Gordon’s alive!
Revived from the vault on 4K Blu-ray, Flash Gordon’s sci-fi visuals and classic soundtrack gain unexpected new life, though alas, ‘Flesh’ Gordon doesn’t make it to the extras.
Flash, I love you, but we only have 14 hours to save the Earth! Sampled for Queen’s soundtrack single — along with the truly meme-worthy “Gordon’s alive!” — it’s a line that nails the very essence of 1980’s Flash Gordon. It’s all there in those 14 breathless words: the incorruptible innocence of its heroes, the life-and-death stakes, the eternal wink that hovers over the action but never punctures the fantasy. Powered as much by leather-gloved perviness as squarejawed derring-do, Flash Gordon remains a delivery system for pure audience feelgood, a cosmic panto forever on the brink of Brian Blessed lobbing panto sweets into the front row. Hail, Ming!
Newly restored for the film’s 40th anniversary, this impressive 4K Blu-ray upgrade enables us to truly savour Danilo Donati’s stunning production design. Mongo may be studio-bound but that’s a plus: all swirling paint-in-water skies and glittering exotica, it’s one of cinema’s most airtight and immersive fantasy worlds. And there’s a defiantly retro vibe that’s aged well. Post-Star Wars, the film chooses to honour the visual aesthetic of Alex
Raymond’s 1930s’ comic strip, right down to the finned, needlenosed rocketship models.
As an anniversary release, the extras are strong. There’s a frank and engaging commentary by director Mike Hodges and a fond, (unexpectedly subdued) commentary by Brian Blessed. Lost In Space (27 minutes) offers a fascinating look at original director Nicolas Roeg’s plans for a dystopian ‘Biblical epic’, complete with some fantastic concept art. A 1980 featurette (14 minutes) delivers authentic behind-the-scenes footage, while a 2002 interview with Hodges is mainly Flash-centric but also touches on his career as a whole. Also included are all-too-brief interview snippets with Jones, Anderson, Blessed, poster artist Renato Casaro and (covering the soundtrack) Brian May and Howard Blake.
The film’s 35th anniversary screening in London is celebrated with a cast and crew reunion, both backstage (eight minutes) and on-stage (six minutes). There’s also a brief featurette on recent merchandise, and a look at deleted and alternate scenes — no actual footage, though. The two-disc set also throws in an episode of 1979’s Flash Gordon cartoon (24 minutes) along with photo and storyboard galleries and the still outrageously exciting original trailer. There’s also a limited five-disc Collector’s Edition, which packages a UHD version alongside Life After Flash, 2017’s revealing, sympathetic documentary about the life and travails of Sam J Jones. Also included in that: the glorious Queen soundtrack CD, 32-page booklet, a 16-page taster for Titan’s forthcoming making-of book, a reproduction of the original comic strip, poster, four art cards, and a sew-on Flash patch! Nick Setchfield