Barb Wire (1996)

Simply Perfect

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

In the early 21st century, the USA is in the wake of the Second Civil War. The whole country is in a constant state of emergency. What was formerly called the American Congress now rules the country with fascistic methods. There is only one free city left, Steel Harbor, a coastal California industrial town which is headquarters for the resistance. This is the home town of Barb Wire, owner of the Hammerhead nightclub. Barb Wire is another forgettable and quite awful late 90's flick that proves me once again right that Pamela Anderson cannot act. (F)

A superb film, even if you ignore the starting huge boob credits... this gal can act in a way I never knew she could..... she is SOOO fitted for this character.. the whole thing was brill... I must have seen it a dozen times, and I'm sure it won't be the last time... don't make any pre evaluations about Pamela... just see the film for what it is.. a great sci fi with a GREAT looker as a lead...

BARB WIRE is a much derided comic book-style sci-fi action movie featuring the one and only Pamela Anderson in the lead role. She plays the titular character in what is apparently a loose remake of CASABLANCA, set in the future and with the main character an assassin facing off against an evil fascist regime. I'd not got around to watching this film for obvious reasons. Even as a teenage boy I didn't like Anderson, finding everything about her fake. Her non-acting in this film is really excruciating and I fully believe that had a proper actress been cast in the lead role this might have been a decent little B-movie. Heck, even Angelina Jolie circa CYBORG 2 might have been up to the job.What's surprising about this film is that the director's actually pretty good, which from a former music video director comes as a welcome relief. The action sequences feature relatively poor choreography but there's a fast pace and the editing isn't half bad. I was also surprised at just how many familiar faces feature in support. Temuera Morrison, Nicholas Worth, Tommy Tiny Lister, Jack Noseworthy, Clint Howard, and Xander Berkeley are all in this, with Steve Railsback presiding over things as the master villain; playing spot the actor is fun in itself. Most of the cheapjack action is saved for the climax, which homages MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR before finishing with a cheesy crane set-piece.

"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.