alligator is the best movie in this episode !

If you want a keeper ladies, maybe _don't_ choose the guy who wears a T shirt emblazoned with his own name on the front, lol! 5:10

I din't like Flash Gordon when I was young, I thought it was cheesy, silly OTT and dumb. Nowadays I LOVE that movie - for exactly the same reasons! \😸/

Personally, I liked Popeye. Casting was absolutely perfect across the board, especially Robin Williams as Popeye, and Shelley Duvall was born to play Olive Oyl. Williams even got Popeye's mumbling from the classic Fleischer cartoons right. Paul L. Smith LOOKS like Bluto, but they don't give him anything to actually do. Robert Altman was probably the worst person to be put at the helm of a musical, and the Nilsson songs are not exactly toe-tapping. The few songs that worked in my opinion came from Robin Williams. It's a shame Williams was a little embarrassed by the film, but I still think it worked. It would have worked better if, say, Stanley Donen directed it, but live with it. We probably wouldn't have gotten Popeye Village in Malta if Donen had directed, though. Flash Gordon took a little longer for me to accept - at the time, I considered it an insult to the classic serials with Buster Crabbe, but now I can see it as very much a tribute to the form. Sam Jones is terrible as Flash and Melody Anderson is just a pretty face (and Ornella Muti was more of a fascination for me). Brian Blessed is ... well, Brian Blessed - he was perfect as Prince Vultan the Hawk Man, and he admitted in the commentary that he was a big fan of Flash Gordon and desperately wanted the role. But Max Von Sydow is utterly perfect as Ming the Merciless, and he's clearly having so much fun. The film had its flaws, but it's more of a guilty pleasure for me now.

sure this has been asked many times...What is the source for these incredibly hq videos?

Flash Gordon is a cult classic.

Wow.....I remember how much I hated Popeye then as a kid, omg I hated this film.

Although I liked Popeye too, I'm surprised Roger nor Gene commented on the wonderful music Nilsson and Pierson wrote.

Sweet Pea is now approaching 45

I saw Popeye on V.H.S. and I prayed to Yahweh that our V.C.R. would eat the tape.

⚡️Flash Gordon⚡️, quarterback, New York Jets

Stir Crazy is great

And at 47 i STILL love POPEYE N FLASH GORDON. STIR CRAZY, ebert was right about THAT. Its a different film after the second hour n its BORING

Popeye is the only altman film i liked.

Gene Siskel proven wrong again. Flash Gordon lives on and has only gained popularity (probably due to Ted and Blades of Glory).

I think Popeye is simultaneously one of the greatest things ever put to film, while also not being a very good movie. The casting and world created are absolutely amazing, but unfortunately, they don't do much with that great head start. I think it's worth watching at least once just for that great casting and world, even if you're probably going to be disappointed with the end result.

It’s not a ‘Roadayo’ … it’s pronounced a ‘Roadeeyo’… C’mon Roger!

I love Flash Gordon and Popeye.

Robert Altman, Popeye the Sailor Man. I can't really think of a much stranger combination. who thought that a good idea? couldn't have been Altman, surely? it's just _I can't understand what anybody is saying_ in that movie. it's got that more raw, unceremonious Altman "everyone talk at once" sort of philosophy. there's all this background noise to . . . make a fantastical cartoon universe seem more lifelike?? what a strange, strange movie. kinda great for that reason, but I wouldn't watch it again or anything.

I won free tickets to see "Flash Gordon" from a local radio station. It was barely worth free. They made a big deal of Queen doing the soundtrack. For no good reason. I'd rather watch Dr. Chaotica on "Star Trek: Voyager".

I love Siskel, but his reviews are odd. Like him saying Flash Gordon would be better if it was more like Airplane!.

A FEW OF THESE SHOULD BE MENTIONED ON CARAVAN OF GARBAGE.

Really, Ebert? You recommend that Popeye crap, but not Stir Crazy. Freakin' absurd.

Flash Gordon is great.

Why would they make Flash a QB for The Jets. They stink

Popeye was a great childhood movie for me, too bad it was a huge flop.

I remember going to see, "Flash Gordon." l loathed it; much, preferred the serial(a few episodes, which I've managed to see.)Maybe, I'm prejudiced but...and, no, I don't know if I'm related, to "Buster."

Popeye bored me to tears!

POPEYE was unbelievably awful. It looked great. Perfectly cast. But it just laid there. Nothing funny, no energy. I went with friends, selling them that the same director of MASH was making POPEYE...and they kept asking, "Are we gonna stay for all of this?" Ugh.

Popeye was awful!

Ebert's fake laughs are something.

It was a mistake to make Popeye into a musical.

Popeye is such a weird film. It feels like an Italian art house flick. I find it icky. Weird, ersatz. I dont like it.

I was giving you a positive review, until you gave Alligator a bad review.