DVD Pick of the Week - Flash Gordon: Savior of the Universe Edition
Flash Gordon: Savior of the Universe Edition
So this week’s DVD pick was a real crisis of conscience for me, faithful readers. I have been desperately anticipating the release of the most magnificent of early-80’s sci-fi cheese fests, Mike Hodges’ Flash Gordon, ever since the Brits received a sterling Region 2 edition back in 2005. Patiently, I waited… subsequently, I was crushed to discover that our US version would include barely half of the special features that the UK received, and in my bitterness decided to review the collector’s edition of Kaufman’s 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers instead. But I just couldn’t – every spangle-loving, laser-beam-craving, “Flash!…Ahh-aaaahhh!” wailing bone in my body demands that I go through with my original plan. Oh, alrighty then…
You know the drill, or if you don’t then listen up, spacenuts: Flash Gordon (Sam J. Jones), star quarterback for the New York Jets, is unstoppable out on the field. But can he handle the offense on Planet Mongo? Shanghai’ed by the diabolical Ming the Merciless (Max Von Sydow, reaching unparalleled scenery-gnashing heights…or at least second to his Brewmeister Smith in Strange Brew), it’s up to Flash and his mates to stop the bald baddie’s plans for the destruction of planet Eaaarrrrth. As a newcomer embodying a comics icon, Jones may not have gone on to Chris Reeve-like acclaim – to be honest, he is out-prettied by Melody Anderson’s Dale Arden, out-hunked by Timothy Dalton’s Prince Barin, and out-acted by pretty much everyone – but damned if there isn’t something appealing about all that flaxen brawn. And despite the clunky dialogue and campy tone of the proceedings, it’s virtually impossible not to love the colorful, lo-fi homage to the original Flash serials.
If you own a multi-region DVD player, then by all means get the Region 2 disc instead – it really does include much better extras, including commentaries with Hodges and the mighty Vultan himself, Brian Blessed. But without the technology, this will do ya fine; the anamorphic widescreen presentation looks fantastic. One more for the road… “Ahh-aaaahhh!”
Also recommended this week: Bubba Ho-tep: Special Edition; Crime Story: Collector’s Edition; Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Collector’s Editon; Jailhouse Rock: Deluxe Edition; Luis Buñuel Box Set; The Muppet Show: Season 2; The Simpsons: Season 10; Viva Las Vegas: Deluxe Edition
— Nicole Campos
