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UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - Flashdance -- in 4k UHD (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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One really cannot discuss Adrian Lyne's Flashdance (1983) without making note of those involved behind the scenes.

The film was fully supported by Dawn Steel, who was Senior VP of Production at Paramount. When you screen Top Gun, Fatal Attraction and other films of the era that came from Paramount, you can at least in part, thank Dawn Steel. She is also the major reason that Lawrence of Arabia was reconstructed and restored 1986-88.

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, with a music score by Giorgio Moroder and supervised by Phil Ramone.

Shot by Don Peterman. Cut by Walt Mulconery and Bud Smith, mixed by Don Digirolamo, Buzz Knudson, Robert Glass et al.

And then there's that Main Title sequence - shades of Gone with the Wind, which I had always thought was the work of Wayne Fitzgerald, but is credited to Modern Film Effects.

While some reviewers find Flashdance to be a film of all style and little substance, I see it as a terrific piece of cinema entertainment, that still holds you in your seat and has you cheering four decades later.

Anyone who doesn't sit up a bit straighter and smile during the penultimate sequence just doesn't love cinema.

As to the look and sound of Paramount's new 4k, I'm unable to attest to original grain, but everything looks terrific and appropriate. A nice, highly resolved image which plays nicely in 4k. Black levels are gorgeous.

Image – 5 (Dolby Vision)

Audio – 5 (DTS-HD MA 5.1)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 4.25

Upgrade from Blu-ray - Yes!

Highly Recommended

RAH


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Malcolm R

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I'm a child of the 80's, but have never seen this. Might have to pick it up sometime.
 

RobertMG

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Terrible movies can still be entertaining.
Paramount was Paramount at the Box Office then, hit after hit then sell through VHS - glad this got a great RAH review - 80's guilty pleasure for sure!
 

JoeDoakes

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One really cannot discuss Adrian Lyne's Flashdance (1983) without making note of those involved behind the scenes.

The film was fully supported by Dawn Steel, who was Senior VP of Production at Paramount. When you screen Top Gun, Fatal Attraction and other films of the era that came from Paramount, you can at least in part, thank Dawn Steel. She is also the major reason that Lawrence of Arabia was reconstructed and restored 1986-88.

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, with a music score by Giorgio Moroder and supervised by Phil Ramone.

Shot by Don Peterman. Cut by Walt Mulconery and Bud Smith, mixed by Don Digirolamo, Buzz Knudson, Robert Glass et al.

And then there's that Main Title sequence - shades of Gone with the Wind, which I had always thought was the work of Wayne Fitzgerald, but is credited to Modern Film Effects.

While some reviewers find Flashdance to be a film of all style and little substance, I see it as a terrific piece of cinema entertainment, that still holds you in your seat and has you cheering four decades later.

Anyone who doesn't sit up a bit straighter and smile during the penultimate sequence just doesn't love cinema.

As to the look and sound of Paramount's new 4k, I'm unable to attest to original grain, but everything looks terrific and appropriate. A nice, highly resolved image which plays nicely in 4k. Black levels are gorgeous.

Image – 5 (Dolby Vision)

Audio – 5 (DTS-HD MA 5.1)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 4.25

Upgrade from Blu-ray - Yes!

Highly Recommended

RAH


Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate, HTF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.


You're a maniac RAH. MANIAC. I'm sure.
 

JoshZ

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I'm unable to attest to original grain, but everything looks terrific and appropriate.

At this point, I think we should take it as a given that any Paramount title has some amount of digital grain management. Whether any grain that's left visible is real or artificial is an open question, but is also probably academic unless the picture actually looks "wrong" to the eye.
 

Robert Harris

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At this point, I think we should take it as a given that any Paramount title has some amount of digital grain management. Whether any grain that's left visible is real or artificial is an open question, but is also probably academic unless the picture actually looks "wrong" to the eye.
And it looks fine.
 

Wayne Klein

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Sure - but not this one. It's basically a collection of music videos in search of characters and a story.

Snooze City.
I agree with Colin. Even when I saw it in the 80's I found it entertainment without substance. Nothing wrong with that but the characters were woefully underdeveloped. It will look great I'm sure.
 

Colin Jacobson

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This movie made me wonder: whatever happened to Polish jokes?

I'd kind of forgotten they ever existed until the Richie character told some.
 

Bryan^H

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Jennifer Beals is one of those rare beautiful actors that looks as good at 60 as she did when she was 20!

I don't like this movie, but I'm buying it from Amazon.
 

Museum Pieces

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The climactic dance scene was filmed aboard the Queen Mary. If you look closely while she is dancing you can see tons of pictures of old sailors and nautical elements on the wall.

This movie proves you can have a hit with very few plot points if you hit all the right beats and have a great soundtrack.
 

JimJasper

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One really cannot discuss Adrian Lyne's Flashdance (1983) without making note of those involved behind the scenes......
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sbjork

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Paramount was Paramount at the Box Office then, hit after hit then sell through VHS - glad this got a great RAH review - 80's guilty pleasure for sure!
Not to sidetrack, but the phrase "guilty pleasure" consists of trigger words for me. Unless you're into something that's illegal or harmful to others, there are no reasons whatsoever to feel guilty about enjoying something. Enjoy what you enjoy. It's silly to hedge like that. It's like people are worried that they might be judged by others for enjoying something, so they call it a guilty pleasure rather than just admitting that they enjoy it. Who gives a rat's *** what anyone else thinks? If the whole rest of the world hates something that you enjoy, proclaim your love of it with pride and let them grumble.

I've got a review copy of the UHD that I hope to get to this weekend, and while I freely admit that I'm not a fan of the film, comments like that, plus the general negativity of other comments about it, have motivated me to make an effort into trying to see the good side of it. It's certainly not a great film, but it's not a terrible one either, so I'm just going to have to come up with a defense of it!
 

DarkVader

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This movie brings me as much if not even more joy and pleasure as it did when I first saw it as a fifteen-year-old at the Loew's Astor Plaza in the Spring of 1983.
 

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