Flash Gordon (1980)

[captainsolo]

FLASH!!!
NEEDS HELP!

I love this picture. It shouldn't work, but it does and has tons of heart. It represents everything missing from modern superhero-dom.

However it is a mess in HD. Universal made a remastered DVD and ported it to BD. It is a over DNR'd scrubbed mess that also ruins the color and makes everything seem garish. Also they remixed the audio and made a godawful sounding dull 5.1 mix.
In the UK they made a new master for DVD and ported to BD but it is far too bright and the color seems off too. Then the audio track is somehow pitched too high.

I run the LD and it looks stupendous and has the badass balls to the wall Dolby Stereo that obliterates the BD hdma. I'm currently after the first DVD which is supposed to be identical to the LD and hope to one day sync the LD PCM.
Review with comparisons:
http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd/flash-gordon.html

It also seems the original serials are OOP and best available on the old Image LD/DVDs.

[SilverWook]

Would be nice if a print turned up. And I agree on the LD audio.

[titanic]

I hope a 4K scanned bluray turns up soon! I've seen this once but I liked the aesthetics (since I love 80s sci-fi).

[Chewtobacca]

Believe it or not, the US BD is better than the DE one, which I'm fairly sure has the same AVC encoding as the UK.  The UK does have PCM 2.0, though I can't remember what it sounds like. I'll check if I get the opportunity, though the LD PCM is likely to sound better. Which audio track is pitched too high, captain? Just the 5.1 or both?

Thanks for posting that DVD comparison though!  I'd like to get my hands on the '98 DVD at some point.  The color looks much better. Years ago, I'd never have believed that I'd be trying to track down early DVD releases in 2017.

[Bigrob]

Flash Gordon is my all time favourite (ask Jonno!) i’ve Got multiple DVD’s and one or two 35mm frames in my collection along with loads of promo material so let me know what you need

[Chewtobacca]

Do you have the '98 R1 DVD, Bigrob?

[Bigrob]

Do you have the '98 R1 DVD, Bigrob?

The Image DVD?

Yes I do. I think mine was the recalled version though. According to DVDcompare there were two releases

I also have the BMG DVD from the UK which has PCM 2.0 on it

[Chewtobacca]

The Image DVD?

That's the one (or, rather, the two).  

Yes I do. I think mine was the recalled version though. According to DVDcompare there were two releases

I wonder what the quality issues were.  At least dvdcompare provides the catalog numbers.

I also have the BMG DVD from the UK which has PCM 2.0 on it

Interesting to hear of a DVD with PCM! There weren't many like that.  Presumably, it has PAL speed-up. I wonder if the pitch issues on the UK BD are connected somehow.

[Bigrob]

The Image DVD?

That's the one (or, rather, the two).  

Yes I do. I think mine was the recalled version though. According to DVDcompare there were two releases

I wonder what the quality issues were.  At least dvdcompare provides the catalog numbers.

I also have the BMG DVD from the UK which has PCM 2.0 on it

Interesting to hear of a DVD with PCM! There weren't many like that.  Presumably, it has PAL speed-up. I wonder if the pitch issues on the UK BD are connected somehow.

It’s StudioCanal and their shoddy releases. Loads had pitch issues on them in the UK.

I’ll fish them out and rip the audio tracks, do screenshots if it helps.

[Chewtobacca]

^ Thanks! I'm not the best person to assess pitch issues though.