Customer Reviews

Barb Wire

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Okay, this isn't an Oscar-level movie. But once again the movie critics are taking themselves MUCH too seriously. A long time ago I was taught that the three questions a reviewer has to ask are:
What was done?
Was it done well?
Was it worth doing?
Based on those criteria, this movie deserves a lot more respect than it gets.

What was done? The filmmakers set out to do an outlandish remake of Casablanca. But where Casablanca was intended as social commentary (not surprising since it came out in 1942) and although this movie does pay homage to that class of commentary, their main goal was to HAVE FUN!

Was it done well? If they had set out to make a brilliantly acted Oscar-worthy film, then you could say it wasn't done well. There are holes in the plot you could drive a truck through. And no one can argue that the dialog or the script or the acting is Oscar-level material. But this movie set out simply to have some fun and use Pamela Anderson to provide it. She is not and will never be a brilliant actress. But (as subsequent projects have proven) she is much more intelligent than most people give her credit for and she carries out the role of the "shoot-em-up" bounty hunter very well. The special effects are also well-done, and the fact that people can fire 3000 bullets at her and she doesn't get hit is reminiscent of the old B-movie westerns with the good guys in the white hats and the bad guys in the black hats. You want an example of how the movie KNOWS it is just fun? Check out the first real shooting scene (in the hotel room), at the end of which you see a shot of her hand. She says something like, "Oh, shit" because in the mayhem she broke a fingernail.
Don't expect this movie to be what it isn't and you won't be so hard on it.

Was it worth doing? Sometimes we want to watch a movie just so we can escape for awhile from the drudgery and disappointments in our daily lives. We don't want to think, we don't want to cry. We just want a diversion. And that's what we got. The film never lets up, so you have no chance to be "pulled back" from it into your own problems. YES!!! A simple diversion done well is worth doing.

Oh, yes. Pamela Anderson is gorgeous and she knows it. But knowing it is not a crime. She has fun with it and doesn't take it too seriously. Neither should you.

"Barb Wire" is not a good film. Honestly, it's a one or two star film at best, save that it does the unthinkable: It's a scene-for-scene remake of "Casablanca," set in a post-apocalyptic future, with Pamela Anderson replacing Humphrey Bogart.

The sheer cheek involved in doing this -- I would love to have been in the pitch meeting for "Barb Wire" -- really makes this a hoot to watch and redeems its awfulness. Each scene from "Casablanca" that's cheerfully trashed is a laugh riot to watch, once you relax and stop worrying about Humphrey Bogart spinning in his grave.

Easily the most fun I've ever had watching a "bad" movie and good (extremely) mindless fun.

This movie is a futuristic action film which I hope just may gain Cult Status given time. Ms. Anderson revells in her role as the Lady Who Is In Charge and she hunts down the bad guys with her two big 38's and she has a couple of big guns too!!! I do believe that she has the talent to become a Major Star in Hollywood given the right roles like this one. Plus I have admired her comedic acting in her new sitcom "Stacked" and she has even written a book. This lady ROCKS!!!

I'm not a Pamela Anderson fan, and (as a woman) I'm not really interested in cleavage. I was more-or-less forced to watch this at a friend's house. But I have to admit "That's Entertainment!!" Bad dialog, ridiculous fight scenes, and every unbelievable reason for Pam to dress in tight, black leather. Anyone who took this as a serious movie needs a CAT-scan. The ultimate in camp! Thoroughly enjoyable for the same reason that people slow down for accidents on the freeway or eat cheese out of a spray-can. After seeing this, I have to believe that Ms. Anderson is far more intelligent than she lets on. This could only have been done tongue-in-cheek as the trite scene of the shapely heroine limping away from the battlefield complaining, "Dammit - I broke a nail" could never have been included in a serious picture. If you're going to watch this, do yourself a favor and get the director's cut "with extra cleavage!" Those who know me and have seen this movie will understand the inclusion of "Don't call me Babe" and "Get in line" in my vocabulary.

Barb Wire is a movie about a chick in war torn America who just wants to run her club and do the occasional bounty hunter work. The movie opens in a strip club where Barb (Anderson) is stripping on a swing while being hosed down (Do we have your attention yet?). After a killing a man with her spiked heel for calling her babe, we get her catch phrase (cuz every comic book hero has one) "Don't call me babe". Things are crazy in her world aparently because her club, which seems to be a mix of a leather/fetish club and Motley Crue concert, is the only one left that is a place for people to go and be themselves. Barb spends her days protecting her blinde brother, played by Jack Noseworthy, and her nights either fighting crime (in black leather and 7 inch high heeled boots) or running her club. She gets mixed up in a plot involving the government and a group of rebels (who used to be her friends before they left her and her brother on the battlefield to die). The rebel group is trying to help a doctor escape to Canada, and the government wants to catch her and get the information she has in her head. In order to get her out of the country, the rebel group needs a pair of retina disguising contacts to help the good doctor get thru an eye scan at the airport. Barb must find the people who have them, get them and decide if she wants to give them to the rebels and fight the power or be a "good girl" and give them to the government. Which do you think she'll chose?

If it wasn't for her silicone-enhancements, Pamela "Don't-call-me-a-babe" Anderson probably wouldn't be in this movie... but consider where the story came from, a comic-book, and that just about explains it all. Taken as just that, the movie is okay, and features the requisite T&A, "good cop turned bad cop turned good cop", loss of a loved one, etc. etc. The parody elements are especially funny, especially since they consider the Canadian currency valuable, and actually staged an Air Canada airplane! Maybe American viewers may not understand parody humour but hey, dammit, Pam's a Canadian! All in all, not Oscar material, but not bad for those times when you just want something to pass your time... like a comic book.

Considering the source material, and original budget for the film, this BD edition of Barb Wire came as a pleasant surprise. It will never match the pristine presentation of newer films, but it does look very, very good! AQ can be problematic at times, but satisfactory. A significant upgrade over the DVD release. Recommended.

If you read in the reviews that this was one of the worst movies of Pam Anderson and of all time, don't believe it. I first saw it about 3 or 4 years after it's release and I saw it on cable. At that time I thought it was new until I saw the date at the end. I asked several people if they had ever heard of Barb Wire and all answers were no. Obviously when this movie came out it didn't get much advertisement. Pam Anderson doesn't play the dumb blode in this one. She's a woman in control with plenty of brains And brawn. If you like movies of the future and what happens after the Big War then you'll love this one and Pam. Her favorite saying in this movie is "Don't Call Me Babe" and watch out guys if you find a gal saying that to you. This movie should be rereleased and given the credit and advertisement it deserves and Pamela Anderson deserves. Her performance should have won her an award. If you only listen to the critics you'll miss the best movies and this is #1 on that list. DON'T CALL ME BABE!

This Movie fit right in my collection between Tombraider, Electra, Heavy Metal, Aon Flux, & The Quick & The Dead. "Bad A$$ Babes With Weapons!" My next one will probably be Ultra Violet....

To me this is a clasic. Pam looks stunning and is probably in her best acting role ever. She's bad and beautiful in this one, so it's a keeper.