People want to act like movies based on comic books was invented by Disney and Marvel. But in the late ’60s movie theaters were already running them. Except they came from comic books that you didn’t find in the spindle at your local pharmacy. There was a tiny wave of European comics that came to America with international casts. Modesty Blaise and Danger! Diabolik arrived first. The movies embraced the spy and camp attitude that was dominating the pop culture scene at the time. At the end of 1968, the pop zenith was reached with the arrival of Barbarella. Jane Fonda wearing outrageous outfits in space was a great allure for moviegoers.
Barbarella (Klute‘s Jane Fonda) is ordered by the president of the United Earth government to go to the Tau Ceti planetary system and locate the scientist Durand-Durand (sometimes called Duran Duran). Turns out the missing scientist has invented a major weapon that could possibly wipe out the Earth if it is used by the wrong people. Barbarella sets her spaceship for the location and ends up crash landing on an ice-covered planet. She’s rescued from feral children by the hairy Mark Hand (La Cage aux Folles‘s Ugo Tognazzi). She learns something quite new about hooking up from her new friend. She also learns that this frigid wasteland is not where Durand-Durand is living. Her spaceship launches to a neighboring planet that’s even more messed up. This is where The Black Queen, Great Tyrant of Sogo (Performance‘s Anita Pallenberg) rules. Outside her kingdom is a labyrinth complex that absorbs people. She meets Pygar (Danger! Diabolik‘s John Phillip Law). He’s a blind angel complete with wings. Except they no longer flap since the labyrinth is draining his power. Barbarella gives him the right inspiration to take flight once more. Can she soar high enough with Pygar’s help to finish her mission or will she be sucked into the debauchery of the kingdom ruled by the Black Queen.
Barbarella is such an addictive film. Over the years, I’ve found myself originally popping in the rented VHS and later puttiny my DVD or Blu-ray onto the player’s tray at odd hours. It’s just such a groovy 98 minutes. Now on 4K UHD, you can really get lost in the visual extravagance of the futuristic sets. The film goes straight to the comic book feel with the outlandish costumes and action. But it’s an adult comic book. Jane Fonda at this time was magnetic on the screen. Her zero-gravity strip tease at the opening of the movie is one of those great moments in cinema. Although the rest of the movie is more teasing when it comes to Fonda although some of the background extras are more revealing. This isn’t quite Flesh Gordon. Although Anita Pallenberg seems game for whatever happens in her futuristic kingdom full of wicked characters. David Hemming is hilarious as the rebel leader who only wants to use the pills to have an intimate moment with Barbarella. There’s just so much weirdness happening and now you can see more details. Barbarella remains intergalactic fun.
You can get Barbarella in both 4K UHD and Blu-ray. The bonus feature disc for both versions is on a Blu-ray disc.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The movie is in 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible). The details in Jane Fonda’s wardrobe get to shine. The Audio has both the original lossless English and French soundtracks in LPCM 1.0. Jane Fonda dubbed herself on the French Track. There’s also a remixed 7.1 Dolby Atmos surround the will make you hear the film all new. The movie is subtitled in English.
Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tula Lotay
Six double-sided collector’s postcards with stills from the movie.
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anne Billson, Paul Gravett, Véronique Bergen and Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén, and select archival material
Disc One – on both the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray editions:
Audio commentary by film critic Tim Lucas gets into the background of the film including reading from Roger Vadim’s autobiography. Jane Fonda didn’t want to make a comic book movie. But Vadim wanted to do the project and talked his wife into the role with him attached to direct. He did a book about Fonda and Vadim’s work on Spirits of the Dead.
Alternative opening (2:21) and closing credits (1:16) seems a little bit more covering as Jane Fonda strips down in zero gravity. Maurice Binder who did the credits for the early James Bond films also did the credits here.
Isolated score so you can take in all the groovy music without the dialogue.
Disc Two – Extras (Blu-ray)
Another Girl, Another Planet (23:03) is film critic Glenn Kenny going deep into the circumstances that made the movie. He describes the film as a “Vibe.” He shows off the original comic book. Kenny fills in quite a few gabs in my understanding of the film and Jane Fonda’s marriage to Roger Vadim.
Barbarella Forever! (14:54) is Paul Joyce’s unconventional behind the scenes featurette. We see Roger Vadim racing to the studio while Jane Fonda is posing for publicity stills in her various costumes. There’s also outtakes of Fonda and David Hemming’s scene and John Phillip Law flapping his wings.
Love: Tim Lucas and Steve Bissett on Barbarella (113:20) is a discussion between the film and cultural historians. They really get deep into the film and what it meant to them. Turns out one of them first saw Barbarella when her comics were included in the Evergreen Review.
Dress to Kill (31:30) has film fashion scholar Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén gives us the details on Jacques Fonteray’s world-changing costume designs. She also shed light on fashion designer Paco Rabanne’s real contributions to the film. The groovy fashions make the movie so good to revisit.
Framing for Claude (17:12) is an interview with camera operator Roberto Girometti. He talks about how he became a part of Claude Renoir’s crew for the shoot. The DP and him got to know each other when Roberto gave him a lift home after the shoot one day. He has a great story about being in awe of Jane Fonda’s beauty on the set. He has another great story from a different film where Candice Bergen saved him from being fired by the production manager. Turns out he worked on A Bullet for Sandoval with Ernest Borgnine.
Tognazzi on Tognazzi (21:56) lets actor/director Ricky Tognazzi discusses the life and work of his father and Barbarella star Ugo Tognazzi. he gets into how his dad picked his roles during the height of production in Italy. Ugo liked to bring back gadgets from his trips to America.
An Angel’s Body Double (24:26) proves to be a major surprise. The person doubled for John Phillip Law was actor Fabio Testi. He would shortly after this gig become a leading actor in What Have You Done to Solange? and The Heroin Busters. He gets into his career included playing on the same soccer team as Pier Paolo Passolini and Ugo Tognazzi. He gets into how he worked as a stuntman led him to wearing wings on the set of Barbarella.
Dino and Barbarella (14:27) is a video essay on Dino De Laurentiis by Eugenio Ercolani. We see how Dino started out as an actor, but moved into the role of producer when the Italian film industry was going into overdrive. Dino produced Fredrico Fellini’s classic La Strada. We see how Dino in the ’70s moved to the USA and backed numerous major films from King Kong to Death Wish to Blue Velvet. Dino would also return to science fiction with Flash Gordon. He gets into how Dino got into making Barbarella. Odd piece of trivia? I was the person who emailed Dino’s wife Martha to let her know his husband had been awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Trailer (3:21) opens with Jane Fonda stripping off her spacesuit in zero gravity. We get a taste of her top secret mission.
US TV Spot (0:55) has her floating in zero gravity and hints there’s a lot of pleasure in the film. It’s hard to believe this was a PG film.
Radio Spots (2:55) has us wanting to drive over to the theater with the groovy theme music.
Image gallery has over 80 promotional stills, press photos, artwork, posters and lobby cards.
Arrow Video presents Barbarella: Limited Edition. Directed by Roger Vadim. Screenplay by Terry Southern, Roger Vadim, Claude Brulé, Vittorio Bonicelli, Clement Biddle Wood, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates and Jean-Claude Forest. Starring Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Marcel Marceau, David Hemmings, Ugo Tognazzi and Anita Pallenberg. Boxset Contents: 1 4K UHD disc & 1 Blu-ray disc. Rating: Rated PG. Running Time: 98 minutes. Release Date: November 28, 2023.
