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Flash Gordon

post #1 of 26
8/19/06 at 3:47am
Thread Starter 
Due to some recent discussion of this movie on the boards lately, I popped in my copy tonight for the first time in years.

What a piece of crap.

Not the movie, mind you. I love the movie. But the DVD is a disgrace. Grainy picture, bad sound, no extras, no menu, not even a trailer. This film is in dire need of a special edition. If there's a petition, I'll sign it. For the love of god, somebody do something.
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post #2 of 26
8/19/06 at 4:00am
I believe there is a region 2 SE release with all the cool goodies, pristine transder, a Brian Blessed commentary and other cool shit.

The DVD is awful, I'm glad I have it on laserdisc, which looks outstanding in comparison. Love that trailer.

Such a blast of a film. Anyone that hates this film needs to go check into a morgue.
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post #3 of 26
8/19/06 at 4:10am
Thread Starter 
The only unfortunate weak point in the movie is the hero himself. Sam Jones just doesn't connect with the tone of the film the way everyone else does. Melody Anderson is apparently having a blast with the thing, Von Sydow is chewing scenery like an Ethiopian at a salad bar, and Blessed is so far over the top they had to put wings on him to get there. Jones has the physical presence, but he's just not very fun to watch.
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post #4 of 26
8/19/06 at 4:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David
and Blessed is so far over the top they had to put wings on him to get there.
Awesome.
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post #5 of 26
8/19/06 at 4:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David
The only unfortunate weak point in the movie is the hero himself. Sam Jones just doesn't connect with the tone of the film the way everyone else does. Melody Anderson is apparently having a blast with the thing, Von Sydow is chewing scenery like an Ethiopian at a salad bar, and Blessed is so far over the top they had to put wings on him to get there. Jones has the physical presence, but he's just not very fun to watch.

Nah, I think he's a blast to watch, totally clueless to all the happenings. He delivers the corny lines about as good as can be expected. The movie endures though thanks to the great supporting cast and of course Queens awesome soundtrack. Strange that Jones' voice was dubbed by someone else.
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post #6 of 26
8/19/06 at 4:59am
Thread Starter 
Was it? I knew it was dubbed, sometimes badly, but I thought that was him.
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post #7 of 26
8/19/06 at 5:02am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt OCallaghan
Awesome.
Thank you, I'll be here all week.
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post #8 of 26
8/19/06 at 5:13am
Thread Starter 
I was browsing for images for my new avatar, and I found these foreign posters:





The first one is obviously trying to evoke the comics and movie serials, since it bears almost no visual resemblance to the actual movie, and it has Prince Thun on it, who gets nailed in the first act. The second one is awesome. I have to find a copy of that.
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post #9 of 26
8/19/06 at 6:57am
Great looking posters. I have a nice collection of movie posters that I hope to someday display throughout my mansion.

Greg, have you picked up The New Adventures of Flash Gordon? It's the NBC animated series from the late 70's that preceded the movie by one year. It's great stuff and resembles the first poster almost to a T, even down the Thun the Lion Man.

Enough with the horror remakes, lets see Flash updated. The FX would look incrediable, but the spirit of this one would not even come close.
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post #10 of 26
8/19/06 at 6:58am
Great looking posters. I have a nice collection of movie posters that I hope to someday display throughout my mansion. I have an original Flash Gordon poster framed and hanging on my living room wall.

Greg, have you picked up The New Adventures of Flash Gordon? It's the NBC animated series from the late 70's that preceded the movie by one year. It's great stuff and resembles the first poster almost to a T, even down the Thun the Lion Man.

Enough with the horror remakes, lets see Flash updated. The FX would look incrediable, but the spirit of this one would not even come close.
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post #11 of 26
8/19/06 at 6:59am
Great looking posters. I have a nice collection of movie posters that I hope to someday display throughout my mansion. I have an original Flash Gordon poster, the pathetic earthlings one, framed and hanging on my living room wall.

Greg, have you picked up The New Adventures of Flash Gordon? It's the NBC animated series from the late 70's that preceded the movie by one year. It's great stuff and resembles the first poster almost to a T, even down the Thun the Lion Man.

Enough with the horror remakes, lets see Flash updated. The FX would look incrediable, but the spirit of this one would not even come close.
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post #12 of 26
8/19/06 at 7:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David
Was it? I knew it was dubbed, sometimes badly, but I thought that was him.

Yeah, Jones and the producers had a dispute over something, Jones refused to come back for looping, so another actor was hired.

Would love to meet this cast at a con sometime.
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post #13 of 26
8/19/06 at 7:05am
Triple post! Top that, suckas!
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post #14 of 26
8/19/06 at 7:37am
"Spare me the madness!!"

Or whatever he says.
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post #15 of 26
8/19/06 at 8:00am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by General Zod
Greg, have you picked up The New Adventures of Flash Gordon? It's the NBC animated series from the late 70's that preceded the movie by one year. It's great stuff and resembles the first poster almost to a T, even down the Thun the Lion Man.
I have fond memories of that show. I haven't bought it yet, but it's sitting in my Amazon wish list. I remember thinking at the time that the spaceships were the coolest things on television because they rotoscoped actual motion-control model shots. I'd been a big Flash Gordon fan since childhood, when my dad used to wake me up at 11:00 every night because the late show was showing the old movie serial before their main feature, one episode a night. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. So seeing someone do an animated series was a big thing for me.

