"Barb Wire" was pretty transparently designed as a showcase for both Pamela Anderson's body (too "artificial" for my taste) and her newly-acquired martial arts skills (which, I must say, are quite remarkable). Other than that, it has nothing new to offer to the sci-fi/comic-book adventure genre, although it has a few (too few!) well-executed action sequences and a more professional look than thematically similar crap like "The Demolitionist". (**)
Add a Review
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gridoon9 August 2001
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chrisbrown645320 July 2001Pamela Anderson Lee will certainly never be mistaken for a talking pig, especially in the outfits she gets to wear in Barb Wire. Pamela has cascading blonde hair down to there, acres of cleavage and plenty of clingy leather getups cut up to here. If you get distracted and call Ms. Wire the dreaded "B" word, you may find yourself dealing with her nasty-tempered Rottweiler, Camille, a sidekick with bite. This highly anticipated comic-book action/adventure, starring the pinup star of Baywatch, lasted only a short time in theaters before going bust, so to speak. I'm sure the backers couldn't care less, as their investment was made back in advance by tremendous worldwide sales. Barb Wire was sold on the star's face and form long before there was a story concept or anything resembling a script. Good thing, too. Yes, the futuristic plot does bear some parallels to Casablanca, but the family resemblance is strictly skin-deep. Barb is a nightclub owner who helps an old flame, now a freedom fighter, and his wife escape from a corrupt police official and some neo-Nazi types. Of all the gin joints in the world, Axel had to walk into Barb's. Barb has just been hosed down while performing a torrid dance onstage and is feeling, well, charitable. The movie gets off to a pretty good start, with tongue well in cheek, but grows wearisome when it forgets to laugh at itself. The explosions, shoot-outs and chases are eventually numbing. Must say, however, I did love the death-by-spike-heel scene which comes early on. Steve Railsback, as the head meanie, Colonel Pryzer, comes across as Tommy Lee Jones-lite. Ms. Anderson Lee, as Barb the Buxom, is game, however, firing oversized weapons and kicking fanny without mussing her makeup. Too bad they couldn't afford some better wigs for her stunt doubles.
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Smells_Like_Cheese6 December 2010There are some films that are bad, infamous bad and Barb Wire is one of those I have heard about. Some bad films are trashy but can be a bit fun, like Showgirls and some can just be wrong like Striptease. Barb Wire is a film I guess in some way I'm kind of undecided on, it has the making for just a bad movie with Pamela's bad acting but has the action scenes and cheesy lines that make it fun as well. This movie is a retelling of Cassablanca and isn't so quick to hide that fact, so I guess this is the exotic remake. Pam Anderson is a sexy female lead and isn't that hard to believe that at times she can be tough, she does wear that leather well I have to admit, but some of the way she delivers the lines was a little too Shaquil O'Neil, I think if you're going to do a movie like this, you might as well go over the top, go a little James Woods, it's all good. But we need a fun action film with the lead being female, just sad that this is a bad film that got overlooked.
Set in 2017 during the "Second American Civil War", Barb Wire owns the Hammerhead, a nightclub in Steel Harbor "the last free city" in a United States ravaged by the civil war and she brings in extra cash by hiring out as a mercenary and bounty hunter. Her club is raided by Chief of Police Willis, who is looking for the fugitive Dr. Corrina "Cora" Devonshire. Devonshire, a former government scientist, has information about a bioweapon being developed by her former superior, Colonel Pryzer of the Congressional Directorate; she is trying to escape to Canada in order to make this information public. Meanwhile, Devonshire has turned up at the Hammerhead. She is accompanied by Axel Hood, a "freedom fighter" whom Barb had known at the outbreak of the war, but the two were separated soon afterward. Axel is now married to Cora, and is trying to help her get to Canada. They are trying to find a contraband pair of contact lenses which will allow Cora to evade the retinal scan at the Steel Harbor airport. The lenses pass through the hands of several lowlifes before also ending up at Barb's nightclub.
Barb Wire really wasn't as bad as I was expecting, even though it's just a remake of a classic romantic movie, it does have some cool moments. I loved some of the action scenes, the fight on the fork lift was a lot of fun to watch and since the movie doesn't take itself too seriously, it's all good and makes the fight scenes that more exciting. I guess I could say that I enjoyed the movie a little bit, I suppose it's a new guilty pleasure. Pam Anderson may be an awful actress, but it's not like I was looking for an Oscar worth movie when I decided to watch it. But I have a feeling that the director has some serious sexual issues considering some of the strange erotic torture devices used in the film are a bit much, maybe I don't want to know. If you have an open mind and are looking for a good bad film, I think you'll get a kick out Barb Wire. However just think if you're looking for an actual action film with good acting, just look at the cover, enough said.
