Barbarella
An intergalactic heroine crosses a decadent alien world in a delirious collision of erotic fantasy, comic-book adventure, and psychedelic design.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Simple
- Violence
- Mild
- campy
- psychedelic
- playful
- cult movie night
- bad movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly agree that the film's inventive sets, costumes, visual imagination, and Jane Fonda's performance remain memorable despite an episodic, thin, and sluggish story.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The floating spaceships, exaggerated costumes, colorful sets, and fantastical machines turn the year 40,000 into a distinctly 1960s vision of the future.
Barbarella moves through alien cities, pleasure machines, dream chambers, and fantastical threats while foregrounding sexuality and spectacle.
Barbarella's encounters with the Excessive Machine, the Great Tyrant, and other threats repeatedly connect erotic display with survival and agency.
The City of Night, Chamber of Dreams, giant hookah, and ornate costumes emphasize set design and theatrical invention over plausibility.
Films like Barbarella, and why
Flash Gordon
Shares psychedelic space opera, lavish retro-futurist design, sexualized spectacle, and playful camp.
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
Shares surreal science fiction adventure, extravagant visual world-building, erotic fantasy, and deliberately heightened tone.
Heavy Metal
Shares adult-oriented European comic-book science fiction, eccentric creatures, colorful production design, and episodic quest structure.
Zardoz
Shares psychedelic artifice, provocative sexuality, theatrical world-building, and science fiction spectacle that privileges design over plot.
Movie Details
- Director
- Roger Vadim
- Release Date
- 1968-10-10
- Runtime
- 98 min
- Rating
- 6.0 / 10 (882)
Cast
- Jane Fonda
- John Phillip Law
- Anita Pallenberg
- Marcel Marceau
- Claude Dauphin
- Milo O'Shea
- Véronique Vendell
- Serge Marquand
- Catherine Chevallier
- Marie Therese Chevallier
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- JustWatch TV, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Barbarella about?
- An intergalactic heroine crosses a decadent alien world in a delirious collision of erotic fantasy, comic-book adventure, and psychedelic design.
- What is Barbarella like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Barbarella as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as simple.
- Is Barbarella violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Barbarella as mild.
- What did critics think of Barbarella?
- Critics broadly agree that the film's inventive sets, costumes, visual imagination, and Jane Fonda's performance remain memorable despite an episodic, thin, and sluggish story.
- Which films are like Barbarella?
- Films with a similar feel include Flash Gordon, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Heavy Metal, and Zardoz.
- How long is Barbarella?
- Barbarella runs 98 minutes.
- Where can I watch Barbarella?
- In United States, Barbarella is available to rent or buy from JustWatch TV, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