Filmation did several great animated series based on classic characters. I loved their Tarzan; it was the only version that really hewed closely to the over-the-top aspects of the novels. Zorro and The Lone Ranger were very well done, too. Zorro had rotoscoped swordfight moves. They recycled them a lot, but it was still the best animated fighting anywhere.

At various times, I've heard it floated that both Ridley Scott and Stephen Sommers were considering Flash Gordon projects. I even heard (this was back in the 90's) that Scott wanted Blessed to play Vultan again. Frankly, I'm relieved that Sommers' project fell through. I'd like to see somebody do it, though.
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post #16 of 26
8/19/06 at 12:23pm
He'll Save Every One Of Us!!
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post #17 of 26
8/19/06 at 4:05pm
there is so much great info in this thread about FG that i never knew! i love the movie, but until it came out on dvd a number of years back, the crappy bare bones, i had only ever seen it on tv. I was just happy that the dvd gave me widescreen! there was so much "picture" that i had never seen before that i was blown away.

Sounds like i really need to find a R2 copy of this movie!
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post #18 of 26
8/19/06 at 7:36pm
Greg, that second poster you posted is by the great fantasy illustrator Boris Vallejo. Why it wan't used for the American release I'll never understand.
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post #19 of 26
8/19/06 at 8:12pm
FLASH GORDON is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. And frankly, I'm not feeling so guilty anymore. As such, I actually own this oversized French poster:



But I'm dying to get this rare mylar U.S. teaser poster:



I remember seeing these in theaters around the time THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was playing. Gorgeous artwork.
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post #20 of 26
8/19/06 at 9:40pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cruikshank
Greg, that second poster you posted is by the great fantasy illustrator Boris Vallejo. Why it wan't used for the American release I'll never understand.
I thought that style looked familiar. I probably didn't recognize it because there are no scantily-clad female bodybuilders on it.

Litmus, those things are brilliant. If I had every Flash Gordon poster, I'm not sure which one I'd choose to display. It's interesting that the American one made Ming the center of attention, while the foreign ones focused on the hero. Every one of them made use of the Hawkmen, though.
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post #21 of 26
8/21/06 at 11:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boogen
Sounds like i really need to find a R2 copy of this movie!
It rocks. Trust me. Great metal case, commentary with Brian Blessed, interview with the director, remastered anamorphic picture and 5.1 sound. The director's interview gets a little meandering, as he doesn't discuss Flash Gordon 100% of the time (more like 60%), but he does touch on Sam Jones and Dino's disagreement, attributing it to Sam's agent. He doesn't come right out and say that the voice is dubbed, but he alludes to it. I just ordered it from Amazon UK. I have this, and Spaced. Those are my two R2 releases.
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post #22 of 26
8/21/06 at 11:46pm
Thread Starter 
Dammit, my all-region player went kaput a few months ago. I may have to get a new one.
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post #23 of 26
8/22/06 at 12:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David
I have fond memories of that show. I haven't bought it yet, but it's sitting in my Amazon wish list. I remember thinking at the time that the spaceships were the coolest things on television because they rotoscoped actual motion-control model shots. I'd been a big Flash Gordon fan since childhood, when my dad used to wake me up at 11:00 every night because the late show was showing the old movie serial before their main feature, one episode a night. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. So seeing someone do an animated series was a big thing for me.

Filmation did several great animated series based on classic characters. I loved their Tarzan; it was the only version that really hewed closely to the over-the-top aspects of the novels. Zorro and The Lone Ranger were very well done, too. Zorro had rotoscoped swordfight moves. They recycled them a lot, but it was still the best animated fighting anywhere.

At various times, I've heard it floated that both Ridley Scott and Stephen Sommers were considering Flash Gordon projects. I even heard (this was back in the 90's) that Scott wanted Blessed to play Vultan again. Frankly, I'm relieved that Sommers' project fell through. I'd like to see somebody do it, though.
It's a nice set. And I too love their version of Tarzan, which is still on my wish list. Zorro and Lone Ranger are coming soon I think. Filmation did some great stuff. Can't wait for the Star Trek series in November.

Ridley doing Flash would be fun. Sommers lost me with that shitheap Van Helsing.
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post #24 of 26
8/22/06 at 2:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Litmus Configuration
But I'm dying to get this rare mylar U.S. teaser poster:



I remember seeing these in theaters around the time THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was playing. Gorgeous artwork.
Holy crap, is that cool looking and much better than Floating Ming. Perhaps Universal ditched that art scheme for the regular US poster cause it was too similar to Empire?

Oh, and Ebay is your friend.
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post #25 of 26
8/22/06 at 2:14am
"Hawkmen, DIVE!"
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post #26 of 26
8/22/06 at 2:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Barg
Oh, and Ebay is your friend.
Cool. It's not the one-sheet but still very nice. I also seem to remember a huge standee of this art. That'd be even better.

But yeah, I imagine Universal went with the still-fantastic Amsel art because it was more STAR WARS-y. Big villain head, hero at the bottom with a sword, heroine in a sexy outfit, wash, rinse, repeat.
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