Flash Gordon

FLASH GORDON 30th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

Release Date: August 28th, 2010
Certificate: PG
Running Time: 111 minutes

Director: Mike Hodges

Cast: Sam Jones, Melody Anderson, Chaim Topol, Max von Sydow, Ornella Muti, Brian Blessed, Timothy Dalton, Suzanne Danielle, John Hallam, Mariangela Melato, Richard O’Brien, John Osborne, Philip Stone, Peter Wyngarde, Peter Duncan

The cult classic Flash Gordon gets the Blu-ray treatment and a special edition release! Directed by Mike Hodges and starring Sam J Jones, Melody Anderson, Max Von Sydow, Topol, Timothy Dalton and Robbie Coltrane and with a soundtrack by legendary Queen Flash Gordon is a camp music extravaganza and a hallucinogenic experience in lurid Technicolor!

When football star Flash (Jones) is bundled onto a spaceship together with travel agent Dale Arden (Anderson) by Dr Zarkov (Topol), the trio clash land on the planet Mongo where Ming the Merciless rules. When he takes Dale to be his wife, Flash has no choice but to try and rescue her. With the help of Ming’s daughter Princess Aura (Muti) Flash escapes his death sentence, but the princess has other plans for him. Along the way he must also duel with Prince Barrin (Dalton) and form an alliance with a rebel group of Hawk-men led by Prince Vultan (Blessed) if he has any hope of defeating Ming, saving Dale and Earth.

While the ‘70’s and most of the ‘80’s were responsible for a lot of camp classics, Flash Gordon, along with Masters of the Universe (1987), Rocky Horror Picture Show (1973) and Little Shop of Horrors (1987) tend to top the countdown lists and its no surprise why. Set design, dialogue, costumes and music contribute to its camp style, but viewers are also treated to glorious amounts of shirtless screen time from Sam Jones as well as pair of very revealing leather shorts.

This HD version offers super sharp picture quality and the colours have never looked so fresh before. Bursting with pinks, blues, reds and yellows it’s like a swirling candy factory before your eyes. The limited edition steel tin comes with the Queen soundtrack which is a must-have for any Flash Gordon fan. The disc itself contains a short interview with the director Mike Hodges and an audio commentary is optional for the movie as well. The HD conversion doesn’t make the special effects look any better and why should it? After all its all these little imperfections which add to its cult/camp feel.

As a Special Edition release, it’s a shame the package doesn’t include any further bonus features such as Making Of, Deleted or Extended Scenes. The menu does however integrate images and graphics as well as scenes from the movie, including a major spoiler involving Ming! Still, a very enjoyable package and supersedes any previous DVD and VHS release for sure.

Patrick Samuel

The founder of Static Mass Emporium and one of its Editors in Chief is a composer and music producer with a philosophy degree. Static Mass is where he lives his passion for film and writing about it. A fan of film classics, documentaries and World Cinema, Patrick prefers films with an impeccable way of storytelling that reflect on the human condition.

You can find his music on Soundcloud .

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