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DJ Inferno17 April 2001What do you really expect from a chick like Pamela Anderson..? That she´s performing character roles Meryl Streep is normally meant to play?!? In this film you get her usual qualities in a sufficient amount: Pam is pretty, Pam is sexy and she´s joking in a self-ironic humor for the whole film. So what do you want more?!? The opening sequence is great and Udo Kier, one of the most culty German actors next to the deceased Klaus Kinski is also in! Of course, if you expect a great film you certainly will be disappointed: the set decoration is pretty cheap and the plot is stolen from "Casablanca". Nevertheless "Barb Wire" is very entertaining and should be regarded as funny action trash with an attractive main actress - nothing more, nothing less! Just be glad that David Hasselhoff is not in!!! (6/10)
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Enchorde13 March 2004Wow. Now this is not good. However, the movie sets its level right away, by having a stripping, dancing wet Barb (Anderson) already in the introduction of the movie. So, there you have what this movie is all about. Sure you get some violence, explosions and bad costumes as a bonus. Clearly, there is no relevant story in the movie, all revolves around (Barb) to show her off in different ways. The mentioned costumes are almost offending to the audience. Whoever responsible for them clearly did not work very hard. Barb competes with herself to wear some leather-thing that shows off as much as possible, but actually must be considered well dressed as compared to other ladies. The villains wear something that bear a striking resemblance to nazi-uniforms. Well sure, we know who's the bad guys, thank you. And some other people wear broken calculators and other piece of machinery that you'll find in a scrap-heap as hats, and are automatically dressed up like guys from the future. If it was this easy to make a good movie, I could have made it myself. Fortunately it is not, and Barb Wire is not a good movie.
But, and this is a mysterious but, I actually didn't get bored out of my mind and switched off. The movie actually, in some way, had some small piece of entertainment value throughout that made me stay. And that something, whatever it was, is what ultimately saves the movie from being complete junk.
So, if you have absolutely nothing else to do, you may want to watch this one, once. You may get some ideas how to (or not to) dress for the next masquerade.
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larserikg5 January 2001This movie is not a failure, because the movie makers obviously haven´t tried to make anything else than a mindless flick that lets Pamela Anderson show her cleavage. They have succeeded.
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I have a weird obsession....to see every film on IMDB's infamous Bottom 100 List. "Barb Wire" is currently #44....and my 94th film on this list! However, after seeing it, I am not sure that it really deserves to be on the list. Sure, Pamela Anderson got the Razzie Award for her performance and it is a dopey film...but unlike most of the films on the list it was never intended to be a good movie. It simply was made as an excuse to dress (and undress) Anderson in very revealing clothes! It's not what anyone would consider a masterpiece, not was it ever intended as one....just a film to show as much of the lady as she was willing to show. And, in places (such as the opening credits) you see a lot.
"Barb Wire" is based on a comic book by Dark Horse, a company known for characters such as The Mask, Hellboy and comics like "Sin City". Again....none of these characters or films were ever intended to be carried by the Criterion Collection nor to be up for Academy Awards!
In this story, Anderson plays the title character, a combination stripper, hooker and assassin. And it's all set in a dystopian and dark world...of the USA in 2017! She strips, turns tricks and leaves bodies where ever she goes! She also, interestingly, sounds like she's doing a Steven Segal impersonation in the film...softly mumbling most of her lines. Bad enough for a Razzie? I wouldn't say so...but it's not like I'm in charge of giving out these infamous awards!
You can probably assume that I thought the film was pretty dumb....and you'd be right. But it's exactly what many folks wanted in 1996...a chance to see Anderson at least semi-naked. It delivers this....along with a dark, silly and not especially enjoyable story.
If you actually JUST want to see Ms. Anderson's body, skip to the special features on the disc and select 'SEXY OUTTAKES'....then you can skip the silly movie entirely and just see what most folks who watch the DVD really want anyway.
By the way, the opening song was "Word Up"....an extremely catchy R&B/hiphop song by Cameo. But, oddly, some other folks perform it...and it's not nearly as good as the original. I wonder why they didn't just pay for the rights to the original....I can't imagine it would have been THAT expensive. -
SimPY_12310 February 2007Pamela Anderson's body surely looks great (although it may be 90% silicone and fiberglass), and she surely is very "flexible" (wich might have come in handy in porn movies, recommendations are welcome)... but this movie has only that... when watching the movie, everybody unifies with the character named Charlie (Barb's brother)... just because he's blind and he's got the luck to miss out part of the movie. Pamela Anderson has an annoying monotone story-telling voice, and the well known consistent-permanented-hairstyle, as well as the disability to truly act (only the little screams and moans sound natural, don't they) and the taste for choosing to play in a story as ridiculous as this one... I watched the movie because i saw a report on TV about classic movie-heroines, mostly created by comics (DC Comics for example made Catwoman after they made Batman, and many heroines were created in the series of another male hero in this way)... and i got curious, I was never suspecting SUCH a great disappointment... it must have been the third worst movie I ever saw (1st=Meet Joe Black ; 2nd=Cast Away) My advice: Watch the striptease at the beginning and then go look for another movie!
