LaserDisc Spotlight Review – Flash Gordon (1980)

Culturedog Sam Hatch is back with another slab of LD history – this time it’s MCA Home Video catalog number 13006, aka the mid-80s pan and scan release of Mike Hodges’ 1980 eye-melter Flash Gordon!

Starring Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Topol, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed, and the late Max Von Sydow, this insanely campy paint factory explosion of a movie is a must-have for fans of post-Star Wars fantastic cinema.

Is this particular pressing worth having, or should one hold out for the early 90s letterboxed release? Or some of the alternate pressings from the UK and Japan? If you’re ready to stick your hand in the creepy tree stump for 20 minutes or so, we’re gonna find out!

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Intro music: "Anger Mgmt." by Sever the Drama.

Chapters:
0:00 Opening/Introduction
1:50 The Film (Personal History/Thoughts)
12:49 The Disc (MCA Home Video 13006)

[mattsimonette]

This was a great video. I saw Flash Gordon opening weekend in 1980, and totally fell in love with it (and no blowing chow afterwards, LOL). I in fact purchased the letterbox disc the week it came out in 1993, and just rewatched it about a month ago—still looks and sounds great. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[mrkurtlovesmovies]

Fun vid, Sam! Loved the personal anecdotes. Your affection for the film is contagious.

Saw FLASH GORDON when it opened with my best friend in HS. I loved how visually faithful it was to the original King Features strip. It was not the flick I was hoping for, but I went with it (unlike my friend). I had a compilation coffee table book of sci-fi art at the time with a number of images the production designer had unmistakeably taken some inspiration from. The design for Klytus was lifted directly from a striking painting of a near identical character in that book.

Not sure what SyFy was thinking with their ill-conceived and largely unfaithful FG series. It left out the most celebrated aspect of the franchise, the sumptuous designs of those costumes and worlds. Despite the film's too-campy vide, I think its preservation of the King Features visuals have gone a long way toward the affection FLASH GORDON still enjoys today.

Thanks for this video!

[FallenX]

Daisuke Beppu and his channel sent me.
Subscribed 👍✌️
Keep up the awesome work sir :)

[captaindallas]

Great Review!
I got that disc a few years ago off ebay. Agree about the awesome cover, it was worth getting just for that. My copy was absolutely mint, the disc looked like it had never been played before!
I've also got mid 80's MCA's of The Thing, Repo Man and The Last Starfighter. The transfers for all of them are pretty good. A lot of those old 80's non-letterboxed LD's have a certain charm that is enjoyable.

[RareDivers]

Man, I gotta see this... no excuse putting it off. There is apparently a 4K version coming out in June in Australia. Just from screenshots, looks like a wonderful candidate for HDR insanity.


Speaking of Star Wars like films, have you seen Krull(1983)? Really fun, visually great film that got a surprisingly good Blu-ray from Mill Creek.


Thanks for sharing!

[DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader]

Flash 1980 love is always amazing. I was a relatively late convert to the glorious madness that is the 1980 film. It’s a darn masterwork of disparate elements that should have never worked! It has such a heart and has amazing in addition to a tone and performances that not only invoke the satire of Batman 66 but also the breathless constant peril of the original awe inspiring Alex Raymond strips.
The letterboxed LD is how I fell in love with the film and player dependent is a very good transfer. I’ve wanted to get the older one you reviewed to check transfers. However the lbx LD Dolby Stereo is balls to the wall fantastic and is one of the essential LDs to own because of it. I can’t stand the DNR of the Blu-ray and its lifeless 5.1 remix. Thankfully studio canal has announced a 4k restoration this year so fingers crossed it turns out well.

[theshadowman]

It’s great to own 80s Laserdiscs. Specially for me since some discs were made before I was born and they still look mint.

[temporaryscars]

I’ll wait for the Flesh Gordon review.

[SkyTrapAlASMR]

I am so used to watching the Blu-Ray and VHS. I got the letterbox LD on my Radar. I to had one of the sick moments mine being Ice Age. Not sure how but it happen.

[keithm]

So that barely visible blob is a 'giant swamp crab', eh? I am a fan - heck I have an original theatrical poster on the wall (same basic art as the LD cover). As a kid, it just seemed to have more colorful and interesting sets and costumes than even Star Wars. As an adult, I root for Ming . . . Max kinda carries the whole movie with his sinister charm.

[Laserdreamz]

Flash Gordon is GREAT! But that shirt is greater.

[thereallantesh]

I loved this movie as a kid. I think I read a while back the reason they had to overdub Sam Jones's voice with someone else is because he refused to come back to do the minimal dubbing that was needed later. So they had no choice but to use someone else, and dub him over entirely.

[austinwillcut]

So the Discovision of Flash is edited? Were all the Discovision releases shortened as well like Jaws?

[Takeshi]

Have you seen the new 4K release from Studio Canal?

[austinwillcut]

Off topic: do you own Heavy Metal 1981 on LD or blu ray? I was pretty impressed with the blu ray I just bought recently...… man, it is LOUD! How well does the LD hold up to newer versions of the film and didn't Heavy Metal have a lot of rotter copies floating around? I saw one on youtube that looked pretty bad. It's crazy that Heavy Metal never had a home video release until 1996("louder and nastier than ever!") because of the soundtrack. I guess the only way to have a copy back then was either taping it off cable or bootleg? Also, why don't we have any blu ray releases for the Prom Night sequels? Is there rights issues going on? The only way to watch part 3 uncut is on youtube which looks like an LD upload and the PQ isn't too shappy the Artisan dvd is a tv edit for some dumb reason. The sequels aren't great films(neither was part 1) but their good cheesy cult horror films at their best, definitely worth restoring to HD. I do have Hello Mary Lou on a widescreen DVD though, at least there's that.

[zbdot]

Please lower the wattage of the bulb your using to light the left hand side of your face or put the light behind a diffuser (like a white transparent curtain ).

[zacharia]

Combo blast-o-butter popcorn and Ming did not go together in the 80s...