Wednesday, March 24, 2010

News: FLASH GORDON (1980) Blu-Ray in June

Figures. Almost to the moment that I revise and post my three year-old review of the Flash Gordon - Saviour Of the Universe Edition DVD to this blog, Universal announces that the exact same version - but in high definition - will be hitting the street in June on Blu-Ray Disc.

The format will be 2.2:1 1080p and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. D-BOX Motion Code will be included as well as BD Live. Bonus features appear to be identical with those on the Saviour edition DVD: An interview with screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr., and interview with illustrator/fan Alex Ross, the first chapter of the 1936 serial with Buster Crabbe, and the original theatrical trailer. I'm assuming the promo for the now gone-and-forgotten SciFi Channel disaster will not be included this time.

Universal's SRP is $26.98. But you can pre-order Flash Gordon [Blu-ray] (1980) from Amazon at that link now for less than twenty bucks.

4 comments:

  1. You know, I have never gotten around to seeing this movie...

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  2. I really wish someone would give the opticals a clean up in Flash Gordon, such as the transparent Hawkmen in certain shots in the battle above War Rocket Ajax !! If they could digitally comp the old blue screen elements this could look so great !!!

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  3. You know, it's a mystery to me why the magnificent Flash always receives such pathetic treatment in the special features department. Am I the only one who would love to see Sam "The Highwayman" Jones and Melody Anderson waxing lyrical about their time on the picture? Apparently, the show was quite a complicated gig, what with Nicholas Roeg abandoning the project, leaving Mike Hodges - who was slated to direct the never-to-be Flash sequel - to take the captain's chair on this now classic origin outing, and the almost insurmountable obstacles posed by the many languages that inhabited the set during production. What great stories they could tell, and Sam could even convey them using his real voice! Damn, let's just get everybody - Topol, Von Sydow, Ornella Muti, Queen...Yeah, a documentary to rival Blade Runner's superb Dangerous Days would be just the ticket! He is the saviour of the universe, after all!

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