I’m getting to the point in my life where I feel like a weird hybrid creature. I mostly grew up before the internet and then became an early adopter when forums and social media were in their nascent stages. In those days, it felt like a lot of conversation centered around the pieces of popular culture everyone was surprised they could now finally share with someone else. These days, it feels like we’re two decades into generations that grew up with their own, internet-specific cultural mores. Sometimes it feels like nothing is hidden anymore. Nothing has a chance to become legendary.

I’m not an old man yelling at a cloud. I’m just trying to set the stage for what Barbarella meant for me as a teenager and how it plays now, watching it on a 4K UHD Blu-ray on a 55-inch television screen with a new Dolby Atmos sound mix.

I had to read that sentence to myself again: Watching Barbarella, one of the great subversive camp erotic films, on a 4K UHD disc released by one of the best boutique home video labels with lavish artwork and a loving restoration.

Back in my day — OK, here it comes, the old man! — I remember pirating Barbarella based on the recommendation of my forum friends, all much older than I was. At the time, it didn’t seem like they were too concerned about the fact I was 14 years old. I think they took pride in recommending stuff like this. In fairness, it’s pretty tame by comparison to what we see every day; it’s even tame by comparison to what was easy to find back in the early 2000s. It’s not a porno. But it sure leaves an impression.

The 1968 film was based on the comic series by Jean-Claude Forest. The comics aren’t nearly as goofy. That’s a product of director Roger Vadim, who set out to make an absurd and strange science-fiction movie without necessarily telling a great story. He brought on a total of seven writers throughout production and focused heavily on the visual design and eroticism rather than the story or character. It worked.

His then-wife, Jane Fonda, plays the title character, a famously innocent and sexually open space adventurer who must traverse the cosmos in search of mad inventor Durand Durand, whose positronic ray could spell doom for Earth. Fonda obviously carries the film, which is otherwise filled with increasingly bizarre imagery and an utterly perplexing plot involving space angels, hairy men, flesh-rending doll children and a man in short pants named Dildano.

It’s not unfair to say the film survives based on the strength of its first act, which opens with Fonda’s floating striptease to the iconic Barbarella theme and culminates with her sexual awakening at the hands of the insanely hairy Catchman. Not that there aren’t charms later on, but goddamn, what an opening. I’d actually forgotten the rest of the film.

Arrow’s restoration is perfect for a film like this — a total pleasure to watch and an absolute visual feast, full of insane costumes, wacky set design and a campy vision of an erotic feature that never dips into irony. The special features loaded on the second disc are a great complement to the film (mostly available on previous Blu-ray releases), establishing the historic importance of the film and its influence on science-fiction going forward.

They don’t make legends like they used to.

Special Features

  • Brand new 4K restoration from the original negative by Arrow Films
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tula Lotay
  • Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Lotay
  • Six double-sided collector’s postcards
  • 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 — Feature (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)

  • 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
  • Original lossless English mono audio, plus remixed Dolby Atmos surround and lossless French mono (featuring the voice of Jane Fonda)
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Audio commentary by film critic Tim Lucas
  • Alternate opening and closing credits (in 4K with Dolby Vision)
  • Isolated score

Disc Two — Extras (Blu-ray)

  • Another Girl, Another Planet, an appreciation of Barbarella by film critic Glenn Kenny
  • Paul Joyce’s behind-the-scenes featurette, Barbarella Forever!
  • Love, a two-hour in-depth discussion between film and cultural historians Tim Lucas & Steve Bissette on the impact and legacy of Barbarella
  • Dress to Kill, a 30-minute interview with film fashion scholar Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén on Jacques Fonteray’s world-changing costume designs
  • Framing for Claude, an interview with camera operator Roberto Girometti
  • Tognazzi on Tognazzi, in which actor / director Ricky Tognazzi discusses the life and work of his father and Barbarella star Ugo Tognazzi
  • An Angel’s Body Double, in which actor Fabio Testi discusses his early career as a stuntman and body double for John Phillip Law on Barbarella
  • Dino and Barbarella, a video essay by Eugenio Ercolani on producer Dino De Laurentiis
  • Trailer
  • US TV and radio spots
  • Image gallery