The internet tells me that Flash Gordon is now a cult film. I thought I was one of the few people who liked it! How wrong I was. Now, this new Saviour Of The Universe Edition arrives, underscoring the film's latter-day hipness.

Somehow, the belated respectability seems fitting. Like Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim, Flash Gordon is, in many ways, "unstuck in time." It debuted in 1980, in the wake of numerous Star Wars imitations. Star Wars evoked 1930s' movie serials, and Flash Gordon draws on one for its source. It includes cliffhanger escapes one year before Indiana Jones made this fashionable. Yet spiritually, the film doesn't really belong to either the 1930s or the late 1970s. Despite a then-modern rock score by the band Queen, it doesn't especially feel like the early 1980s, either. Rather, Flash Gordon, with its campy humor, surrealistic landscapes, garish colors and sexual imagery, best denotes late 1960s' and early 1970s' movies like Barbella and Rocky Horror Picture Show. In other words, it doesn't resemble Star Wars so much as the type of science fiction and fantasy films that Star Wars replaced! Lucas famously gave Star Wars a worn, gritty look. Just look at the pink skies and bright costumes in Flash Gordon, and you can see that we're back in the Summer of Love. No wonder the science fiction crowd of 1980 largely rejected the film.

One could thus view Flash Gordon as a product of filmmakers who probably never "got" Star Wars! I mentioned Barbarella above. It's likely no coincidence that Barbarella producer Dino Di Laurentiis also produced Flash Gordon. Lorenzo Semple, Jr., who wrote the Flash Gordon screenplay, most famously worked as a writer on the 1960's Batman TV show. Thus, it's hardly surprising that Flash Gordon contains the same sort of campy humor.

Costume and set designer Danilo Donati represents another important factor - perhaps the most important - in the film's look and feel. His costumes and set designs are truly otherworldly. There were times when I felt he overdid it a tad (Ming's palace contains enough loud costumes to blind the average viewer!). Nonetheless, Donati deserves some accolades. While the design does, I think, often hearken to the psychedelic '60s, Donati also put his own unique stamp on it. Visually, Flash Gordon is fairly distinct and looks nothing like Star Wars or most other films of its era.

When examining the sights, we shouldn't forget the sounds. As noted above, the rock band Queen provides the score. Some have called Flash Gordon a "rock opera," and I believe that the label fits. The phrase ""rock opera" again evokes the late '60s/early '70s, as Pete Townsend coined it to describe The Who's 1969 album Tommy. Tommy became a film in 1975, and it, too, contained much of the visual whackiness associated with that time. Still, I'm not aware of any pre-1980 science fiction film with a rock score. (The animated Heavy Metal was released in 1981. Even Heavy Metal, however, uses mostly album tracks, rather than an actual score composed specifically for the movie.)

The rock music serves to rouse the audience, inviting us to cheer Flash, along with the downtrodden minions of Mongo. This quality, I believe, speaks to a large factor in the film's appeal: it delivers a hero and invites us to root for him. Yes, it's done in a campy manner, but.the characters themselves believe it, and the actors seem to believe in the material. Flash may be absurdly noble and "pure of heart," but within the movie's universe, virtue is always rewarded. It may be silly, but the movie is consistent with its own internal logic. Allow yourself to suspend disbelief and follow it, and you'll be rooting for Flash, too! (If only recent, more somber comic book film adaptations had Flash Gordon's infectious energy, but that's another matter.)

Sam J. Jones portrays our hero. As Flash, he's a bit of a doofus, but of course, he's unfailingly heroic. Some love Jones in the role and others hate him. Personally, I think he's damn near perfect. He imbues the character with all the qualities that the script requires.

He's aided by a fine supporting cast. Melody Anderson gives us a perky, spirited Dale Arden. Topol proves a memorable Dr. Zarkov. Future James Bond Timothy Dalton plays Prince Barin. Brian Blessed is especially enjoyable as a scenery-chewing Vultan, King of the Hawkmen.

The villains arguably prove the most fun, however. Max Von Sydow is probably the all-time best Ming the Merciless. Ornella Muti's Princess Aura has to be one of the most alluring temptresses in cinema history. Peter Wyngarde's Klytus and Mariangela Melato's Kala are just oddly compelling in their strangeness.

Flash Gordon clearly isn't a movie for everyone. You have to appreciate the campy humor, while also suspending disbelief to enjoy the movie's unique reality. If you have the correct mindset, though, then you'll find yourself in for one Hell of a ride.

Go, Flash, go!

DVD Presentation
The movie has been digitally remastered and is presented in 2:35:1 anamorphic widescreen format. It's available in English only, with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. There are subtitles in Spanish, French and English, with the English subtitles designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers.

The two featurettes prove the most interesting. I found Semple's comments enlightening - particularly his assertion that he "couldn't take this stuff seriously" and his admission that he had never really read the Flash Gordon comics. (Some of this helped form the opinions found in my review above.) The Ross interview is just plain fun. It plays like a love letter from a fan to his favorite film.

Alex Ross also provides a painted cover for the DVD and a penciled drawing inside. Both look fantastic, in my humble opinion.

The painted cover resides on a flip top box. The inside cover includes a montage of photos from the film. I suspect that fans will either love this design or hate it. Personally, I thought it was pretty cool.

I understand that there's a European DVD edition that includes commentaries and other features not available here. Since I haven't seen this edition, I can't provide a comparison. I would generally agree, though, that this movie deserves more than what we see on the Saviour Of The Universe Edition. That aside, what's on this edition is still largely enjoyable.