Review Detail
9.0 5 10
Overall rating
8.4
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
8.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
7.0
Massive apology to the editor, whom I promised I would write a review ages ago and just completely forgot. The edit is no longer uber fresh in my mind, but I still remember it well - I also took notes when watching, which helps.
I’ve never seen the original Flash Gordon serial. The 1980s Queen-scored adaptation is all I know of Flash. But since the source was in the public domain, and being interested in seeing one of the many sources of inspiration for Star Wars, I decided it could be a fun romp. And, of course, you know you’re in for a unique watch when you hear names like “Ming the merciless” and “General Loopy”. Not forgetting the “Death Dust” – what a concept.
If that doesn’t tell you what you’re in for, then let me put it this way: Flash has worse fight moves then Capt Kirk on a bad day, and several actors frequently come across like they don’t know their lines. Yeah, it’s that bad - but it’s also quite fun!
Obviously, this is not Star Wars to a T (don’t expect light sabres), but the influence is clear. Camp costumes, ray guns, spaceships, an evil dictator who wants to rule everyone, a dashing hero and a Princess in need of rescue. There are also a couple of more specific Star Wars-esque moments of which I’ve noted at the bottom of the review.
Audio/video quality – for an old TV serial taken from the public domain this looked pretty decent. Not amazing, but not nearly as bad as I was expecting. Perfectly acceptable SD quality.
Video editing - apart from some overly quick fades (a pet peeve of mine), all seemed good. I’ve never seen the original, so I had no knowledge of what was cut. I imagine there were probably some custom swipe transitions, and if so they clearly blended fine. There did seem to be a noticeable dip in brightness after each swipe transition, but since this was consistent after every swipe, I assumed it was source inherent.
Audio editing – there were a number of bad audio jumps at the start of the edit, but things seem to smooth out as the film went along. Some notable errors were:
• 8:54 – you can hear someone say “that is all” as the guards bow. The voice wasn’t familiar and bore no resemblance to the scene, so I assume this is not meant to be there.
• 1:15:59, 1:23:31, 1:45:39 – jarring audio cuts.
• 1:16:47 – start of dialogue cut off due to audio transition
Generally pretty good though. The editor took a very large quantity of material and compressed it right down. Considering the scope of the edit, the errors listed are relatively few, and with something this old, there are bound to be jumps in the original source.
Narrative – I’ve never seen the original before so it’s hard to compare, but the story was fairly straightforward and easy to follow (especially considering this is the third of three Serials). Of course, the writing is absolutely terrible and the exposition dumps are shamefully done - but I guess it’s all part of the so-bad-it’s-good package!
Enjoyment – I’ll be honest, it was a bit of a drag - but the element of fun was not absent. My occasional boredom was no fault to the editor at all – reading up on the original it seems he definitely excised a lot of material that probably would have otherwise made this unwatchable for me. I think I probably would have preferred it to have been split into two parts – that’s how I ended up watching it anyway, since it’s a rather lengthy edit.
Overall, lengthy, but fun. It was nice to see some of the space opera roots that inspired Star Wars, but this is probably not one I’d watch again.
Moments worthy of note:
• 11:38 – live long and prosper?
• 45:24 – theme very reminiscent of Star Wars (John Williams).
• 1:24:20 – Give that man an Oscar.
• 1:43:40 – Catfight.
• 1:44:01 – Insert Wilhelm Scream here!
• 2:05:44 – this is pretty much exactly the same as when the Nemoidians communicate with Amidala in Phantom Menace
May the Flash be with you ;)
I’ve never seen the original Flash Gordon serial. The 1980s Queen-scored adaptation is all I know of Flash. But since the source was in the public domain, and being interested in seeing one of the many sources of inspiration for Star Wars, I decided it could be a fun romp. And, of course, you know you’re in for a unique watch when you hear names like “Ming the merciless” and “General Loopy”. Not forgetting the “Death Dust” – what a concept.
If that doesn’t tell you what you’re in for, then let me put it this way: Flash has worse fight moves then Capt Kirk on a bad day, and several actors frequently come across like they don’t know their lines. Yeah, it’s that bad - but it’s also quite fun!
Obviously, this is not Star Wars to a T (don’t expect light sabres), but the influence is clear. Camp costumes, ray guns, spaceships, an evil dictator who wants to rule everyone, a dashing hero and a Princess in need of rescue. There are also a couple of more specific Star Wars-esque moments of which I’ve noted at the bottom of the review.
Audio/video quality – for an old TV serial taken from the public domain this looked pretty decent. Not amazing, but not nearly as bad as I was expecting. Perfectly acceptable SD quality.
Video editing - apart from some overly quick fades (a pet peeve of mine), all seemed good. I’ve never seen the original, so I had no knowledge of what was cut. I imagine there were probably some custom swipe transitions, and if so they clearly blended fine. There did seem to be a noticeable dip in brightness after each swipe transition, but since this was consistent after every swipe, I assumed it was source inherent.
Audio editing – there were a number of bad audio jumps at the start of the edit, but things seem to smooth out as the film went along. Some notable errors were:
• 8:54 – you can hear someone say “that is all” as the guards bow. The voice wasn’t familiar and bore no resemblance to the scene, so I assume this is not meant to be there.
• 1:15:59, 1:23:31, 1:45:39 – jarring audio cuts.
• 1:16:47 – start of dialogue cut off due to audio transition
Generally pretty good though. The editor took a very large quantity of material and compressed it right down. Considering the scope of the edit, the errors listed are relatively few, and with something this old, there are bound to be jumps in the original source.
Narrative – I’ve never seen the original before so it’s hard to compare, but the story was fairly straightforward and easy to follow (especially considering this is the third of three Serials). Of course, the writing is absolutely terrible and the exposition dumps are shamefully done - but I guess it’s all part of the so-bad-it’s-good package!
Enjoyment – I’ll be honest, it was a bit of a drag - but the element of fun was not absent. My occasional boredom was no fault to the editor at all – reading up on the original it seems he definitely excised a lot of material that probably would have otherwise made this unwatchable for me. I think I probably would have preferred it to have been split into two parts – that’s how I ended up watching it anyway, since it’s a rather lengthy edit.
Overall, lengthy, but fun. It was nice to see some of the space opera roots that inspired Star Wars, but this is probably not one I’d watch again.
Moments worthy of note:
• 11:38 – live long and prosper?
• 45:24 – theme very reminiscent of Star Wars (John Williams).
• 1:24:20 – Give that man an Oscar.
• 1:43:40 – Catfight.
• 1:44:01 – Insert Wilhelm Scream here!
• 2:05:44 – this is pretty much exactly the same as when the Nemoidians communicate with Amidala in Phantom Menace
May the Flash be with you ;)
T