Flash Gordon re-release is coming..... (1 Viewer)

[Dave Mack]

Weird... FG is on comcast OnDemand this month. we watched a few minutes and noticed that it had the MGM Lion Roar logo before the flick! What gives? Universal?!?!?

 

[Lord Dalek]

Maybe MGM got it as part of their acquisition of DEG.

 

[David_Blackwell]

If SPHE has the rights now for DVD, I wonder when we will see the SE in R1 land.

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

What is also possible is that Universal is using an HD master that carries MGM's logo.

The rights to many Dino DeLaurentiis films are split around the world between StudioCanal and MGM for most of Europe, and with the various U.S. studios who released them here. And in such cases, sometimes one party works on a film more than the other one does.

Case in point: MGM owns ARMY OF DARKNESS overseas, and they released a "director's cut" disc in R3 that uses film elements for all the missing footage. But in the U.S., where Universal owns the film, for whatever reason, they only provided Anchor Bay with videotape elements to digitally insert said scenes into the print.

So in this case, Universal may have just used MGM's materials and didn't bother to remove or replace their logo.

By the same token, the R2 DVD of FLASH GORDON from StudioCanal still opens with a Universal logo, indicating that they used a U.S. print source for their master.

 

[Sam Favate]

Hey folks,
This is listed in the Bits' Rumor Mill as coming in August. It's called "Flash Gordon: Savior of the Universe Edition."

Sounds good to me, and its about time!

 

[Lord Dalek]

Flash! AH-AAAAAAH.

Terrific, I just hope it isn't that lousy transfer Optimum apparantly used in the UK.

 

[Jason_V]

This has officially made my day! Thanks for the heads up Sam!

 

[Malcolm Cleugh]

The UK release was actually from Momentum. The 25th Anniversary included both DTS and DD tracks.
Hopefully this time they will include some proper retrospective documentaries as the UK version apart from the commentaries has limited extras.

 

[James Phillips]

The UK transfer looks pretty good to me.

 

[Kevin M]

Hmmm...any chance of it having the rather inflammatory Mike Hodges commentary from the french DVD?

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I am so all over this if it's true.

 

[Paul Arnette]

The transfer didn't bother me anywhere near as much as the speed-up. That said, I spend an eternity waiting for this to come to SD, and since they didn't mention an HD DVD release, I suppose I'll spend another eternity waiting for that. *Sigh*

 

[Eric Gripp]

Flash Gordon (1980) is truly horrible. Yet, like a lot of you, I love it. Why is that?!

When I think of Flash Gordon I always think of George Lucas. How he unsuccessfully tried to get the rights to make Flash Gordon feature films. Those same rights holders must have been kicking themselves when Lucas made so much money after coming up with his own space adventure saga. Combined budget total for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back: $29 million. Combined domestic box-office take for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back: $751 million.

Budget for Flash Gordon (1980): $35 million. Domestic box-office take for Flash Gordon (1980): $27 million.

Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back: All-time classics.
Flash Gordon (1980): Camp classic!

I am definitely buying this DVD! What took so long I wonder?

 

[Kevin M]

I see so many folks who assume that the campy quality of Flash! was unintentional....after reading three different interviews with Sam, Melody & Mike Hodges in Starlog before the film was released it is clear that they DID try for camp and it succeeded beyond their wildest dreams...so much so that people didn't/wouldn't buy that it was intentional.

I love the film for all the "right" reasons!

 

[James Phillips]

Studio Canal will probably release it on HD in Europe before too long. Maybe even before the Universal disc is released.

 

[Eric Gripp]

I don't know about your theory Kevin M. I'm 100% sure that some of the humor and silliness was intentional, but I don't really buy in to the idea they were purposely making something along the lines of the Batman television show. Why would they?

 

[Kevin M]

It's not a "theory" Eric, all three said this in exact terms in Starlog well before the film was released.
Look at the trend in Sci-fi films at that time, serious, serious, serious, not much fun at all so to speak, Flash starts as a goofy cartoon and ends as a goofy cartoon, it spoofs the oh so serious attitude towards sci-fi in the late 70's and sends up the very serials that Lucas was paying homage to. Flash was basically the anti-Star Wars.

I haven't heard the commentaries from the other regions so if anyone else has please tell me if I am right or wrong....but I know damn well that in late 1979 and early 1980 Hodges stated in Starlog that the film was intentionally campy to emulate how campy the original serials were.

 

[SilverWook]

Lorenzo Semple, who wrote the screenplay, also worked on the Batman series.

 

[David_Blackwell]

About time the new edition comes to DVD.

 

[TheBat]

when I was in LA back in November for the superman 2 donner cut screening. I found a record store that carried region dvd movies. they had the flash gordon region 2 special edition for sale.. like 14.99 or so. I picked it up.

Jacob