Barb Wire (5 Stars)

When Pamela Anderson applied for the lead role in "Barb Wire" her agents tried to talk her out of it. They said that the film didn't fit her image. She replied by saying that "Baywatch" didn't fit her image. She saw herself as an action hero.

"Barb Wire" was a comic published by Dark Horse that initially ran for nine issues in 1994-1995. I read it at the time, but I can only vaguely remember the story. 20 years is a long time. It was one of the better comics published by an independent comic company. I was excited when I heard that there would be a Barb Wire film, but I was apprehensive when I heard it would star Pamela Anderson. She wasn't someone I would have associated with a super-hero film. I shouldn't have worried. She fitted the film perfectly. I don't know her well enough to say whether she's a good actress or not. I hardly ever watched "Baywatch", because it was insipid to me. All I can say about her is that she plays the role of Barbara Kopetski aka Barb Wire perfectly, possibly because she's playing herself. She's a mean bitch throughout the film. Anyone who pays attention to my blog knows that that's a compliment.

Shortly after the film's release there was a four-part mini-series about Barb Wire. It's obvious that the character was now visually based on Pamela Anderson.

Now to the story itself. In the distant future there's been a Second Civil War in America that has put a fascist dictatorship called the Congressional Directorate in power. The "far distant future" is the year 2017. I suppose that 2017 seemed far distant when the film was made in 1996. I keep telling people that films set in the future shouldn't specify a year, but nobody ever listens to me. Anyway, there's only one independent city left in America, Steel City, which seems to represent Detroit. Barb Wire used to be a soldier fighting against the Congressional Directorate, but now she's retired and has become a mercenary, working for whichever side pays the most. She owns a nightclub called the Hammerhead, but at night she rides the streets on her motorcycle, guns blazing. All men desire her, which makes it easy for her to kill them.

A resistance fighter called Cora Devonshire has entered Steel City and is trying to escape to Canada. She's carrying an antidote for a biological weapon that the Congressional Directorate has been using to wipe out millions of people. She appeals to Barb Wire for help, but she doesn't have enough money to hire her services. Cora is now married to Alex Hood, Barb Wire's ex lover, which makes the situation even more difficult to solve.

Would you mess with a woman with a face like that? I wouldn't be looking at her face.

The film is campy with over-the-top action, but it's a perfect super-hero film with excellent performances by the main actors. It seems to me that the biggest critics of the film are people who've never seen it. They don't want to watch it because they're put off by Pamela Anderson's image, the very image that she says isn't her. Watch the film with an open mind, forgetting for a moment who Pamela Anderson is. You'll be dazed by the action. You'll be shocked by Barb Wire's icy personality. You'll love the film and you'll be begging for a sequel.

There really should have been a sequel 20 years ago, but the film did badly financially. Too few people gave it a chance. If a sequel is made today they'll have to find a new actress for the lead role, and it's difficult to think of anyone who can step into Pamela Anderson's shoes.

Roger Ebert made the interesting comment, "The filmmakers must have known they were not making a good movie, but they didn't use that as an excuse to be boring and lazy. 'Barb Wire' has a high energy level and a sense of deranged fun". That's a statement I had to read a few times to properly understand what he meant, but I agree with it. "Barb Wire" has high energy and deranged fun. That's all a film needs to make me like it.

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