[Blu Ray Review] Flash Gordon: 30th Anniversary Edition
I’ve never hidden the fact that I am a “geek”. In fact, I’m quite proud of it. I can remember when I was younger (when I was 10 or under, so we’re talking at least 20 years ago now) sitting down on a Saturday morning & watching Flash Gordon cartoons. They weren’t the best animated things in the world (in fact, if I’m honest, I think a lot of the “animation” was actually fairly static) but they captured my imagination. And then along came the live action Flash Gordon in the the 1980s & I loved it. Yes, it’s cheesy, camp & over the top but I thought it was fantastic. And now, after many years of loving the film but not having seen it for ages, I had the opportunity to watch it on Blu-Ray & I was really looking forward to it. But was it to be a case of rose tinted glasses clouding my memory & the actual film disappointing the adult me or would it still be as good as I remember it?
Plot
Flash Gordon tells the story of the titular Flash, an American Football player, who, along with Dale Arden, a lady he meets on the flight home, are stranded in a plane crash due to sudden and devastating storms.
No one thinks the storms are anything more than natural. No one, that is, apart from Dr Hans Zarkov, a former NASA scientist who believes that the storms are actually an attack from another planet.
Forcing Flash & Dale to help him find out the source of the attacks, Zarkov launches a homemade rocket into the void & the three of them find themselves stranded on the planet Mongo, and at the mercy of Ming the Merciless, who is playing with the Earth from afar & will destroy the planet soon.
That is, unless Flash cannot defeat Ming, with the help of the subjugated subjects of the planet Mongo.
Review
Let’s get one thing out of the way right at the beginning of this review. Flash Gordon is one of the cheesiest films ever made. There’s no denying it. From the script to the acting it is one great big cheese-fest. But, you know what? It seems to know this and it embraces it. It’s not that it is played for laughs, as it isn’t, but the central concept is so out there that everything else just slots into place &, despite the levels of cheese on display, it somehow manages to transcend this & become something special.
Sam J. Jones, in his first leading role, brings a certain boyish naivety to the role of Flash. There is a wide eyed wonder to things that he is seeing and it’s only his own sense of what’s right, and his drive to save his planet, that propels him into the role of hero in the film. Sometimes his acting does leave a little to be desired but for the most part he is believable in the role.
He is ably supported by the likes of Melody Anderson as Dale Arden, the woman he falls in love with, and their interaction together is very good and Topol is great as Hans Zarkov but the real stars of the film are Max Von Sydow as Ming (in one of the most scenery chomping roles ever), Peter Wyngarde as the villainous Klytus, Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin and, of course, the wonderful Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan.
Blessed in particular seems to be having huge fun and treating it like the camp romp that it is, but he is still one of the most memorable things out of the entire film – and also has some of the best (or at least most quotable) lines in the film.
Mike Hodges, who was the 8th director hired to make the film, revels in the campness of the character & story, bringing this comic strip hero to the screen in colourful style, and it is thanks to him that we are presented with one of the campest, but most enjoyable, sci-fi films ever.
Video
The 1080p VC-1 encoded transfer is really good. While certain parts do show the age of the film, like the blacks not being as deep as newer releases or the detail not quite as sharp as you would see on a newer film it is still very good.
The detail is high, bringing out details that I’d never noticed before, and the colours are high, with excellent contrast.
The only thing that does suffer are some of the special effects, but they looked, if I am honest, fairly bad to begin with so that is hardly shocking.
Audio
The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track really comes into it’s own when the rocking Queen soundtrack kicks in. The rest of the sound design doesn’t use the full surround but it is still very clear when it comes to the dialogue &, while the general sound design won’t blow you away or give your surround sound equipment a major workout, it is a decent enough audio track.
Extras
Disappointingly, this “30th Annversary Edition” is very lacking when it comes to extra features. Yes, we do get a CD containing the full Queen soundtrack but apart from that all you get are an interview with Mike Hodges and a solo-commentary from him as well.
While both are interesting, it would have been nice to see the rest of the extras from the previously released “Silver Edition” DVD release, which also featured a commentary from Brian Blessed & the first episode of the Original 1940s serial ‘Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe’ starring Buster Crabbe. It really is a shame that these, or even something new like a feature length retrospective look at the making of the film weren’t included for it’s 30th anniversary.
Closing Credits
This 1980s piece of camp cheese still manages to entertain now. With some great performances & stirring moments coupled to the classic Queen soundtrack it was just as enjoyable for me now as it was when I first saw it all those years ago.
The added clarity of High Definition really brings the film to life and it’s only let down by the lack of extras to add to the package.
One Response to “[Blu Ray Review] Flash Gordon: 30th Anniversary Edition”
Loved this as a kid, too and was hoping it would be reviewed here. Glad the transfer isn’t a let down as well so think I will be purchasing this and making my boy suffer through it with me, lol
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