1968 French/Italian Feature
Alternate Title: Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy
Cast: Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg, Milo O'Shea, Marcel Marceau, Claude Dauphin, Véronique Vendell, Ugo Tognazzi and David Hemmings
Director: Roger Vadim
Writer: Terry Southern and Roger Vadim, based on the comic book by Jean-Claude Forest
Synopsis:
In the far future, shapely space traveler Barbarella must apprehend the villainous scientist Durand Durand, whose creation threatens to bring evil back to the galaxy.
Links:
Ratings:
- Internet Movie Database: 5.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes - Critics: 74% / Audience: 53%
- OMG rating: 2/10
Buy/Rent:
Trailer:
Notes/Trivia:
- Jean-Claude Forest created the character of Barbarella for serialization in the French magazine V-Magazine in 1962. In 1964, the comic strips were published as a book, which caused a scandal and became known as the first "adult" comic book despite its eroticism being slight.
- At the time of making Barbarella, director Roger Vadim and star Jane Fonda were married. The original Barbarella character was based on Brigitte Bardot, who ironically was Vadim's previous wife.
- Lobby card stills and set photographs exist showing footage of a seduction scene between Barbarella and the Black Queen on a bed. However this footage has never appeared in any print of the film.
- A critical and box office failure upon its initial release, Barbarella found a bigger audience when it was re-released with a PG rating.
- Plans for a sequel with Jane Fonda fell through in the 1970s. Since then, a remake has been in and out of development. A Barbarella TV series is currently being developed.
- The name of 1980s pop music group Duran Duran was inspired by the name of Dr. Durand Durand in this film. One of their songs is entitled "Electric Barbarella".
- Barbarella is listed in The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of the the "100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made".
- A stage musical adaptation, with a score by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame, had its world premiere in Austria in 2004.
Related OMG Posts:
OMG Movie #297
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