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seanofthedead-7968021 September 2018Let's recap on this flim's storyline. A fascist government is looking for a scientist and spouse, who's working for resistance takes shelter in a bar. Under management by the spouse's ex lover and a corrupted cop, now where did I heard that before? Oh yeah, Casablanca. You mean to tell me that one of the greatest films get completely copied, and no one see the connection?
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ironhorse_iv29 November 2013This movie is nearly unwatchable even if it has Pamela Anderson in it. She's not that sexy to spend 98 minutes watching a movie, loosely based on the movie plot of 1942's Casablanca. I wouldn't say this movie paying homage to it, as a lot of it was change, so it wouldn't be a total rip off of Casablanca. Barb Wire, the film is mostly based on the Dark Horse comics that bare its name. Barb Wire, the comic book wasn't that popular, and the film follows that. Barb Wire isn't that sharp, but it's does hurts to watch. Set in 2017 during the Second American Civil War, Barb Wire (Pamela Anderson) owns the Hammerhead, a nightclub in Steel Harbor. Steel Harbor is describe as the last free city in a United States that wasn't ravaged by the war. In my opinion, it was ravaged by a horrible script. Directed by David Hogan, everything looks dirty. Steel Harbor looks like a dump, and Hammerhead is like a hole in the wall strip club. There isn't no glamor here. I think the film makers were going the gritty Sci-Fi route with this story, but there is no class, when you make a movie that has your main character parading herself in her bathing suit. It's not a believable to believe this half naked woman is a bad ass mercenary and bounty hunter. Like the Casablanca movie, a Chief of Police comes around time to time to raid her club for fugitives. Willis (Xander Berkeley) is looking for fugitive Dr. Corrina "Cora D" Devonshire (Victoria Rowell), a former government scientist with information about a bioweapon being developed by her former superior, Colonel Pryzer (Steve Railsback) of the Congressional Directorate. Cora D later turns up at the club, with Axel Hood (Temuera Morrison) a freedom fighter from the United Front whom Barb had known and loved before the war. Both hopes to escape to Canada in order to make this information public. If you're looking for Casablanca like performance, here. You're deeply going to be disappointed. The characters in this movie are pretty unlikeable as Barb only cares about money. Barb doesn't go through any struggle with morality. The acting is bad. Pamela Anderson speaks in this movie with little to no emotion in her delivery. It's not like the dialogue is any good. Most of it was bland. Monologues are horrible. Show, don't tell, movie. The only reason why this movie was made was to capitalize on how hot and popular, Pamela Anderson was in the 1990s. The movie was made for the objectification of women. The opening shot of the movie, has a stripping, dancing wet Barb (Pamela Anderson) as a way to introduce this character. I thought I was watching a porno, then an action movie when I saw this. It tries to be feminist in a way, because Barb Wire hates being call 'babe', but fails miserably due to pointless nudity scenes, blatant sexual overtones and fantasies of torture to women. Plus, they even said Barb is also a hooker. This movie is disturbing. The action is pretty bad. The stunts are painfully unspectacular. She did some of her own stunts, although the corset and the heels she wore made fight scenes very challenging. I don't find how Barb Wire is able to fight off enemies wearing black leather and 7 inch high heeled boots. I would thought she would fall, a few times. Watching the outtakes, she did. The vision of a fascist America, is never that canny. In my opinion, if the story went deeper into how this world came to be, maybe this film could had work. The camera work is horrible. The obnoxious close-ups and the endless fade to black get tiresome. Yes, the movie does have some entertaining value as its target audience might like seeing Pamela's boobs and violent mixed together. Still, in the end, anybody that watch this, knows well that this is a bad movie. It was cheesy when it came out, and it's still cheesy. Don't expect this movie to be what it isn't. It's a B movie, with B everything. It's not supposed to be taken seriously. Still, this movie sucks.
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Chelman6663 January 1999I almost find myself compelled to comment on this movie although i vowed to myself to ban it entirely from my memory after having watched it. However I think that this movie is so awful and terrifyingly uninteresting that I must warn all movie watchers from wasting 90 minutes or so of their valuable time. Essentially this movie is Baywatch revisited in cyberpunk. Like Baywatch there's no story, no character development, poor direction, poor...well everything. And just like Baywatch it focuses on Pam Anderson's breasts for the majority of the film. I would only suggest this movie if you're an adolescent admirer of movies which interchange a plot for a bra.
