Flash Gordon 1936 serial really has been restored (7 Viewers)

[Camps]

Well I hope they get this deal done with Lionsgate. I know there are folks hereabouts who disagree, but I frankly find it pointless celebrating a restoration that doesn't have a homevid plan (blu-ray, or at least streaming or TCM) attached to it. Not all of us are able to make regular treks to UCLA's library or LA's Egyptian Theater....

 

[Capt D McMars]

Well I hope they get this deal done with Lionsgate. I know there are folks hereabouts who disagree, but I frankly find it pointless celebrating a restoration that doesn't have a homevid plan (blu-ray, or at least streaming or TCM) attached to it. Not all of us are able to make regular treks to UCLA's library or LA's Egyptian Theater....

...and many that no longer have access to TCM. I too hope that Lionsgate can wake up and give these amazing serials to someone, like VCI, to take the ball and run with it, and actualy create this in BD.

 

[jayembee]

I couldn't care less about the goofy "Flash Gordon," but if they ever get round to restoring the less fanciful "Buck Rogers" for Blu-ray, I'll be first in line to buy it.

By the by, isn't it rather interesting that Buster Crabbe is the only actor who played all three of the major adventure newspaper comic strip characters: Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and Tarzan?

 

[RobertMG]

Well I hope they get this deal done with Lionsgate. I know there are folks hereabouts who disagree, but I frankly find it pointless celebrating a restoration that doesn't have a homevid plan (blu-ray, or at least streaming or TCM) attached to it. Not all of us are able to make regular treks to UCLA's library or LA's Egyptian Theater....

Yep if Lionsgate does not do a deal King Features loses and we all lose too so millions spent to restore films that only Hollywood insiders will see - when many a firm would release these projects - thank GOD for KINO VCI WAC SHOUT Paramount etc etc

 

[B-ROLL]

By the by, isn't it rather interesting that Buster Crabbe is the only actor who played all three of the major adventure newspaper comic strip characters: Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and Tarzan?

He was arguably the Ahorld Schwarzenegger or Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson of his day ... ....

 

[RBailey]

As much as I love FLASH GORDON, the serial that really needs to get a Blu-ray release is Republic’s SPY SMASHER, an astonishing action-packed chapter play directed by William Witney.

 

[Phil Crosby]

I will buy this in a second

 

[Michael1]

Heh heh, good call. 4 hours plus on a Sunday night without food (no food in that theater) is not my idea of a good time. And I'll be masked as well.

Well, it sounds like you won't be attending, so I guess you won't have to be masked.

 

[Michael1]

There is a colorized version of all 12 chapters on YouTube.
I wonder where that came from. I don't think there was a colorized DVD released.

I checked out one of them and this is obviously one of those very cheap, quick, awful "colorization" jobs, really not worth anyone's time.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Well, it sounds like you won't be attending, so I guess you won't have to be masked.

I spoke with a colleague who worked on this and I plan on seeing him there. What I don't plan on doing is staying for the entire screening.

 

[CJamesCook]

This release really screams out to be worthy of passel of extras. Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers are arguably the grandparents of so many science fiction films. That Lucasfilm helped sponsor the restoration speaks to this. Perhaps they would also have the influence (control?) to push for a high quality disc release (not VCI) with extras.

 

[Capt D McMars]

I don't know if I could sit through all 425 minutes of that in one go, but it might be worth it to watch a few chapters.

According to the latest update from the UCLA FATVA is ~
35mm, b&w, 245 min. Director: Frederick Stephani, Ray Taylor. Screenwriters: Frederick Stephani, Ella O'Neill, George Plympton, Basil Dickey. With: Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles Middleton.

 

[Capt D McMars]

There is a colorized version of all 12 chapters on YouTube.
I wonder where that came from. I don't think there was a colorized DVD released.

No, you can tell it was a fan production = nice try but working from sad film elements only gives you sad color results...

 

[Paul Penna]

UCLA screening November 19.

 

[CJamesCook]

Yup, I have several serials on DVD & they really don’t work if you watch them in one go. I’d say no more than two a day, maybe before a big feature. ...

The recommendation for serials and TV series is to watch an episode every other day at most. Yeah, some people want to binge, but an empty day in-between seems to help.

 

[Capt D McMars]

The recommendation for serials and TV series is to watch an episode every other day at most. Yeah, some people want to binge, but an empty day in-between seems to help.

I've seen many of the classic serials that offer the movie version (minus the intro /outro summeries).
But these wern't really made to be binged. They're more fun to watch 1 a day, not once a week...as they intended, once a week is just too long, for me anyway.

 

[Alan Tully]

If you watch 'em one after the other, you'll notice the outrageous cheats they did with the cliffhanger endings. I'd think about it all week, & when the next Saturday morning came around & I saw the next instalment, I'd think, how come I missed that!

 

[cadavra]

I went and sat through the whole thing. They did a marvelous job considering what they had to work with, not to mention the oceans of cruddy and unfixable stock footage strewn throughout.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

I stayed for the first two chapters and thought they were terrific.

 

[David Weicker]

I stayed for the first two chapters and thought they were terrific.

Did they look better than the current Image DVDs (assuming you have those and can remember)?