Flash Gordon - Savior of the Universe Edition DVD released

[General Deathdealer]

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Prepare to save the universe with the King of the Impossible! Alex Raymond's famous comic strip blasts to life in the timeless sci-fi cult adventure Flash Gordon! When energy waves pull the moon out of orbit, New York Jets quarterback Flash Gordon unwittingly finds himself heading for the planet Mongo, where'with assistance from beautiful Dale Arden'he'll take on Ming the Merciless and rescue humankind. This must-own Saviour of the Universe Edition features a digitally remastered picture, 5.1 surround sound, and the unforgettable musical score by Queen. Bursting with spectacular thrills and colorful dialogue, this Special Edition DVD features never-before-seen bonus materials. Flash Gordon: He's a miracle!

I loved this movie when it came out. I know the acting is a little corny, but I don't think it is that bad.

Go, Flash, go!!![/quote]

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Bursting with spectacular thrills and colorful dialogue, this Special Edition DVD features never-before-seen bonus materials.

Too bad those bonus materials basically suck.

Extras
Okay, so the video and audio on the disc are decent, but what about the extras that accompany this long awaited cult classic?

Well, first up is an interview with artist Alex Ross who goes on for around 13-minutes about how much of a Flash Gordon fan he is, what aspects of the picture draw him to watch over and over again, and what a cool thrill it was to design the upcoming action figure line based on the film. Next is a 10-minute piece with screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr. who discusses how he came on to the project at the behest of Dino De Laurentiis, his approach to writing the screenplay, and the reaction it received and how it has sort of changed over the years since the picture’s original release.

Also included is the first episode of the 1936 serial Planet of Peril which runs for about 20-minutes. The film in and of itself is of course dated, but what really interests me and why I find it fascinating that it was included has more to do with it being viewed as a comparison piece to the 1980 film featured on the disc than simply it’s entertainment value alone. I would suggest to anyone who hasn’t seen the original serials to give this a look before watching the main feature as it may give a better sense of appreciation as to what Hodges and his crew were trying to accomplish in capturing the whimsical charms of the Buster Crabbe original.

The extras are finished off with the original theatrical trailer and a teaser for the Sci-Fi Channels’ upcoming Flash Gordon series which runs for about 10-seconds and contains little more than the logo for the series.

The simplest thing to say is that I’m pretty disappointed in the special features that Universal has packaged with the movie. Alex Ross may be a great comic book artist and all, but he has as much to do with the making of the movie as the next fanboy who enjoys popping the movie in every once in a while and I gained nothing by watching his interview. Lorenzo Semple Jr.’s interview is decent enough and offers a few anecdotes on the development of the project but little else besides.

This is supposed to be the ‘Saviour of the Universe Edition’, so where are the retrospective interviews or commentaries with cast members such as Sam J. Jones and Melody Anderson or director Mike Hodges? Were there no deleted scenes or outtakes available to put on the disc? How about an isolated music track for one of the most beloved scores of the early 80s? Personally the score’s exclusion ranks right up there with George Lucas not including isolated tracks with John Williams’ legendary scores for the Star Wars films on DVD. Okay, okay, it really doesn’t, but it would’ve been super cool to include it.

The Momentum disc released in region two was also sparse on extras, but at least it included commentary tracks from director Mike Hodges and Brain Blessed and a lengthy interview with Hodges as well. Assuming money wasn’t an issue in importing the commentary tracks, I can understand why they might have been excluded here seeing as Hodges’ track—as lively and candid as it is—is peppered with cheap shot political comments targeted towards the United States and its sitting President and Brian Blessed is a supporting actor in the film and just isn’t as well known here as he is in the UK. Still, a track with Jones and Anderson would’ve added a lot of value to the set and would have been great to listen to.

[Tsyroc]

I thought I had read an interview with Sam Jones where he stated that he had a lot of difficulting getting DeLaurentis to pay him the salary he had earned making this movie. I think he even had to sue. That might make him a little less inclined to do the commentary or for the DeLaurentis family to want him to do a commentary.

I'd listen to a commentary by Brian Blessed. If they could get Timothy Dalton, Topol and Max Von Sydow that would be cool too.

I'm sorry to hear that they think Alex Ross wanking about another one of his favorite things should be considered anything but a minor extra.


I saw this movie in the theater when it originally came out, and while it is campy I thought it was fun. One of the harder things to deal with at the time was that Flash was the quarterback for the New York Jets. The Jets absolutely sucked at that time. I think they'd been going through stints of 2 and 4 win seasons so being the QB of the Jets wasn't very impressive.

Still, I'm surprised we haven't seen real athletes try to wear t-shirts with their own name on the front in a cool logo like Flash was doing in the movie.

[Jade Falcon]

The Silver Anniversary Region 2 edition is worth getting, it has commentary from Mike Hodges, another one from Brian Blessed, subtitles of course, photo gallery, an episode of the original series and trailer as well as an interview with Mike Hodges.

I always loved the design of the War Rocket Ajax, as a kit builder I wish someone had released a model of it.