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midnightcub2 November 2021Yes you read that right. Nine!! Oh it's B-grade. Cheesy. And so much fun. It's more than the 3 stars some give it. Pamela does MUCH more than show some cleavage. She even does many of her own stunts. Back when stunts were dangerous too. You can do FAR worse than this film. Especially lately.
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guisreis12 September 2014Although based in comic book series, the "Barb Wire" movie intends to be a remake o classical "Casablanca". It keeps the core elements of the 40's film, but adapts it to a distopic sci-fi action futuristic movie. Pamela Anderson plays Barb, a role similar to Bogart's Rick. The gender of the love affair from the past and of the third part of the love triangle have also been changed. The fictional town of Steel Harbor in the United States replaces Casablanca and the story is held during a futuristic Second Civil War rather than in the beginning of World War II. Both protagonists own a bar/nightclub, but Barb Wire is also a bounty huntress. As this remake is a sci-fi film, special contact lenses that cheat retinal scans substitute the letters of transit kept with Rick. As predictable, acting is worse in this remake, which has much more action. Off course "Casablanca" is much better, but surprisingly "Barb Wire" is not bad, in spite of the bad critics it has received.
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Uriah4310 March 2014"Barb Wire" (Pamela Anderson) is a nightclub owner in a futuristic America where a civil war has broken out between two distinct factions. The first is known as the "Congressional Directoret" and the second as the "Resistance". Now, as it so happens Barb Wire also moonlights as a mercenary who has little sympathy for either side and operates in the only free city left which is known as "Steel Harbor". However, when a former government scientist named "Dr. Corina Devonshire" (Victoria Rowell) escapes from the Congressional Directoret and arrives in Steel Harbor carrying some special contact lenses worth $2 million-along with Barb Wire's former lover named "Axel Hood" (Temuera Morrison)-Barb Wire becomes indirectly involved. And that spells bad news for whichever side she's not on. Anyway, rather than reveal the rest of the details and possibly spoil the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this movie was widely panned by the critics when it first came out. As a matter of fact, Pamela Anderson received several Razzie Awards for her performance which included "Worst New Star" and "Worst Actress". Other Razzie Awards for the film included "Worst Picture" along with being nominated for "Worst Screenplay" and "Worst Original Song". So judging from these awards and nominations one would think that this was an extremely bad movie. However, rather than simply going with the proverbial crowd I happen to have my own opinion which is quite different. First, I didn't think her performance was that bad. As a matter of fact I kind of enjoyed it. Not only that but I have seen a lot worse movies than this particular one. Now, that's not to say that this film was great by any means because it clearly wasn't. But it was hardly the worst movie for that year. Nowhere close. Likewise, although I didn't especially care for the performance of Temuera Morrison I thought the performance of Udo Kier (as "Curly") was actually quite good. Anyway, there you have it. Again, while "Barb Wire" may not be a great film I didn't think it was necessarily that bad either. I rate it as average.
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Kevin-11-221 February 1999I'm a fan of the comic book series, Barb Wire (or was, until its cancellation). And I'm afraid I have mixed feelings about the movie. It certainly isn't true to the comic. Barb isn't a tough as nails, but guided by her morals woman. She's a cold blooded killer for hire, in this one. Still, it's difficult not to like Pam Anderson's role, if only because of her being sexy. There is a touch of humor in her campy portrayal. It's not spectacular acting, but it's fun. Pamela also resembles the comic book Barb to an uncanny degree, and the supporting cast is wonderfully cartoony. The story isn't well written, but it gives the cute one liners ("Don't... call me babe"), and action sequences, which are all fun to watch. I realize that it isn't high art, but this movie just has a level of silliness and seriousness that's hard not to like. The music, story, and dialogue all give the movie its cheesiness, and in some way, it's made to be entertaining.
Pam is extremely sexy in this movie, and great to watch. She has a scowl all the time, and is dressed to kill in low cut, tight outfits. Sadly, we don't get that much nudity (which alone could have carried the movie). The scenes where there is some, it's pretty clear, and we get a good look at Pamela's incredible body, and the atmosphere and her poses are always very sexy. But there isn't enough of this. It's a fun blend of action, silly dialogue, nudity, and... well Pamela Anderson. Go rent it. It's not a great movie, but it's not a terrible one, and one that's a heck of a good time. NOTE: I suggest the unrated version. It contains more nudity (there isn't that much to begin with) and a ten minutes of footage at the end with Pamela nude in a bathtub, which is really great. -
This ''movie'' is really bad. It is just a pathetic excuse to watch Pamela Anderson Lee in several nude-scenes (then specially the 10 minutes opening scene). The movie is filled with boring action, stupid dialogues and silly comments like ''Don't call me Babe''.
