Tank Girl

R

Now Playing

1h 44m

Sci-Fi

Adventure

Action

List

45%

47 Reviews

Tomatometer

62%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

After a comet disrupts the rain cycle of Earth, the planet has become a desolate, barren desert by the year 2033. With resources scarce, Kesslee (Malcolm McDowell) -- head of the powerful and evil Water & Power Corporation, the de facto government -- has taken control of the water supply. Unwilling to cower under Kesslee's tyrannical rule, a pair of outlaws known as Tank Girl (Lori Petty) and Jet Girl (Naomi Watts) rise up, joining the mysterious rebel Rippers to destroy the corrupt system.

Read More

Read Less

Now in Theaters

Now Playing

Buy Tickets

In Theaters

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Rent Tank Girl on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

Critics Consensus

While unconventional, Tank Girl isn't particularly clever or engaging, and none of the script's copious one-liners have any real zing.

Read Critics Reviews

David W

Loved the comic and whilst flawed the movie is a fun watch in the main. Lori Petty is perfectly cast bringing a nice anarchic punk feeling and holds the movie together in its creakier moments. The acting elsewhere is variable with some coming out of it better than others but everyone at least appears to embrace the spirit of the source material. McDowell and Watts do well but Ice-T hadn't really got his acting chops together for this one and becomes more of an irritation as the movie progresses. It was always going to be a tough ask to transition the comic but I'd classify this as more than just a glorious failure despite (presumably in an attempt to widen the potential audience) it not fully committing to the inherent violent tone of the comic and all feeling a touch too cute. Flawed but enjoyable. A polarising cult movie if ever there was one.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/19/24

Full Review

Gorptholemew T

🍅 7.0/10 Apocalyptic sand Madonna with Harley Quinn personality. This really has the comic book ecstatic. The sets are great and the action is fun. This movie is very weird but thats compliment. Grade B+

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/11/24

Full Review

Adam E

Based on Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett's comics, Tank Girl is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi film from 1995 starring Lori Petty as the devil-may-care weirdo who is kidnapped and forced to work for a sadistic megalomaniac. Despite clever marketing, the film was a significant flop and it lost money at the box-office. Adapting the Tank Girl comics was always going to be a challenge seeing as they were particularly anarchic. Every panel was like a colorful Pop Art piece with mindless violence and eclectic details splashed all over it, even reading the original black and white comics you could feel color pop out of them. This was a sexy, brutal and cool pop culture Pollock of a comic and any good movie adaptation would have to capture both its punky spirit and visual flair. The short animated sequences in Tank Girl do this perfectly and one can't help but feel that a fully, or partially at least (á la Scott Pilgrim vs The World), animated feature would have been the perfect approach here. Things get a little dicier when it comes to the live-action parts, unfortunately. Director Rachel Talalay had experience with horror and sci-fi and clearly had a fondness for the comic-books, which is reflected by the film's willingness to go about as all out as the studio would let it. Lori Petty also proves to be perfect casting for Tank Girl as she brings a tough, funny yet unhinged quality to the character and nails the tomboy punk attitude. The supporting cast, which includes Naomi Watts and Malcolm McDowell, is a little patchier but everyone seems to be having a good time, embracing the madness of it all. The film itself is a mixed bag with a paper-thin plot that fails to grab your attention for its duration. By the time Ice-T and his kangaroo buddies turn up, there's a good chance you'll be looking at your watch wondering how this isn't the third act yet. Malcolm McDowell's villain, who drains his enemies of all the water in their body and then drinks it, had potential but is inexplicably mostly absent from the film after an early defeat. The action sequences are also much too few and far between in what should have been a relentless, no holds barred experience. Instead, Tank Girl is often sluggish and clumsy, not particularly bold in terms of visuals or direction even and the writing lacks bite. Despite the many criticisms you can throw at this movie, it has quite a bit going for it: a solid cast, some cool imagery, the title character's f*** you attitude and some excellent, if all too short, animated segments. It's easy to imagine a Tank Girl movie that works and feels iconic, this just wasn't it, but it's still worth seeing as a curiosity at least. Flawed but the spirit is there.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/02/23

Full Review

Narran A

Possibly the worst trash I've ever put myself through. A truly terrible experience.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/18/23

Full Review

Gary B

I liked Tank Girl, just saw it on free MGM+ weekend. Reminds me of Harlequin kinda. I guess I'm a sucker for cute girls who kick some butt! Set in similar situation as Roadwarriors , but more quirky. Cool soundtrack too!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/25/23

Full Review

Lucrezia B

Movie is fun surreal chaos, beautiful costumes, 90/even 80s postapo vibe, Lori Petti is fantastic, I don't understand bad reviews! seen few times. I bet the comic book is better (never read I was early teenager in post communism country hahah couldn't get that) and geeks were expecting different story (like always with any book!) But idc I love this movie, I've seen it as an adult sadly, as a teenager I saw it only in a teen magazine in a form of a photo story ;( and I regret I couldn't see that masterpiece as a teenage girl, I think I was robbed!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/31/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Rachel Talalay

Director

Lori Petty

Tank Girl

Malcolm McDowell

Kesslee

Ice-T

T-Saint

Naomi Watts

Jet Girl

Don Harvey

Sgt. Small

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

30%

44%

Predator 2

80%

87%

Predator

TRAILER

for Predator

57%

41%

No Escape

17%

24%

Mutant Chronicles

43%

19%

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Beyond Barbarella: Celebrating 50 Years of Sexy Sci-Fi

View more photos

Bruce Diones

New Yorker

Lori Petty does her tough-talking best to breathe some life into the comic-book action, but it's not enough.

May 3, 2013

Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

An aspiring cult film that would rather be cute than dangerous.

Rated: C-

Jul 6, 2010

Full Review

Leonard Klady

Variety

The movie version of the graphic comic book is a classic case of kitchen-sink filmmaking, in which the principals have thrown everything into the stew, hoping enough will stick to the audience.

Mar 26, 2009

Full Review

Marya E. Gates

Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack)

In bringing to life the comic book of the same name by Alan Martin & Jamie Hewlett, Talalay incorporates bombastic action, cartoon violence, a bold color palette, and even traditional hand drawn animation into a unique world all its own.

Feb 13, 2024

Full Review

D.M. Palmer

Vague Visages

Tank Girl posit that when a civilization collapses, many of its customs will be upheld through authoritarian means, shorn of any patina of justice or equity that may have been affirmed through the sanctioning of the democratic event.

Nov 8, 2023

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

I found it entertaining in a pleasingly odd way.

Rated: B

Oct 8, 2023

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

After a comet disrupts the rain cycle of Earth, the planet has become a desolate, barren desert by the year 2033. With resources scarce, Kesslee (Malcolm McDowell) -- head of the powerful and evil Water & Power Corporation, the de facto government -- has taken control of the water supply. Unwilling to cower under Kesslee's tyrannical rule, a pair of outlaws known as Tank Girl (Lori Petty) and Jet Girl (Naomi Watts) rise up, joining the mysterious rebel Rippers to destroy the corrupt system.

Director: Rachel Talalay
Producer: Aron Warner, Tom Astor
Screenwriter: Jamie Hewlett, Tedi Sarafian
Distributor: United Artists, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: Trilogy Entertainment Group, Image Comics, United Artists
Rating: R
Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 31, 1995, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 1, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.8M
Runtime: 1h 44m
Sound Mix: Stereo

Most Popular at Home Now