Barb Wire (1996)

Pamela 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.

Fmovies: "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". (**)

Barb runs a bar and is also a mercenary out for herself in the civil war. However when her ex-boyfriend Axel comes to se her she takes a job helping a scientist get across the country to expose a government cover up. However will she remain a mercenary or will she pick sides?

When people are famous for being naked – that's pretty much what they should stay doing. Do we want porn actresses doing serious Hollywood roles? No – let them stick to what they know. I'm not calling Anderson a porno star but lets be honest, she famous for having great breasts right? So how can we harness this star power? Lets put her in tight clothes in a futuristic remake of Casablanca!

The plot is a sheer rip off and still manages to be poor. It is only an excuse for tight clothes and silly big explosions. As a dumb Saturday night special it still barely cuts it for me, although it is noisy, if that's all you want.....

Anderson isn't an actress – if it wasn't for a good publicity agent and a boob-job, she wouldn't even be offered the roles that Shannon Tweed gets! She doesn't convince as an actress as she can't get above the range required by Baywatch – look scared, look happy, look sad, look determined, oh and poke out your boobs! The rest of the cast have nothing to do and it's a shame to see reliable bit part players like Howard and Xander Berkley appearing in this.

Overall it has some pretty explosions but really this is like a Playboy video – it's all designed for the purpose of capitalising on Anderson's body.......why should we be surprised that it does nothing else.

Barb Wire fmovies. A sort of remake of Casablanca set in the future and in a strip club? Pam Anderson is Barb Wire and she must help someone get on a plane to Canada, with contact lenses. Whatever else the plot is, do people really care?

This film was made, marketing and watched because of one thing and one thing only, Pamela Anderson. This was her naked sci/fi Hollywood film, the opening of the movie shows her stripping, showing her breasts and getting hit with water. Ooooh, so sexy. This was probably the one scene many kids watched over and over. The film itself is regarded as one of those, it's so bad it's good. I can totally see that and once I got pass Anderson's wooden acting, I actually enjoyed myself. Guilty as charged.

I said I would have loved this when it first came out. I say that because I was around 10 years old and a film like this, that is drenched in so called "sexiness" would have been imprinted on my mind. Seeing it for the first time in full when I'm 22, went to film school and have been on the internet since I was whatever age, the film doesn't strike me as sexy. Anderson does look good though and seeing her prance around in tight leather doesn't hurt either. Much better than what Halle Berry tried to do with Catwoman.

Anderson became famous for her breasts and that was the focus of the film. Every other shot is of her massive cleavage. Am I complaining? Not really. But we have porno for that, the catch is that Anderson is someone "somewhat" famous. There is a special feature on the DVD called SEXY OUTTAKES. This is ten minutes long and it is of her stripping with the water. Basically the entire opening, but for ten minutes.

Jango Fett from the Star Wars prequels is in this film, I found myself saying "Hey it's that guy" a lot every time a character came on screen. The film is campy, what else do I need to say? The acting is campy, the script is god-awful and taken from Casablanca, the nudity isn't even that good. I expected more, the film feels like a tease.

Barb Wire is like Showgirls. Made to appeal to the perverted crowd, only this one has explosions. I'm giving this one a high rating, for it's campiness feel. It's trash, but golden trash.

To be perfectly honest with you, my appreciation of this movie is almost solely based on Pamela Anderson's breasts. I'm not going to waste your time and claim anything else. Take Pammy out of 'Barb Wire' and you are left with something highly mediocre. The story, action and other characters are simply by-the-numbers and I really cannot be bothered discussing them. It's Pamela's film pure and simple.

It wouldn't be over-stating it to say that I thought the opening credit sequence was quite good. Pamela in tight black leather, half out of her top being soaked by a hose? I would say there's four good ideas in there, all in one. Unfortunately, this is where the film peaks and we are only two minutes in. Sadly, a story kicks in at this point and spoils things. But seriously Ms Anderson is perfect for this flick. Her pneumatic figure couldn't be any better for the role she's playing. She is quite ridiculously sexy throughout the entire picture and the film frankly flags when she is not on screen. She is more than serviceable in this action role too. It's worth pointing out here that I am a big Russ Meyer fan and, therefore, it's perhaps no surprise that I have a huge weakness for dangerous, sexy, buxom women. The biggest compliment I can pay Pammy, therefore, is that on this showing she would not have looked out of place as one of the lead bad girls in 'Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!' High praise but quite frankly true.

The only criticism I can level at Pamela here is she doesn't get naked enough.

I'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.