Flash Gordon - restored

[brendangcarroll]

Wonderful news for all fans of the original Flash Gordon....

[Ray Faiola]

Wow, I hope the soundtrack on that faux trailer, which I assume was made from the restoration elements, is not representative of the soundtrack on the release. All the life has been EQ'd out of it. Check out the King Features DVD for a sensational print with a vivid, crisp soundtrack. The Universal orchestra sounds GREAT in this film but not on that trailer. I'm afraid this is symptomatic of the general trend toward "normalizing" soundtracks and eliminating any hint of inherent noise on the original optical soundtracks (usually resulting in serious reduction in brilliance and ambience). Anyway, I'll wait to hear reactions of the actual video release (not sure if its DVD or blu ray).

Here's the main title from the King Features release (I removed the lightning bolt):

http://www.chelsearialtostudios.com/fla ... iverse.mp3" target="_blank

[Rick Lanham]

I remember back in the day of laser discs, Doug Pratt of the DVDLaserdisc Newsletter was asked about the possibility of getting some Flash Gordon put on disc. The answer he got from some company back then was that sufficient quality materials didn't exist.

But now we have better restoration tools, whether they are used wisely is another thing.

I have the Flash Gordon Box Set (3 DVDs) from some years ago, so this new release is not as exciting to me as to others.

Rick (playing Les Preludes by Liszt as I'm typing)

[ClayKing]

That's hardly the "original" Flash Gordon, being the third and weakest in the film series. I agree with Ray that the King Features material released of 'Conquers on DVD was very good. The '36 and '38 serials cry out for restoration, although I was under the impression that original pre-print material no longer exists.

[brendangcarroll]

I meekly bow to all of your learned knowledge on this topic.....I guess I was just too quick to praise this release and must look for the KING FEATURES issue.

Thanks guys!