BARBARELLA (1968): The Impact of Barbarella

[@slactweak]

The original was great and the reason is because it didn't take itself seriously. It was good, cheesy, campy, fun at a time when camp was pretty much King, I believe that a remake would be a total flop because it WOULD take itself seriously. "...Course that's just MY opinion, I could be WRONG..." - Dennis Miller

[@AmandaFromWisconsin]

Well, if it's going to be directed by Edgar Wright and is going to be written by the screenwriter of Kick-Ass, two of the X-Men movies and the Kingsmen films...I don't know. It might not take itself seriously. I'm excited for the remake and I really want to believe in it and I really want it to do well.

[@bobchurch6175]

I agree. Some movies were made before technology would allow a good version but I really don't see that here. On the other hand, a sequel might be good.

[@frankgesuele6298]

Indeed. A feminist remake like the other girl boss films would 💥 & 🔥

[@Langkowski]

I love Barbarella. I would have loved it even more as a child in the 60s.

[@sheilaholmes8455]

I love Barbarella!!!

[@Atomykpimp]

You did get the name of a very famous band from it. Duran Duran.

[@willowwisp357]

I have absolutely loved Jane Fonda ever since still photographs from this movie started to hit billboards and magazine covers. I was nine, my father was a Vietnam vet and made it clear that if it were convenient and safe he would be happy to kill her. I’m glad they never met. I love Jane in everything I ever saw her star in. From her preemptive warning in The China Syndrome to her doing a deep dive on the subject of father daughter relationships with her actual father playing opposite her in On Golden Pond. She is legend.

[@yoshimitsu5537]

Great breakdown as always! I have a hard time with most 60s-80s camp (with some exceptions like Highlander) but I might actually enjoy a remake. Modern camp that takes itself seriously to the point of absurdity (Dredd 3D, Mad Max Fury Road, etc.) is one of my favorite things and i could see Barbarella being a really good fit. Thanks for reminding me of Arrival, I need to see that, and nice to hear Annihilation getting some love. That movie is incredible!

[@Irisheddy]

I saw the original, I hope the remake can be as entertaining

[@gombodog]

The film was a big break from previous treatments of female sexuality in movies, where before extramarital sex lead to illness, social rejection and sometimes death; Barbarella enjoyed herself and explored sexuality, but without the stigma. It was also a big change for a major studio like Paramount to put it's name on this change in viewpoint. I'm a longtime fan of the film; it's music and contemporary rock concert background effects are dated, but I appreciate it's very odd imagery and campy, quotable lines, like, "What's that screaming? A good many dramatic situations begin with screaming". The contrast between 2001: A Space Odyssey, with its clean science fiction look and Barbarella's trendy period style is fascinating, considering that they both came out in the same year!

[@michaeledwards6683]

to me, what makes it dated is exactly what makes it great. i’m not a big fan of sci-fi or fantasy, but i LOVE 60’s pulp!

[@user-lo2wo6ul1g]

Yes its a cool fantasy movie with a sexy jane fonda and a sexy italian aka. The black queen. A trippy cool movie

[@spectator59]

The opening striptease was a big part of the impact of Barbarella. At least on me. (I saw it as a kid, when it first came out.)

[@inquisitor229]

A modern remake of Barbarella would be a mistake. It's very much a film of it's time period, and that period is now but a memory. The 21st century norms which exist in modern media will inevitably ruin any remake - leave the past in the past.

[@michaeledwards6683]

people hear “feminist remake” and just think 2016 ghostbusters, as if they couldn’t make just as much of a fun, trippy sex fantasy adventure film but with a female director given the creative reign to prioritize the female gaze. barbarella is already a kind of good representation of “lipstick” feminism with its free-flowing sexuality and powerful femininity. those very same qualities could just get updated to their gen z equivalents.

[@bobchurch6175]

Dick Cavett said that a Liberal will forgive Jane Fonda for being in Hanoi but not for being in Barbarella.

[@hagerty1952]

2:00 Death by snu-snu, female style.

[@gorequillnachovidal]

making it feminist would just make it shit. no one wants to be preached to in a movie.

[@muffridah8207]

Sydney Sweeney has solidified my interest in Barbarella again.

[@davidbarber7487]

A feminist Barbarella? Oh hell no! To make such a suggestion is to not understand Barbarella. I've just sat through the last 10 years of these attempts to remake film-making through the Feminist Lens, and they've effectively been uniformly awful. Men are men, and women are women, and they're not interchangeable as Kathleen Kennedy wants to believe. Barbarella is what Barbarella is. Trying to make her into something else is asking for disaster. As for uniformly awful, one will say, But didn't you see Barbie? Yes, and parts of it I enjoyed immensely. But it was sold as a lie. A RomCom with no Rom. I don't think that you will be able to pull that trick very often again

[@69realstar2]

Movie-going bomb or go straight pay per view garentee.

[@matthewmorgan9269]

Thanks. lost interest when Gloria Steinem got a mention.

[@coolhand1964]

Whilst Jane Fonda's performance in Barbarella is so highly regarded. It does not matter how many 'Women's' activism centres or 'Foundations' she chairs, to us old dudes, she will never atone for being the poster girl for the North Vietnamese at the height of the Vietnam War. 'Hanoi Jane' is still despised by Veterans and the families of those that did not return home. Even down here in Australia. 🇦🇺🦘

[@pedromeza2398]

Hanoi Jane was more likely working for the CIA, which explains why she was not prosecuted.