{"id":27498,"date":"2023-11-30T01:50:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T09:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=27498"},"modified":"2023-11-30T01:50:11","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T09:50:11","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-barbarella-1968","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=27498","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: BARBARELLA (1968)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This feature is currently available as a Limited Edition\n2-disc 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray set (a 2-disc Blu-ray only version is also\navailable).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back in 1968, attitudes in the world were changing. The hippie movement and youth culture were in full swing. In 1969, the release and smash success of Easy Rider<\/em> changed cinema, but there were trippy and surreal efforts that arrived previous to the breakout hit. One of those titles was the unique Paramount effort Barbarella<\/em>. Based on the French comic book of the same name, this lavish (in its day) effort from Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis and French director Roger Vadim (And God Created Woman<\/em>) attempted to lure audiences into theaters with a sexy science-fiction epic. However, critics and audiences did not respond to the finished product and it flopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the ensuing years, the movie has gained a cult following\nand now Arrow Video are delivering a lavish Limited Edition. With its\nwidescreen photography, wild visual design and psychedelic color bursts, this\nis the type of feature that really benefits from a 4K restoration. Indeed, the\nmovie has never looked this crisp and clean. In fact, it likely looks better on\nthis release than it ever did on cinema screens 55 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The loose narrative is set in the distant future and\nintroduces viewers to a human spy named Barbarella (Jane Fonda) floating in her\nspaceship somewhere in the universe. The president of Earth (Claude Dauphin)\nsuddenly contacts her and explains that another human has recently created a\nweapon of mass destruction and vanished without a trace. She is asked to locate\nthe figure, known as Durant Durant\u2026 or Durand Durand, or Duran Duran (depending\non what print of the film you happen to be watching from what country) and stop\nhim before he puts the device to use. Barbarella soon finds herself on a\nstrange alien world populated with friends like the flying angel Pygar (John\nPhilip Law), revolutionary Dildano (David Hemmings) and professor (Marcel\nMarceau), as well as the Great Tyrant (Anita Pallenberg) and her Concierge\n(Milo O\u2019Shea). Along the way, the attractive agent has romantic encounters with\nseveral individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie is filled with incredible visuals and definitely focuses on free love and the sexual liberation of the protagonist. Barbarella isn\u2019t a very deep or well-developed character and this film uses her to titillate viewers. However, it does result in an unintentionally positive upside. Few studio titles during this era focused on a woman\u2019s sexual pleasure and wouldn\u2019t treat lovemaking as a recreational activity. While the Barbarella character is initially innocent about physical love (in the future, pills are used during mating rituals), the character eventually is empowered and uses her libido to foil the plans of one of the central villains. Yes, it\u2019s certainly presented in a campy and sensationalistic manner, but it does present something of a step forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Admittedly, one can see why the picture had difficulty\nfinding an audience. For a major studio picture, it has a distinctly European\nfeel. It’s also an oddly paced film and any attempt at futurist spy action is\nsquandered. Yet, every so often something striking or memorable occurs. This\nincludes the opening scene involving the character undressing from a spacesuit\nin zero gravity, as well as a chilling bit in which Barbarella is attacked by\niron-teethed dolls, and a trip into a dream chamber of the Great Tyrant. It\u2019s\nbest viewed as a 60s cinematic \u201ctrip\u201d without the use of drugs, helped by the\ntalented cast and charismatic lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The extras, as you might imagine, are very interesting.\nThere is an appreciation of the movie from critic Glenn Kenny, who details the\nfilm\u2019s issues and elaborates on elements that were ahead of its time. The same\ngoes for a film historian commentary from Tim Lucas. It gives a lot of\nbackground information about the production and how the production came\ntogether. The young Fonda had received the script and tossed it aside, but\nVadim (her husband at the time) saw it as a big opportunity for both of them\nand convinced her to do it with him as director. There are also interesting\nstories about casting (David Hemmings actually replaced another actor who\nfilmed a few scenes in the movie before being let go). The speaker also notes\nthat Vadim\u2019s lack of experience shooting action hurt the finished product and\nwas likely what resulted in the focus on quirkier aspects of the\nstory.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is also a nearly two-hour discussion between Lucas and\ncomic book artist\/film professor Steve Bissette on the title. It\u2019s long, but\nthere is plenty of interesting debate and information about the movie, its\nproblematic elements, as well as plusses (like the vibrant imagery on display).\nThey also discuss the comic book in great detail and the differences between it\nand the final product. The title\u2019s legacy is also discussed and the pair note\nhow it influenced and perhaps ended up resulting in the creation or comic book\ncharacters like Vampirella<\/em> and the female lead in the French comic Valerian\nand Laureline<\/em> (which was adapted into the 2017 feature Valerian and the\nCity of a Thousand Planets<\/em>), as well as flicks like Galaxina<\/em> and\nfuture sci-fi characters like Ripley from the Alien<\/em> series. It\u2019s an\nenlightening listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, the set includes an interview with fashion\nscholar Elizabeth Castaldo, who dissects the creation of the unique costumes\nused in the picture. She notes how the film, since it was set so far in the\nfuture, needed to use strange and unique materials in order to create an\notherworldly feel. There\u2019s also an interview with camera operator Roberto\nGirometti, who notes his memories working with the cast and crew.\nActor\/director Ricky Tognazzi discusses the life and work of his father and\nBarbarella star Ugo Tognazzi, while body-double Fabio Tessi talks about his\ncareer and experience as a body double for John Philip Law in the movie. All of\nthe men note how stunning a presence Fonda was, but that she was friendly and\nkind to all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also a video essay on producer Dino De Laurentiis.\nIt notes that after a series of successful projects in his homeland, he was\nintent on creating a big studio project and finding his way into Hollywood.\nThis big one didn\u2019t work out, but he eventually succeeded with titles like Serpico,\nDeath Wish<\/em>, Three Days of the Condor, Flash Gordon, Ragtime<\/em>, several\nStephen King adaptations throughout the 1980s, as well las Dune, Manhunter,\nBlue Velvet, Army of Darkness, Breakdown<\/em> and Hannibal<\/em> among many\nothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And the set comes with a great deal of publicity materials, including a trailer, US TV and radio spots and an image gallery. And there\u2019s also an alternate opening and closing credit sequence included. For those interested, you\u2019ll also get an illustrated collector\u2019s booklet with writing on the film, a double-sided fold-out poster with original and newly created art for the title, in addition to six double-sided postcards with images from the movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barbarella <\/em>isn\u2019t a masterpiece, but it is quite\nunlike anything seen up to that point from a major Hollywood. It also has a\ndistinctive look, an appealing lead and plenty of eccentric elements that do\nmake it a memorable film. This new release from Arrow Video is equally\nstriking, with incredible image quality and hours of bonus material that help\npaint a clearer picture of how this oddity ended up on the big screen. For\nscience-fiction fans, this set is definitely worth picking up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This feature is currently available as a Limited Edition 2-disc 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray set (a 2-disc Blu-ray only version is also available). Back in 1968, attitudes in the world were changing. The hippie movement and youth culture were in full swing. In 1969, the release and smash success of Easy Rider changed cinema, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":27507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}