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I_Ailurophile18 November 2021I didn't exactly have high expectations. I recall well when 'Barb Wire' was first released, and it gave the impression of being little more than somewhat exploitative schlock capitalizing on Pamela Anderson's body. The reputation it seems to have earned rather affirms that impression. Apart from a couple unexpected names in the cast (Udo Kier, Clint Howard), no one especially stuck out as a possible savior. Why, this remains the only feature film of director David Hogan, whose work otherwise seems to strictly have been in music videos. On the other hand, screenwriter Chuck Pfarrer is a familiar and welcome name; he's been behind a few quite excellent features. Now that I've watched this rather infamous slice of cinema for myself, color me surprised - I wouldn't go so far as to say it's good, but it's not all bad, honestly.
While the presentation is very much a sci-fi action flick, the narrative, its characters, and even some of the less ham-handed dialogue in no small part reflect a neo-noir. I could almost imagine the bare bones of the screenplay serving a different kind of story, were it conceived 40-50 years earlier. To be sure, there are a lot of indelicacies in the writing - and many more in Hogan's direction, which in its own dire inelegance accentuates the problems with Pfarrer's contribution. Yet for all the garish gawkiness that pervades the feature, 'Barb Wire' is penned fairly deftly. Scenes are written well, and though I'm no fan of Hogan's eye as a director, nor his guiding hand, the same scenes are broadly ably executed, too. The narrative, characters, and dialogue, already mentioned as a relative anachronism by film industry standards, are stronger than I possibly could have expected. Far from perfect, of course, but my assumptions were "rock bottom," so every little bit counts for something.
The marketing, costume design, and introduction of Anderson's title character portend a notably sleazy genre romp, so I was almost taken aback by how little the actress' physique is actually emphasized in the feature. It's refreshing, frankly: This isn't so much a "look at the scantily-clad lady!" action flick, as it is an action flick that just happens to star a woman famed for her stature. Her acting is another question, though. Whether it's from lack of ability, a series of bad days on set, or just the tawdry guiding hand of Hogan, there are few instances herein where her delivery and comportment is convincing. Or is it just that the character of Barb Wire is supposed to be calm, cool and collected? If so, that's definitely not how it came across. Other performances in the film similarly struggle with authenticity, though I think for the most part the supporting cast comes out looking better than Anderson does.
There's no mistaking that 'Barb Wire' is also distinctly over the top, probably too much so for its own good. Yet to my amazement, the biggest problem here isn't bombastic action, ham-handed dialogue or acting, or generally poor film-making - but just a lack of a meaningfully distinguishing element. Yes, all the other issues further weigh it down, but the movie above all just possesses nothing to really set it apart, or make it an essential experience. It's not bad, but when you can watch other action pictures with fewer weaknesses, there's no particular reason to seek this one out, save perhaps for curiosity. Oddly, given the low regard for the title at large, to simply call it unremarkable nearly feels like a compliment.
Though not exactly riveting, I'm glad I sat to watch this - why not, after all? In the very least, I don't totally regret it, which alone says much. I can't really imagine recommending this, and to sit for it should likely only ever be a question of inquisitiveness, not active interest. Yet the fact remains that I plainly don't think 'Barb Wire' is half as awful as its reception would suggest. It's not specifically deserving of your time, but if you enjoy action movies, there are worse ways to spend 90 minutes. -
breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com17 March 2015Thus far in mainstream comic book related movies, only one female antihero has turned out having very little complaints and that's Black Widow from Marvel's The Avengers (2012). Then again, she also has not had any solo film but she has appeared in several films prior and so far, there really hasn't been an uproar over Scarlett Johansson's portrayal as the deadly assassin. Beyond this character however, movie studios have not been able to pinpoint the proper approach to making a worthy female heroine film. There have been several attempts, but so far none have proved to be lucrative. For Dark Horse Entertainment, which was no stranger to their comic books being adapted to film took more than one wack at making a feminine hero focused film. The year before, they also helped surface British Comic, Tank Girl (1995), which also flopped. Then came this, which by many consider being one of the worst comic book films. As an overall film, it's not even near decent but it isn't the worst.
The setting takes place in 2018 where (like many other futures are described) the next all out war broke out. This time being called the "second civil war"; there's only one place among the whole land where people can live free without the strong eye of government looking over them. However even there, no one is safe. After learning a deadly secret, Dr. Cora (Victoria Rowell) and her husband Axel (Temuera Morrison) attempt to flee the country to Canada but are met with endless setbacks. It is at this point they look to find the only person who can help them escape, a local bar owner / bounty hunter known as Barb Wire (Pamela Anderson). As a story, not all of it is passe but a good portion of it is overused elements seen from multiple other films about dystopic futures. Plus cutting it off close to 2020 shot itself in the foot looking at it now. The writing for this screenplay was carried by Chuck Pfarrer (Darkman (1990) & Hard Target (1993)) and Ilene Chaiken (as her first work) did take care of properly giving the main characters' their back story but there are other parts that don't work.
