Barbarella (1968)
Science Fiction, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Action • 1h 38m
Director: Roger Vadim
Cast: Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg, Marcel Marceau, Claude Dauphin, Milo O’Shea, Véronique Vendell, Serge Marquand, Catherine Chevallier, Marie Therese Chevallier, David Hemmings, Ugo Tognazzi, Giancarlo Cobelli, Fabienne Fabre, Corinne Fontaine, Nino Musco, Umberto Di Grazia, Franco Gulà, Jean Saudray, Romolo Valli, Robert Rietti, Kitty Swan, Fabio Testi, Talitha Pol, Antonio Sabàto, Honey Autumn, Diane Bond, Silvana Venturelli, Carla Cassola, Joan Greenwood, María Teresa Orsini, Chantal Cachin, Fred Robsahm
Best English-friendly & video release · updated 4 months ago
UHD tiers
Overview
In the far future, a highly sexual woman is tasked with finding and stopping the evil Durand-Durand. Along the way she encounters various unusual people.
Directors: Louis Malle & Roger Vadim & Federico Fellini
Director: Federico Fellini
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
review: Disk Kino
better encoding, some shots are better on Shout! Factory, others on Arrow
Shout! Factory/Arrow 4K Blu-ray has the original mono
Director: Lewis Teague
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray disappointing
R1 DVD
R1 DVD sounds best and has the original mono and a Dolby Stereo remix
Director: Ron Shelton
Australia Imprint 4K Blu-ray disappointing, nice new master, but poor encode, grain completely crippled in some scenes, artifacts abound, etc, makes Kino Lorber look like FiM.
Director: William Friedkin
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
Plaion have also released a BD sourced from Arrow's recent 4K remaster, holds up strongly in comparison https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=19341&d2=19005&c=5415
Director: Preston Sturges
Director: John Carpenter
Sources: blog.sporv.com (opens in a new tab)
1997? Signature Collection LD
Good: 2017 Arrow and 2016 Shout! Factory Blu-ray have the original audio options.
the only track on Universal 4K, which is in DTS:X, has a mixing error of around 6dB too low on side channels, otherwise very similar to other 5.1 mixes.
Director: Rob Reiner
Arrow 4K Blu-ray releasing December 14 2026
More Science Fiction on Blu-ray
Director: James Gunn
Commentary is only on Streaming
Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode, work done to un-Nolan the 4K master, the first ever appearance of the 35mm mono track on physical media and a new restoration/remastering of the 70mm 6-track mix.
(early pressing has errors of a shot, later pressings fixed)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode, new restoration of mono mix which should be better than what was on the WB 4K Blu-ray and 1999 DVD and revised colour timing to make the film look more like it did in 1971.
WB 4K 5.1: a remix but has higher fidelity
Mono: 4K Blu-ray/1999 DVD
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
Bandai 4K Blu-ray? vs 2008 Japan Bandai Blu-ray (BCXA-0085): same video but includes Bandai English dub and original mix
2026 Bandai 4K Blu-ray
Director: James Cameron
Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)
Fox Blu-ray for original cuts without the extra scene added in the re-release and AI upscaling
Newer Blu-ray/4K has the extra scene, but is poor and has excessive AI upscaling
An additional scene was added to the ending of the movie in the 2022 re-release: https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=493908
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
For 3D: 2014 Warner Bros 2D+3D Blu-ray
For ATMOS & music-less version: 2024 Blu-ray/2013 Diamond Luxe Edition Blu-ray
For 5.1: 2014 Warner Bros 2D+3D Blu-ray
This film received multiple blu-ray versions since its initial release. Be sure on whether the Dolby Atmos track, newer extras or 3D image is preferred. The 2024 release is a reprint of the Diamond Luxe.
Sources: fanrestore.com (opens in a new tab) · originaltrilogy.com (opens in a new tab)
2017 StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray and subsequent 4K Blu-rays are notorius for being heavily denoised and smoothened. Alternatively, 35mm scans for the theatrical cut is also available.
For the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is the older pre-2017 transfer, but has DNR.
Director: Roger Christian
Theatrical Version: Mill Creek Blu-ray
Home Video Version: Concorde Blu-ray
Director: James Cameron
2013 MGM Blu-ray, or 4K Blu-ray if you MUST have the mono mix, 1997 Image DVD/2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix
Sources: vimeo.com (opens in a new tab) · facebook.com (opens in a new tab)
2013 MGM Blu-ray for non AI transfer, 1997 Image DVD/2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix
1991 Image Entertainment LaserDisc for the US mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for the International mono mix
Comparison between the US and International mixes: https://vimeo.com/246332731
The 4K Blu-Ray and the 2001 MGM DVD have exclusive extras.
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