Barb Wire

R

1996

1 hr. 38 min.

Action

List

28%

36 Reviews

Tomatometer

14%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A sexy nightclub owner, Barb Wire (Pamela Anderson Lee) moonlights as a mercenary in Steel Harbor, one of the last free zones in the now fascist United States. When scientist Cora Devonshire (Victoria Rowell) wanders into Barb's establishment, she gets roped into a top-secret government plot involving biological weapons. Soon Barb is reunited with her old flame Axel Hood (Temuera Morrison), who is now Cora's husband and a guerrilla fighter, resulting in plenty of tense action.

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Critics Consensus

Barb Wire could've been fun camp, but Pamela Anderson can't deliver her lines with any dramatic or comedic impact.

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Mark C

Actually pretty well done. Some good action here. Took me right back to the 90s.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/06/24

Full Review

DanTheMan 2

There's a significant cult appeal with Barb Wire, one that I immediately understood from the opening credits, a film with outrageous, over-the-top comic book stylings through and through, not pretending to be anything more than that. With plenty of energy, an utterly deranged sense of pleasure and great cyberpunk aesthetics, the film ultimately becomes unintentionally goofy due to trying to approach its subject matter with a lot of misplaced sincerity. Oh, and there's boobs, lots of boobs. Pamela is pretty much there for the eye candy, I ain't complaining even if her acting and non-existent line delivery are nothing to write home about. The delightful supporting cast, however, more than makes up for Pam's shortcomings, featuring the likes of Temuera Morrison in chad mode, B-movie legend Clint Howard plus Udo Kier AND Steve Railsback?! what the fuck?! Yeah, I liked this, sue me. Granted, Barb Wire is not a great movie, but the filmmakers didn't use that as an excuse to be boring or lazy, it's great fun if you can buy into the horny glam metal vibe. Low brow doesn't mean low effort.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/24

Full Review

Demented N

Do all faults fall at pamela andersons feet ehh no she went on to make VIP which which ran for 88 episodes and was very popular, granted it was cancled but only because of production costs getting to g High... I blame the directors of Barbwire, than again she really is just a play bunny with a great fugure the 70s had Farah the 80s Elvira the 90s Pam. She will get her moment one day she will !

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

05/02/23

Full Review

Alan W

She had me the minute she killed a harasser with a stiletto heel. I don't know why the reviews on this are so negative.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/18/23

Full Review

Lucas G

Pretty terrible all around but I'm not mad at it

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

red t

Had some good ideas but really a bad execution. The acting is not good. Supporting characters are all over the place in quality. The bad guy is a over the top cartoonishly acted villain, the Chief is not bad and the others are just ok and generic. Anderson has some moments she is passable but for the most part her acting and line delivery are not good. The cinematography is bad. The camera angles are very dynamic and half the time they work and are well lit and shot and the other half there is no need for them and they out of place. There is a large chunk though that is devoted not to telling any kind of story or setting tone but instead to show off Pamela Anderson's body and many times this film feels like a porn flick. The music is the best thing in this. wouldn't call it good but it was above average. Over the top at times but got the job done. The editing is not good in this. This feels like a film that wants to be a Noir, Action B-Movie, and a pornography flick and it doesn't work. The pacing is terrible in this also and the worst part. The whole middle chunk of the film is just exposition and things just happen with no action or any compelling characters. The middle is where this feels like a Noir but it is boring lacking the needed ingredients to make a compelling Noir work. It's a flawed, trashy and sometimes creative mess. Honestly skip this. It's Not Good.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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David Hogan

Director

Pamela Anderson

Barb Wire

Temuera Morrison

Axel

Victoria Rowell

Cora D

Jack Noseworthy

Charlie

Xander Berkeley

Alexander Willis

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Barb Wire: Official Clip - Trashing the Bar

2:41

Barb Wire: Official Clip - I Got You, Babe

2:30

Barb Wire: Official Clip - Escape from Steel Harbor

2:59

Barb Wire: Official Clip - How Romantic

2:07

Barb Wire: Official Clip - Don't Call Me Babe

2:59

Barb Wire: Official Clip - The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

2:13

Barb Wire: Official Clip - Big Fatso

1:58

Barb Wire: Official Clip - Package Check

1:46

Barb Wire: Official Clip - Not a Bad Night's Work

2:42

Barb Wire: Official Clip - Extortion

1:50

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

The irony of this style, with its high-swank grunge clutter, is that it's too dissociated to have coherence even as pop; we're always aware that we're watching sets being photographed.

Rated: C

Jul 7, 2010

Full Review

Hal Hinson

Washington Post

The movie carries its cyberpunk variation right through to the end, and usually with enough wit and craziness to freshen the mix. Then, there is Pamela, whose tight, disciplined performance deserves more respect than it will almost certainly get.

Apr 27, 2007

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Its main source is a comic book, but it might as well be a computer.

Apr 27, 2007

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Every time it tries to approach the subject matter with sincerity, it just grows more unintentionally goofy.

Rated: 2/10

Sep 9, 2020

Full Review

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

A lemon of a comic book movie with an uninteresting heroine, bad acting, and a bland humorless premise...

Mar 20, 2013

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a consistently inept and astonishingly dull actioner...

Rated: 0/4

Feb 7, 2011

Full Review

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Synopsis

A sexy nightclub owner, Barb Wire (Pamela Anderson Lee) moonlights as a mercenary in Steel Harbor, one of the last free zones in the now fascist United States. When scientist Cora Devonshire (Victoria Rowell) wanders into Barb's establishment, she gets roped into a top-secret government plot involving biological weapons. Soon Barb is reunited with her old flame Axel Hood (Temuera Morrison), who is now Cora's husband and a guerrilla fighter, resulting in plenty of tense action.

Director: David Hogan
Executive Producer: Peter Heller
Screenwriter: Chuck Pfarrer
Production Co: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Dark Horse Entertainment, Propaganda Films
Rating: R
Genre: Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 19, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.6M
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo

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