A subtle flaw is quick changes in character motivations. At one time in the film a character will have a certain opinion. Then, later on in the film they will declare the opposite opinion with no reasoning. That's a bit frustrating when trying to understand a character. Another matter of contention is convenient contrivances. If something is out of reach for an individual and then later on it is revealed to the viewers that they acquired it (again, with no reason how), it gets frustrating. Almost like the film is saying, "they're just that good, no sense in showing how they did it". The last poorly written component to this film is main villain Colonel Pryzer (Steve Railsback). Besides just being callous to everyone he meets, Pryzer is a very generic antagonist dressed in Nazi garb. It's nothing to point out or even worth remembering about because his character is so two dimensional. Surprisingly, the rest of the cast in some ways makes up for it. Local law enforcement Alexander Willis (Xander Berkeley) tries to add some humor to the situation as well as Charlie (Jack Noseworthy).
There's also guest appearances from character actors Andre Rosey Brown (as a more eccentric villain than Pryzer), Nicholas Worth, Clint Howard, Udo Kier and Nils Allen Stewart. The relationship between Axel, Dr. Cora and Barb Wire isn't the most believable but it isn't unlikable either. Actually, although Pamela Anderson speaks many of her lines in monotone, some of her quips are funny to hear. When she curses though, the viewer will be able to tell she's not acting material. Then again, if there's one thing Anderson nails, it's her figure of Barb Wire. Of all obvious reasons to pick her, what else? Of course, another curvaceous female could've been cast but let's deal with what's here. Plus, they got the costume down pat and it sure looks good on Anderson. Surprisingly Anderson can even handle the action sequences quite well. Yes, the fact that she also had stunt doubles is understandable but not truly noticeable which is required because viewers should not be able to tell.
Cinematography was shot by Rick Bota for this movie. Most of the time the camera-work is acceptable for the action scenes and dialog. The only areas where it fails to feel compelling in the story is in its tracking shots. This was specifically evident either when it was filmed in the bar that Barb Wire owned or outside in garbage dump like settings. Since the story takes place in a chaotic dystopic future, the use of dusty, beige colored, and dune infested backdrops is the ultimate cliché for this setting. At least try to make it look different than what's been normally used. It's just been seen too many times. Lastly the musical score was arranged by French composer Michel Colombier. For this round, his composition sounds a bit like Gary Chang's score from Death Warrant (1990) using occasional steel drums. However, a lot of his music is absent and is replaced by hard rock which I guess is appropriate but the sound gets very cluttered because of it and that doesn't help.
Many people say it's one of the worst comic books put to film. It certainly doesn't have the most competent of storytelling (which includes the contrivances & clichés) and not every character stands out like they should. Pamela Anderson also isn't acting material but she actually gives the viewing a "so bad it's good" experience. The action does entertain and some of the other supporting cast members do help make it at least average. -
torrascotia1 December 2023Barb Wire is yet another of the 90's movies which tried and failed to bring the comic book experience to the big screen. It fits within the group of movies such as Tankgirl, Johnny Mnemonic and Street Fighter which bombed at the box office despite the significant interest of the public.
Its basically a Casablanca rip off with Pamela Anderson as the main character who is some kind of bar manager/bounty hunter. While the first third of the movie tries to paint her as being some uber sexy vixen that goes out the window when the goofy violence and bad acting kick into gear. After that she is just an anybody in a badly fitting leather suit and clumpy 90's boots. The movie actually manages to make Pamela look unattractive. If your asking how is this possible well it looks like they picked a rock music video director to helm the movie. And it shows. The whole thing has a made for TV action movie/rock video look. Lots of filters and funny overhead camera angles for no reason and a Saturday afternoon TV show budget look, everything looks so sparse. There is zero excitement despite plenty violence and explosions, there is also zero evidence of acting ability despite some very well known faces.
This movie also shows that Pamela simply isn't a good actress and was hired for her looks. Its just that on Baywatch it doesn't matter because there isn't really an demands on her character as she's simply another beach girl, but Barb Wire is an actual character which she simply fails to project. Her tough girl act comes across as a mix between bored and annoyed.
That said it is worth watching for the sake of seeing what was a big trend in 90's movies, that of the cyberpunk/post apocalyptic vibe and failed comic movie attempt. Its ironic that some lesser budget straight to video affairs did a much better job than this ever did, despite the cast and money involved. -
dilgrod5 January 2007What a wreck...
If I could describe this film in short: one minute of the movie focused on Pamela's boobs, and then the rest of the movie consists in a group of cheesy B-actors defecating on "Casablanca" . This movie is SO BAD and SO badly acted, even in the boring and over exploited cyberpunk genre.
