VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

adonis98-743-186503 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)

Leofwine_draca 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.

Bob Greenwade I was bored one evening, and hunted through the movies available for free on Comcast On Demand. One was this film, which had intrigued me a bit when it was on originally.It was just barely interesting enough to keep me watching until the end.Yes, as has been said many times, the story is lifted almost directly from Casablanca, and otherwise adjusted to fit the characters from the Dark Horse comic. Many reviewers at the time of the film's release saw it as a ripoff, but to me it read more like an homage.This was pretty much the extent to which director David Hogan made good decisions in this. Lighting apparently meant to be moody ended up only muddling the action. The sound mixing was awful (at least, for TV), and much of Pamela Anderson's dialogue was unintelligible. Any opportunity to flash Pam's breasts was seized upon.At that, the writing is pretty weak too. Maybe it was because of the sound problem, but I was twenty minutes into the film before I was sure that the plot had actually started. How the writers did an homage to "Casablanca" while keeping the plot so paper-thin is amazing.Also, most of the acting seems quite mechanical. Pam was highly criticized over this at the time, but I've seen better from her. For that matter, Victoria Rowell seemed quite one-note as well, and I know she has some serious acting chops from her years on "Diagnosis Murder." Thus, I suspect that the problem was not in the performers but in the director and the script. Only Jack Noseworthy (Charlie), Jennifer Bank (Spike), and to a lesser extent Clint Howard (Schmitz) deliver really good performances.I do give high marks to the stunt department of this film, though; the fight scenes were for the most part nicely choreographed and well performed. Some of the action late in the film failed to deliver in that regard, but that seemed more an editing problem than anything the stunt people would have had to do with.The soundtrack, though not generally my preferred style of music, was also well done and fit the setting and action appropriately.Overall I'd say this movie is worth seeing -- once and only once, provided you aren't actually paying any money for it that you aren't already spending.

trashgang 15 years after it was made I finally bought this flick and even on Blu Ray, cheap of course. This is one of those flicks that always have got some bad reviews. I can't say anything about the script because I haven't seen the comic. But if I just have a look at the names appearing then you know that this isn't going to be a blockbuster. We have Udo Kier and Steven Railsback in it, for those into horror or exploitation those names are famous. And when I saw the name Rick Bota then I immediately must think of him being directing 3 Hellraisers. The story itself is post-apocalyptic so with those actors and the story we could add it into the grindhouse genre even as it wasn't attempt to be.Naturally the main lead was by Pamela Anderson Lee. Back then she was very hot on all aspects. Just made some nudity shots and a porn flick with her husband and of course Baywatch did the producers add her on the wanted list. But face it, she only in it as a teaser. Every time you see her, the most important things are her fake two penny worth breasts. I even has seen the unrated version and indeed, she goes naked now and then only showing tits and nipples.Did I enjoy it? Just looking towards the story and the actors and the gratuitous nudity I liked it and if it would have been made 20 years earlier or even nowadays (remember Bitch Slap also just made for the boys to watch girlies shooting around and posing) it could have been a bigger success. Naturally it was teared down due Pamela's performance. But Steve did good work as did the rest. But be honest, most flicks based on comics failed to deliver.