I have heard some about the movie Barbarella over the years without knowing that much about the movie. I knew it had something of a cult following and that some consider it to be an entertaining movie despite it being cheesy. I finally had the opportunity to see the movie recently.
In the 40th century, a young beautiful woman named Barbarella is an astronaut. She is contacted by the President of Earth and given an assignment to find scientist Durand Durand. He has developed a weapon that threatens the peace of the galaxy. The President wants Barbarella to prevent Durand Durand from using the weapon. She sets off on her mission, only to crash near the city of SoGo where Durand Durand is believed to be. Barbarella ends up in several odd situations, many of which involve sex, while trying to find Durand Durand.
Barbarella is based on a French comic by Jean-Claude Forest. The character first appeared in strips in a magazine before they were published in a book that caused a scandal because of the erotic situations. It is considered to be the first adult comic book by many. It is believed that the comic book version of the character was originally based on Brigitte Bardot. A Barbarella musical was produced in 2004 in Austria and ran for less than a year. The band Duran Duran got their name from the scientist in the movie.
There really isn't much to the plot of Barbarella. She is supposed to find Durand Durand and stop him from using the weapon he's developed and possibly causing the first war in the galaxy in years. The plot is rather flimsy and just seems to be an excuse to put Barbarella in various sexual situations. There is basically no plot development since the movie is really focused on the sexual exploits that Barbarella has. She has every intention of completing her mission, but she keeps getting sidetracked and ends up having sex or losing her skimpy outfits. Even with the weak plot, the movie is still somewhat entertaining. Much of the entertainment comes from the unintentional humor that pops up during many scenes.
Barbarella is set several thousands of years in the future when space travel is common. She is an astronaut and it seems like she has visited many planets. Her spaceship is probably the oddest shaped spaceship that I've ever seen in a movie. The interior is a bit odd as well, with it completely covered in shag carpeting. There hasn't been war in the galaxy for ages and most of the planets are very civilized and embrace love over violence. I have seen other movies set in the future and the future in this movie is very different from anything I've ever seen before. That uniqueness does make things somewhat interesting. The special effects for some things look very dated.
The movie begins with Barbarella slowly removing her space suit - which has to be the strangest looking space suit even depicted in a movie - while floating weightlessly in her ship. It was very apparent to me that she was laying on something with the camera above her during that sequence. I later read that I was right about that. She does get naked and her bare breasts are briefly visible. Most of the time, her bits are hidden by the opening credits. She remains naked through the scene when she takes a video call from the President of Earth. When she is dressed, her clothes are so skimpy that she is barely covered. She spends a lot of the movie undressed since she seems to keep losing her clothes. Sex has changed by her time and it involves people taking a pill and touching hands. Fairly early in the movie, a man introduces her to having the sex the old fashioned way and she discovers that she enjoys it. After that, she has sex with a blind angel that is helping her. She meets the leader of a resistance movement and has sex with the pills with him before she is captured and put in something called the excessive machine that tortures people to death with sexual pleasure. Barbarella actually enjoys the machine so much that she causes it to short circuit. There are many sexual situations throughout the movie, though most of them aren't that graphic with the exception of the scene involving the excessive machine. The session with the machine is shown and while only her face is visible, it is very clear what she is feeling. That scene especially may offend some viewers. There is a lot of skin, usually Barbarella's, shown throughout the movie, and that includes some bare breasts in a few scenes. The movie is rated PG, though I don't think it is family friendly in any way.
There really isn't much development for any of the characters in Barbarella since so much of the movie is just focused on her sexual exploits. Barbarella is an astronaut and she must be good at her job since the President gives her the mission to find Durand Durand. She does seem to be a bit of an airhead at times. She is a very sexual person, especially once she experiences sex the old fashioned way. Jane Fonda is fine in the part. I've read that she regrets being in this movie.
None of the other characters are developed as much as Barbarella. Most of them are just in a few scenes when she encounters them. Marcel Marceau is in a few scenes as Professor Ping, a man willing to fix her spaceship after her second crash. He also shares some information with her that will help her on her mission. Pygar is the blind angel that helps Barbarella a few times. He really doesn't do much other than stand around half naked and fly her into the city. The Great Tyrant is the female ruler of SoGo who seems to embrace all evil things. Durand Durand is only in a few scenes, so Milo O'Shea doesn't have much to do.
Main Cast
Jane Fonda - Barbarella John Phillip Law - Pygar Marcel Marceau - Professor Ping Milo O'Shea - Durand Durand Anita Pallenberg - The Great Tyrant
Roger Vadim - Director
Barbarella is available on DVD. The only extra is the theatrical trailer. I'm guessing that if the movie does turn up on television, it is edited.
Barbarella is a rather odd movie that still manages to be somewhat entertaining. It shouldn't be taken seriously in any way. The movie is cheesy and it won't appeal to many people, but I think it can be enjoyed if someone is in the mood for an odd, cheesy movie. This is one of the movies that is so bad that it is good.
Since Barbarella is based on a French comic, this review is part of elvisdo's 2009 Funny Pages Write-Off.
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