The actors are terrible, the screenplay is cheesy (even for a cyberpunk), and the EVERY character in this movie has the word "cliché" tattooed in his forehead.
Do yourself a favor and don't watch this. -
sqsolross25 May 2013It's worth watching purely for the cringe factor.
The acting is wooden. The story line is hardly existent, and the script writing is pretty poor too.
Let's face it, Pam can't act. The number of cuts (with associated continuity errors) is testament to the number of takes it took to do some scenes. Even just the act of turning over a table seems beyond her and needs to be pieced together from multiple takes.
Given the number of takes they had to do they really should have employed a human to manage continuity, rather than the chimpanzee they seem to have had doing the job. If sitting in the corner throwing their poo at passers by can be called "doing the job".
And at least they could have picked a stunt double who at least looks vaguely like Pam. The one they chose barely fills the bodice Pam wears, and looks like a man to boot. I mean, Pam's breasts spill over the top of her bodice. Her stunt double has noticeable gaps where flesh (or rather silicone) should be. -
Barb Wire isn't the worst movie of 1996(quite), Bio-Dome and Ed are worse, but it is a terrible movie with its only redeeming asset Pamela Anderson's cleavage. Anderson is very sexy and does better than expected in the action sequences, but the way she delivers her lines just for me amplifies her limitations as an actress. And the rest of the acting ranges to pretty poor to non-existent. The action sequences are in a way efficiently performed but choreographed in a generic way and some of the editing feels sloppy. I liked how catchy and how upbeat the soundtrack was but it got a bit too loud and too much after a while, the script is cheesy and weak and the story is so thin you have to watch closely to see if there is a story, and I have no better news about the direction. Overall, a terrible movie. 1/10 Bethany Cox
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tereseatbiocybernaut5 March 2022This show doesn't need to be any different than it is. The over the top craziness of the lines and the characters are more than enough entertainment for anyone. People who have critiqued this expecting a Bruce Willis type of action adventure just don't understand what this is about or where the entertainment factor lies in this show.
As far as action adventure goes, the stunts and the pace of the movie are great! It is full on fun and exciting. But it is not some macho style, take Barb Wire seriously as an action adventure. It actually is really cool and when people get over their judgement of Pamela Anderson and see the movie for what it is... light hearted entertainment... then they might enjoy it as much as I do. But then again, boobs seem to make men upset. They want to see boobs on someone that they think they can maybe imagine themselves with. And Barb Wire is not that woman. Her attitude doesn't lend itself to making men feel like they could rush in and save her. -
The_Movie_Cat28 June 2000Picture this: a Pamela Anderson science fiction double bill on television. I mean, you'd just HAVE to watch it, wouldn't you? Just to see how bad it was.
1995's Naked Souls kept making me look for the "TV Movie" credit that wasn't there. A cheap and exploitative "erotic thriller" where Pammie exposes her left breast within the first three minutes of the movie. Anderson is an artist, specialising in plaster-casting nude women, rubbing mixture over their breasts while they proclaim "it feels kinda sexy". Her boyfriend, decently played by Brian Krause, is studying brain wave patterns and accidentally crosses his own with that of a serial killer. It's all very silly and derivative, also involving a Faustian pact with a mysterious benefactor. What disturbs is that all the victims of the killer are nude women I mean, who gets into a swimming pool naked? meaning the film uses sexual violence as titillation. Dean Stockwell, in a minor role, is wasted in stuff like this.
If Anderson's role in the predictable Naked Souls was peripheral (and also completely irrelevant to the plot), then Barb Wire sees her take over the screen. Released the following year, this saw the now Pamela Anderson Lee as the titular character, a Barbarella of the 90s. Of course she can't act she only manages one expression throughout the whole two hours but her assured performance is wonderful here. While it's easy to lump both these films together as trash entertainment, Barb Wire is so much more than that. A vibrant, witty and well-directed cartoon for the screen, its constant energy is a delight. What really appeals is in seeing the sheer amount of cinema pastiches the film rigs up. Batman, Never Say Never Again and even The A-Team are all parodied. But most significantly, it shares multiple plot similarities with Casablanca, and I honestly suspect that this was intentional. Or would its 2017 planes really be so old-fashioned? Barb is a neutral bar owner during a war by day (ring a bell?) a vixen for hire by night. The landscape she occupies is an excitingly neon world of legalised prostitution, engineered diseases and sophisticated contact lenses.
