Flash Gordon: Saviour Of The Universe Edition DVD Review

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Title: Flash Gordon: Saviour Of The Universe Edition

Region: One

Genre: Sci-Fi Camp Space Opera Fantasy

Stars: Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Ornella Muti, Max Von Sydow, Topol, Timothy Dalton, Mariangela Melato, Brian Blessed, and Peter Wyngarde

Writer: Lorenzo Semple Jr.

Director: Mike Hodges

Feature length: 1 hour and 52 minutes

Extras: Alex Ross, Renowned Comic Artist, On Flash Gordon Interview, Writing A Classic: Screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr. Interview, Flash Gordon 1936 Serial Premiere Episode, Flash Gordon SCI FI Channel TV Show Trailer, Theatrical Trailer

Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack

Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Imapred and French and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Digipack

Chapter Stops: 18

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 1980/DVD Release: 2007

Theatrical Distributor: Universal Pictures

Home Video Distributor: Universal Studios Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: PG

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

Following the success of Star Wars, many studios put sci-fi fantasy films into production, usually focusing on comic strip properties while trying to capture a quality of special effects that was as close to what people saw in Star Wars as possible. Warner Brothers had Superman: The Movie and Universal developed Buck Rogers In The 25 Century as both a feature film for the summer of 1979 and an NBC TV series that lasted two seasons. While Buck Rogers In The 25^Th Century featured effects comparable to the original Battlestar Galactica, (both shows were produced by Glen A. Larson), the film as well as the TV series tried to look like what at the time was considered cutting edge special effects, but the camp value and 70s kitsch was just all wrong. Then in 1980, Universal released Flash Gordon, which faired better on three levels. First it never attempted to be anything other than it was thus the retro look of the film along with the colorful costumes and effects work in general and were intended to capture the mood of both the comic strip and the 1930s serial. The casting of the film featured some good British Actors too that included the jovial Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan, Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin, Topol as Doctor Zarkov, and in guest roles or very early big screen appearances, Richard O’Brien, John Hallam, Robbie Coltrane, and Deep Roy. The film also features Max Von Sydow as a superb Emperor Ming The Merciless, a role he seems to have been born to play. Sam J. Jones and Melody Anderson play Flash Gordon and Dale Arden respectively and everyone in the film seems to understand that this is both a space opera for the kids and one that would appeal to adults who remember watching the serials at the movie theater and on TV. Finally the score by Queen elevated the action enough to earn the film a loyal cult following that still exists today.

I remember watching the first serial on PBS channel thirteen in New York in the mid 1970s and being still in my single digits, I loved watching them with my father and brother beside me. Then there was the 1970s animated series that captured the look and feel of the serials too. There is at least one character that has a Darth Vader like look to him as embodied by Emperor Ming’s Chief of the Secret Police, General Klytus (Peter Wyngarde). At the time all TV sci-fi and feature film sci-fi seemed to think if there was some character that would remotely seem sort of like a Darth Vader type then maybe it would garner a larger audience. Interestingly, there was Internet chatter that the scene in which the villain Klytus meets his fate was somewhat of an inspiration for the death of General Grievous in Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. It’s already well known that before creating Star Wars, George Lucas had wanted to bring Flash Gordon to the big screen and there are various visual nods throughout the entire saga that are inspired by the 1930 serials. Klytus appears to be some sort of cyborg and many of Ming’s soldiers also look like they could be cyborgs too. Science Fiction Author Frank Herbert was hired as a script consultant for the film. Dino De Laurentis owned the theatrical big screen rights to Herbert’s Dune, which e later produced with David Lynch as writer and director. Herbert served as a script consultant on that film too. The David Lynch version of Dune seems to suggest particularly with the Harkonnens a kind of biological alteration with technology that never is explained and is not in the book as far as I remember. So it’s interesting to me that Frank Herbert served as a script consultant for both films and there is this kind of thing in both films.

The plot has Ming causing the Earth’s moon to mysteriously break apart as it moves from its natural orbit slowly on a collision course into the Earth itself. Tracking the energy being used to cause this attack, Doctor Zarkov forces Dale Arden and Flash Gordon to accompany him into a rocket that takes them into a vortex where in what appears to be some strange parallel dimension the rocket crashes on the planet Mongo and all are captured and taken before the Emperor Ming. Ming has Arden separated from the others so he can have his way with her later and Doctor Zarkov is left in custody of General Klytus to have his memory erased while he believes Flash has been publicly executed. However Princess Aura (Ornella Muti) secretly has Flash given something before his execution to help him survive the poisonous gas chamber he is placed into. Then later after being revived and dealing with Prince Barin and Prince Vultan, Flash Gordon inspires a rebellion to free the people of Mongo and save the Earth.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s Flash Gordon: Saviour Of The Universe Edition presents Flash Gordon in an anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio that has been digitally remastered for this DVD release. The original release through Image Entertainment looked pretty good and so does this DVD release. The new English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack serves the film’s score by Queen to great effect though at times the music over powers the actual film sound effects and so forth. English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded onto the DVD as options.

The extra value materials are rather light compared to the Region 2 DVD counterpart, but still a vast improvement over the Image Entertainment DVD release, which had nothing extra at all. First there is an impassioned Alex Ross discussing his love for the film. The DVD includes a postcard of original artwork inspired by the film by Ross and Alex Ross also did the artwork for the cover too (13:28). Then there is an interview with Screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr. (9:16) where he discusses both the positive and negative reaction the film garnered when it was first released and it’s subsequent growth toward cult status more than 20 years later. His stories about working with De Laurentis and the production designer are interesting to say the least. Though some will definitely find it unintentionally humorous, I am glad Universal has included the very first chapter of the original Flash Gordon 1936 serial series starring Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Priscilla Lawson and Charles Middleton (20:43) on the DVD. I was actually surprised by how much the first episode set up was used in the 1980 feature film. The episode entitled “Planet Of Peril” is presented in the original (1.33:1) aspect ratio of the original 1936 theatrical presentation. The theatrical trailer (2:01) is also letterboxed and the TV spot (: 14) for the new SCI FI Channel TV series shows absolutely nothing from the series at all. Having screened the first three episodes for an accompanying review that you can read by clicking here, I was hoping to see something with finished special effects to give me a better idea of how the completed program will look.

Those wondering why the word savior is spelled “Saviour” on the DVD case should note that In the Queen lyrics savior is spelled, “SAVIOUR.” So, in reverence to the Queen music—Universal Studios Home Entertainment used that spelling. Flash Gordon: Saviour Of The Universe Edition is available on DVD now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The new SCI FI Channel TV series premieres on Friday, August 10, 2007 9pm (ET/PT) 8pm (CT).

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