Review: 'Flash Gordon' in 4K Crisply Revives the Campy Space Adventure

In the 1970s, George Lucas tried to acquire the rights to a comic strip and television serial from the Depression Era called "Flash Gordon." The main character was blond haired, blue-eyed hero who gets himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he is sent into space where a cadre of imaginative space creatures surrounds him. But alas, Lucas couldn't afford the rights to the property, so he made his own version of it and called it "Star Wars."

The man who owned the film rights to "Flash Gordon" was mega producer Dino De Laurentiis–he who brought Italian neorealism to a worldwide audience and a worldwide audience to the more than 500 films he helped create. He teamed up with Mike Hodges, one of the bad boys of British cinema. But neither of them had much respect for the genre that Lucas made his life work–the fantasy adventure serial, the space saga, not to be confused with science fiction in any way. It was born from the pulp fiction paperbacks of publishers like Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Still, no one denied the kind of money this kind of movie could accrue. De Laurentiis and Hodges took the parody route, and what they gave us is a silly, sensational "space opera," a fetishistic farce, a baroque, nearly surreal fantasy admired by critics and cosplayers, fanboys and those with a discriminating taste for haute camp.

For those whose only knowledge of this film is the remarkable soundtrack produced and preformed by the rock band Queen, the film is every bit as gaudy and ridiculous. Confronted with the fact that every film studio in Britain was three times smaller than he needed for his spectacle, De Laurentiis rented an aircraft hanger. He filled the entire space with epic sets, handmade spacescapes, scores of sequins and of course a lot of beefy men in leather hotpants.

The breadth of the cast is breathtaking as well, featuring classically trained Shakespearian actors like Timothy Dalton and Brian Blessed; Ingmar Bergman's iconic hero, Max von Sydow; the beloved "Fiddler on the Roof," Topol; one of the most influential English playwrights of the 20th Century, John Osborn; and a bleach blond "Playgirl" model, Sam Jones.

In one of the plethora of special features on this new Blu-ray release, Jones who plays the title character says, "I grew up in athletics... It had a lot to do with me getting the part... other than taking my clothes off."

The story is simple, and like "Star Wars" it takes its inspiration from the Greek and Roman classics. An evil godlike superpower can control human destiny–Ming the Merciless (von Sydow) is getting ready to destroy the earth. But one man, Flash (a pretty remarkable specimen for certain but no superhero) and his fellow adventures, Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) and Professor Hans Zarkov (Topol), possess the all-American spunk to take him down.

Jones calls his character the "sort of the all-American guy that any farmer would trust with his daughter." This may be true, but can the farmer trust his daughter? Women and men tend to throw themselves at this guy like they've just been given a vaccine for COVID.

This Blu-ray release is a thing of beauty, filled with all kinds of treasures. A pristine 4K scan of the original camera negative restores crisp focus, deep blacks and brilliant colors, unseen since the film was screened in theaters. Special features include a classic making-of video filled with behind-the-scenes views of costume making and fight choreographing; retrospective interviews with the cast and cre;, archival audio commentary; an episode from the animated TV series: and–just off the festival circuit–a feature length documentary "Life After Flash," a celebration of, an explanation for, this cult classic.

Not only that, this collection contains merch–a full-color, double-sided movie poster; a booklet filled with critical writing and original stills; and double-sided, collectible trading cards, like the ones that were originally distributed in boxes of Weetabix cereal.

"Flash Gordon"
Blu-ray $29.98
www.arrowfilms.co.uk/