Maybe the opening moments Anderson Lee exposing her bare nipples while water washes over them to a baying crowd are tacky and unnecessary. The scenes that follow also contain a torture sequence that is not only misguided in its attempt to arouse but also transparent in its purpose for expository dialogue. Yet beyond those first few scenes we have an action movie that contains above-average scripting for the genre, and some fun moments. It's amusing to try and guess whether Pam knew she was being kitsch or whether she genuinely believed she was giving a good performance. But whatever the answer, it still gets a laugh when a rowdy customer finds his genitals in the mouth of her rabid Rottweiler. "Sit", she tells the dog, much to the drunk's displeasure. "Now, you don't want to see her roll over, do you?"
All the criticisms that can be made against this film that it's badly acted, appallingly scripted, dumb and sexist (even though none of them are 100% true anyway) can be disputed by the fact that it's SUPPOSED to be badly acted, appallingly scripted, dumb and sexist. This is a film that never pretends to be anything other than a pumped-up, camp and downright silly movie. What's more, it succeeds in being more entertaining and convincing than many of the "straight" versions of the same format, with particular note drawn to it's fight scenes. They may be excessive and lack maturity, but they're shot beautifully and are fun to watch. I'm not a huge fan of action pictures, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. If you want a film that possesses depth and integrity, then see something else. If you want a lovably stupid movie, with Pamela Anderson sticking out her little finger as she burns rubber on a motorbike, then watch this. Tremendous fun. -
dunmore_ego21 April 2006If you've seen *Casablanca,* you don't want to watch this movie. It will bring the pain - knowing that resting on that classic movie's shoulders, are this movie's breasts.
Pamela Anderson-Lee, bountiful *Baywatch* überbim, stars as a titular secret agent, who gets her baby-smooth buttocks involved in lots of running, shooting, explosions, gangsters, magic contact lenses and Nazis. Who cares? Look at those CANS!
We're not here to see her act. We're here to see her Act.
Dishonesty reigns supreme as the film touts as its draw-cards the non-stop action and dazzling effects and exciting thrills, and even the fact that Pamela Anderson-Lee is in the lead role, mini-skirting the truth that the only sane reason any human would invest eight dollars and two hours breathing time with this deformed ape-child of a film is to slake their wonder on those Parton-proportioned curios.
Not that these pimping pierogies were much of an attraction in the final theatrical release of this film - all one seems to be doing is rubbernecking down impossibly-skewed necklines and incredibly tantalizing side-breast-arc with no real reward for all one's efforts. When the movie ends and no one in the audience has nocturnally emissioned, we realize it has all been just One Big Tease; the only satisfaction coming from racing home and spinning your sixteenth-generation VHS porn. Or once again succumbing to the trailer park vérité of *Pam & Tommy: Hardcore and Uncensored* (retching optional).
Note to MPAA, fundamentalists, Jesus freaks and evangelists (I could have umbrella'd everyone under "hypocrites," but then we'd have the nitpickers whining, "Yes, but what *type* of hypocrite am I?"): *Barb Wire*'s spit-fawning promise of ecstasy, more than any true skin-flick, serves to perpetuate your misguided perception of 'porn creating anti-social behavior'. It is when people are shown the Promised Land and denied it that they resort to forcefully attaining what they have been inhumanely coerced into coveting.
Make no mistake: this is porn of the most dangerous caliber.
Written by Chris Warner, Ilene Chaiken and Chuck Pfarrer (lifted loosely from the Dark Horse comic heroine of the same name), and directed by music video novice, David Hogan (who should at least be allowed sitting space on the bottom steps of Movie Heaven on effort alone), this film serves as prime fodder as to why this society has such skewed priorities.
Purely on the strength of her exhibitionist penchant and her prominent honkers, Anderson-Lee has had the opportunity to become a well-rounded person in more than one sense of the word: in prep for her violent, protruberant role, Anderson-Lee was given kick-boxing lessons, experience with different weaponry, bike-riding experience, not to mention aesthetic pandering, custom-made clothing, voice coaching, acting lessons, manicures, pedicures (and then came the actual salary over and above the personal enhancement) - simply because she cooperates in the exploitation of her judiciously exposed mammii. For the sake of those two perverse, cave-woman infant feed-bags, hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on this undeserving tramp with a voice akin to scraping fingernails across a blackboard; every pandering, sycophanting, leather boot-licking courtesy was extended this bubble-headed boob tube with the intelligence quotient of an average chimp - for one eternal glimpse of a circle of wrinkled skin tipping an out-sized silicone implant.
Temuera Morrison, of the jaw-dropping New Zealand powerhouse indie film, *Once Were Warriors* finds himself at the opposite end of the talent, intelligence and acting spectrum here. Dependable B-Men, Udo Kier and Clint Howard attempt, with Morrison, to elevate the enterprise with their presence, but I don't think anyone took this as seriously as Ms. Anderson-Lee's chest.
Political satirist Bill Maher commented on the opening week's box-office for Barb Wire being less than hefty, and added, "This proves one thing - America is gay."