Cult movie in every sense of the word

This parody/soft core porn take on Flash Gordon is far from the best piece of film in existence, but it is fun and entertaining nonetheless. The sloppy direction, flat acting, and grainy picture (even on DVD the picture is terrible) help the viewer to not take this film seriously (then again there is no reason why one should), but believe it or not the main attraction here are the stop motion animated creatures that were way ahead of their time. While it is rather slow moving in some parts of the film, and the juvenile sexual inuendos and humor can wear thin from time to time, Flesh Gordon is hysterically funny from beginning to end, and is also a true cult film in every sense of the word.

DVD a close call over VHS

Flesh Gordon has achieved the status of a minor cult film. Although it carefully instructs the viewer not to confuse it with the real Flash Gordon, it follows the story of the first Flash Gordon serial fairly closely, at least for the first third of the film. Part of its cult status comes from the campy style and humor, but mostly it is the combination of cheesy soft-core porn with relatively decent special effects. The DVD shows that strange amalgamation clearly. Overall, the picture quality is fairly mediocre, perhaps not unexpected in a movie this age that was made on a very low budget in the first place. There is a lot of grain in many of the scenes, and some of them are washed out as well. But the worst scenes are the live action scenes (though not all the live action scenes are bad). The special effect scenes, especially the stop-motion animation scenes, are pretty good. They are sharp and the colors are bright and deep. It is obvious that much more care was put into making the special effects than into the rest of the movie. The sound is also nothing special and the supplemental material consists only of a trailer. The DVD does provide a better viewing experience than the VHS, but not a lot better. We're not talking Dark City, here. If you already have this movie on VHS, it may not be worth upgrading (though the trailer, slightly better picture and sound, attractive cover on a Alpha Keep case, and the permanence of DVD was enough for me) but if you don't have it and want it, then the DVD is the way to go.

Truth

I saw this film as a historical documentation in it's day, having been there. A triumph over the times. The DVD is not the same. Cant be. I wish it could be so.