Flash Gordon – 4K Blu-ray Review
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Flash Gordon – 1980
Arrow 1980
PG | 1hrs 52 min | Sci-Fi | Fantasy | Action | Adventure
HD | 1080P | DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Native 4K | 2160P | HDR10 | Dolby Vision | DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
Staring: Max von Sydow, Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Ornella Muti, Topol, Timothy Dalton
Directed by: Mike Hodges
Ratings & Reviews
Please see here for my comments on reviewing movies.
My ratings are simple being marked out of a maximum of 5+. My reviews are biased towards the technical production aspects of the film with brief comments about the story line. Extras, sorry, that’s just not my ‘bag’.
So what did the 5.1 soundtrack sound like? Acceptable in most respects, and the native 4K HDR10 video? Very good considering what was originally released.
Entertainment: 4+
Video: 4+
Audio: 4
It’s been well over a decade since I watched my 1998 DVD version of this movie in 16X9 SD with Dolby Digital 2.0 surround. I can honestly say this version is quite a step-up in all respects.
Technical Review – Native 4K UHD HDR10
Flash Gordon was originally shot on 35 mm photochemical film in the Todd-AO 35 format (with anamorphic lenses) at a theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. This 40th anniversary Ultra HD release, is a new 16-bit 4K scan and restoration of the original camera negative. It was created by StudioCanal and finished as a native 4K Digital Intermediate with color grading in Dolby Vision and HDR10.
The picture is generally sharp and well defined and shows no obvious source noise or any compression artifacts. Film grain is clearly observable in many scenes but is well controlled and not objectionable. Close-ups provide good detail, clarity and definition with good skin tones. From costumes to pores, eyelashes and skin, tattoos, and scars, all show good clarity and detail. Compared to my SD version, the added color depth enhances the film’s palette with lush and vibrant reds, greens, and golds.
Blacks are deep and mostly noise free, supported by adequate low level detail. Peak whites provided clean detail with no obvious clipping, providing a solid dynamic range.
Audio – DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
The audio is available in both English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio formats. With the surround track being a remix from the previous Blu-ray that corrected an issue with the LFE track.
The musical score and Queen’s music, provides good support throughout the entire movie, and fills out both the quiet and high action moments equally well. Particularly in the film’s finale when Vultan and his hawkmen take flight for their final battle with Ming’s forces. However, it tends to be prioritized to the surround speakers. The sub-action is not exactly stunning being limited to a few explosions and the rumble of the spaceships, however, it is enhanced when compared to my SD version.
This is still the old original audio, remixed or not, and I found the soundtrack a little thin and lacking in real body and substance, particularly Queens music, providing, as it does, a mediocre mix.
Dialogue was always clear and detailed with a fixed, solid, up front, and mostly center imaging.
Story Overview
Flash Gordon is based upon Alex Raymond’s classic 1930s newspaper comic strip of the same name. NFL quarterback (Sam Jones)and co-passenger travel agent Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) are returning home when the earth is attacked by the forces of Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydow), emperor of the planet Mongo. When the pilots are killed the plane crashes into a laboratory owned by a mad ex-NASA scientist Hans Zarkov (Topol) who has built a rocket that he intends to fly to Mongo to save the Earth. Needing help to fly the rocket Zarkov ‘persuades’ Flash and Dale to help him. Once on Mongo the trio are captured finding themselves in a struggle for power between Ming, the Princess Aura (Ornella Muti) and the kingdoms of Vultan of the Hawkmen (Brian Blessed) and Barin of Arboria (Timothy Dalton). Ming’s scheming daughter Princess Aura has her own plans for Flash. So with the impending death of Flash, the marriage of Dale to Ming and the imprisonment of Zarkov is all hope lost to save the Earth?
My 2 cents
So some twenty years on we now have the native 4K experience. Mike Hodges’ Flash Gordon is an unusual cinema experience from start to finish. Studio Canal’s new 4K restoration, released on Ultra HD here in the States by Arrow Video, is a gem. I am sure that fans of this film will love it, even if it is a little ‘camp’, I certainly did. A true cult movie classic of the 1980’s.
