Flash Gordon

• Cert:
• Cat.no: MP 137D
• Running time: 107 minutes
• Year: 1980
• Pressing: 2002
• Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)
• Chapters: 24 plus extras
• Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Stereo)
• Languages: 3 languages available
• Subtitles: 8 languages available
• Widescreen: 2.35:1
• 16:9-enhanced: Yes
• Macrovision: Yes
• Disc Format: DVD 9
• Price: £15.99
• Extras : Stills Gallery, Trailer
  

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  Director:

  Mike Hodges

  (Black Rainbow, Flash Gordon, Get Carter)

Producers:

Screenplay:

Music:

Cast:

Flash Gordon: Sam J. Jones
Emperor Ming: Max Von Sydow
Prince Barin: Timothy Dalton
Vultan: Brian Blessed
Dr. Hans Zarkov: Topol
Dale Arden: Melody Anderson

Flash Gordon is an incredible adventure fantasy based on the legendary comic strip by Alex Raymond. This imaginative Dino De Laurentiis production features an all-star cast including Max Von Sydow, Topol, Brian Blessed and Timothy Dalton.

The evil Ming the Merciless is wreaking havoc is the planet Earth from his distant home on Mongo. Dr. Hans Zarkov wants to counter attack, and gets some unsuspecting help in the form of Flash Gordon and travel agent Dale Arden when their jet crashes near the strange scientist’s laboratory.

When the trio takes off for Mongo, Ming sets about kidnapping them for his own terrible purposes. From that moment on, it’s a thrill packed battle of wizardry and wits as Flash Gordon fights to save Dale from Ming’s clutches, and Earth from annihilation.

The stunning costumes are by two-time Academy Award winner Danilo Donati and special effects by sci-fi special Oscar winner, Frank Van Der Veer. Finally, the film is topped off by a futuristic musical score performed by Queen.

Aside from the well-known actors on display here, one wonders what happened to the career of Flash himself, aka Sam J. Jones, as he went off to star in straight-to-video limbo.

“Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square…”

The picture quality here is very good indeed, brimming with sharp and vivid colours, not to mention the extravagant set-pieces which are done great justice, with only minor artifacts noticeable on a rare occasion. It’s also presented in 2.35:1 widescreen and is anamorphic, unlike the original DVD release.

The sound quality is great and, like Highlander, is chock-full of Queen rock classics. Also, the dialogue comes across clearly and any fans of The Orb not familiar with this film will note that the dialogue from the first scene, featuring Ming, is used on a track from their “Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld” album from 1991.

Let battle commence.

This time round, extras are still a bit thin on the ground. Just a 2-minute Trailer in anamorphic 16:9 widescreen and a 79-strong picture gallery. A shame we don’t get the ‘song lyrics’ option, but this only covered two tracks anyway.

The film is in three stereo languages (English, German, Spanish – all Dolby Digital Stereo this time, compared to Linear PCM stereo for the BMG 1999 release), with subtitles in 8 languages: English, German, Spanish, Dutch, Turkish, Danish, Swedish and Finnish. The menus are all static and silent, but the main one uses a small looped piece of the theme tune. Thre are 24 chapters to the film compared to the 30 on the previous release.

FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS


OVERALL