02/28/06 Barbarella

Barbarella (1968), directed by Roger Vadim

watched w/ Leslie; DVD rental (Netflix) @ home

Pure cult classic fare, in all it's hippie sci-fi psychedelic glory. I have to admit that I honestly thought this would be a bit more sure of itself as a campy flick, rather than dabble as much in the punny Airplane style humor that Fonda desperately tries at. That part was stupid...as is anything Fonda does. I hate her, although as a young sex-kitten she is easy on the eyes floating around naked in her galactic pod. Playing the title role of Barbarella, she romps through the cosmos in search of an evil madman hellbent on celestial domination, encountering wild characters on crazy planetary adventures. Enjoy this ridiculousness for what it is...demonic dolls, doped up fembots smoking on a human hookah, fur-lined space portals, blind winged angel Adonis, the origins of Duran Duran, virtual sex, flesh eating canaries, and dream chambers. C'mon...who's not psyched about the future now?!?! Plus, Fonda must do at least a wardrobe change per scene which is exciting enough to be a dancing show in Vegas. However, for being the future where sex is literally mind blowing, the soundtrack of love is god awful. Aside from the Tom Jones-esque theme song (hell, it probably is Tom Jones), the score is terrible. Alas, Barbarella where have you gone?

3 out of 5 stars