Barb Wire (film)

Barb Wire
Theatrical release poster
Directed by David Hogan
Produced by Todd Moyer
Mike Richardson
Brad Wyman
Written by Chris Warner
Screenplay by Chuck Pfarrer
Ilene Chaiken
Story by Ilene Chaiken
Based on Barb Wire
by Dark Horse Comics
Starring
Music by Michel Colombier
Cinematography Rick Bota
Edited by Peter Schink
Production
company
Distributed by Gramercy Pictures
Release date
  • May 3, 1996 (1996-05-03)
Running time
 98 minutes
Country United States
Language English
French
German
Budget $9 million[1]
Box office $3.8 million[2]

Barb Wire is a 1996 American action thriller film based on the Dark Horse comic book series of the same name. Brad Wyman produced, and David Hogan directed. Barb Wire stars Pamela Anderson in the title role.

Plot

Barb Wire is set in 2017 during the "Second American Civil War". Barb Wire (Pamela Anderson) owns the Hammerhead, a nightclub in Steel Harbor — "the last free city" in a United States ravaged by the civil war — and she brings in extra cash working as a mercenary and bounty hunter. Chief of Police Willis (Xander Berkeley) raids her club. Willis's target is fugitive Dr. Corrina "Cora D" Devonshire (Victoria Rowell), a former government scientist with information about a bioweapon being developed by her former superior, Colonel Pryzer (Steve Railsback) of the Congressional Directorate. Dr. Devonshire hopes to escape to Canada in order to make this information public.

Devonshire later turns up at the Hammerhead. She is accompanied by Axel Hood (Temuera Morrison), a "freedom fighter" whom Barb had known and loved at the outbreak of the war, but the two were separated during the conflict. Axel is trying to help Cora get to Canada. They are trying to find a contraband pair of contact lenses that will allow Cora to evade the retinal scan at the Steel Harbor airport. The lenses pass through the hands of several lowlifes before also ending up at Barb's nightclub.

Rather than give the lenses to Cora and Axel, Barb makes a deal with "Big Fatso" (Andre Rosey Brown), the leader of a junkyard gang: Fatso wants the lenses, which are worth a fortune on the black market, and Barb wants a million dollars and an armed escort to the airport, where she plans to get on the plane to Canada. But Fatso double-crosses Barb; when Barb, Axel, and Cora show up at the junkyard to make the swap, Colonel Pryzer and his storm troopers are also there, along with Chief of Police Willis. Willis makes a show of arresting Barb and Cora, but instead of putting handcuffs on Barb, he slips her a hand grenade. Barb uses the grenade to kill Fatso and cause enough confusion to allow Barb, Axel, Cora, and Willis to pile into Barb's armored van and lead the Congressionals on a car chase, culminating in a hand-to-hand fight between Barb and Colonel Pryzer on a forklift suspended by crane above the harbor. Pryzer falls to his death while Barb escapes.

In the end, the party makes it to the airport, where Barb reveals that she still has the contact lenses. She gives them to Cora, and Cora and Axel get on the plane to Canada while Willis and Barb remain on the rainswept tarmac.

Cast

In the film, Anderson's waist was laced down to 17 inches (43 cm). She did some of her own stunts, although the corset and the heels she wore made fight scenes very challenging.[3][4]

Reception

Barb Wire generally received negative reactions by critics and was a box office bomb. It holds a 28% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 36 reviews (10 positive, 26 negative), with the consensus stating that "Barb Wire could've been fun camp, but Pamela Anderson can't deliver her lines with any dramatic or comedic impact".[5] Roger Ebert pointed out that the film's plot was identical to that of Casablanca and derided the low-brow attempts at sensuality, but praised the cast and crew's approach to the material: "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." He gave it two and a half stars.[6] Similarly to Ebert, Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly commented on the film's aping of the Casablanca plot and its "teasing, hollow 'naughtiness'", but further said that the film is lacking in energy. He gave it a C.[7]

Awards and nominations

Year Group Award Result
1996 Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Picture Nominated
Worst Actress (Pamela Anderson) Nominated
Worst Screen Couple (Pamela Anderson's "Impressive Enhancements") Nominated
Worst Screenplay (Chuck Pfarrer and Ilene Chaiken) Nominated
Worst New Star (Pamela Anderson) Won
Worst "Original" Song ("Welcome to Planet Boom!", by Tommy Lee) Nominated
1997 MTV Movie Awards Best Fight (Pamela Anderson/Steve Railsback) Nominated

Box office

The film was a box office failure, only grossing $3,794,000 in the United States.[8]

Soundtrack

An official soundtrack was released in 1996.[9]

Video game

GT Interactive announced that they would be publishing a video game based on the film for the PlayStation, Saturn, PC, and Macintosh in January 1997.[10] The gameplay was said to be similar to Resident Evil, with a single-player campaign and a two-player deathmatch mode.[11] It was never released.

References

  1. ↑ "Barb Wire". thewrap.com. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  2. ↑ Box Office Mojo: Barb Wire
  3. ↑ [/web/20010528194011/http://www.pamwatch.com:80/interview5.html "Sky Magazine Interview"] Check |archiveurl= value (help). PamWatch.com. May 1996. Archived from the original on May 1, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Biography of Pamela Denise Anderson". PamWatch.com. March 13, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Barb Wire". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2011-02-09.
  6. ↑ "Roger Ebert - ''Chicago Sun-Times''". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. 1996-05-03. Retrieved 2011-02-09.
  7. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (May 10, 1996). "Barb Wire". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  8. ↑ Puig, Claudia (1996-05-07). "Weekend Box Office : 'Craft's' Magical Start Surprises Experts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  9. ↑ Gomes, Whitney. "Barb Wire Review". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "News Bits". GamePro. No. 96. IDG. September 1996. p. 21.
  11. ↑ "Sneak Previews: Barb Wire". GamePro. No. 102. IDG. March 1997. p. 47.
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