Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Fresh and Exciting

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

As much as I appreciate great movies and prefer to watch something that makes me think a little, a bit of brainless action and pure camp often does the trick too! Watching the trailers I expected more than I got but it was still enough. Despite it lacking orginal story, good acting and someone that you would care about in this movie besides Pam; it is not as bad as everone says. To me the worst sin that film can commit is being boring, which is something that I have not experienced here. The best characteristics of Barb Wire are the very well done action sequences and sexuality of the main protagonist. I mean c'mon, who would watch anything with Pamela anderson if it wasn't for her boobs. as much as I don't find women attractive and as I as woman I should say that she is just portayed as an sex object,but I think that is the whole fun in it! This movie is not pretending to be anything else than it is; a cool B-class film. I will definitely watch it again. For me it is way better than the Prometheus which I absolutely hate.

I tried to search for a reason for this movie to exist other then as a showcase for Ms. Lee's ample bosom and I did find one. Yes, squeezed into a black leather girdle she does draw the attention of the average teenage male but I have to admit the movie makes a failed but earnest attempt at a story.We are in the year 2017 during America's Second Civil War. A dictator has taken over the country and Barbara Kopetski is a nightclub owner who steers clear of the political scene and tries to run and honest business. She gets involved with an old flame and a deal to buy free passes to Canada. If this sounds a bit like 'Casablanca' don't think you've hit on anything new. Strangely enough, the movie credits the writer of that film without using the title.The movie opens with Barb undercover as a stripper, dancing nude on a trapeze while being sprayed with a hose. She is accompanied by a rock score and a lot of strobe lights and if you sit there and wonder what the point of this scene is, then your Daddy needs to have a long talk with you.Unlike Bogie, Barb doesn't exactly stroll around in a white dinner jacket. Her dominatrix Barbie doll wardrobe consists of black leather, a form-fitting bustier and spiked heels, which come in handy when anyone calls her babe. Lee constantly sneers 'Don't Call Me Babe!' hoping it will become the next catchphrase like 'Make My Day'. Ms. Lee is not a good actress but in this film it hardly matters. No one who saw it could admit going to see the movie for its story.But what story there is, is at least a good attempt. I complain when classic movies are remade. This isn't a remake but I give it credit for at least admitting that it is stealing from a good source.

So, after 28 years, Barb "Don't Call Her Babe" Wire references the exceedingly better movie, Batman. I guess I can't complain; The Matrix references Superman after 100 years.Don't hate me – I didn't hate this movie. Oh, yeah it wasn't good or great, but it wasn't terrible. I actually liked seeing the sassy Pamela Lee Anderson (PLA) in leather and her kick butting ways.I acknowledged right away: this is a leave-your-brain-at-the-door feature, so I let loose. And if you do, PLA is kinda fun and sexy. (And that's coming from a gay male.)So, what we have here is Post-Civil War II and a mercenary-for-hire but only to keep her night club afloat. Her past(s) get in the way and she truly must decide what side she doesn't want to be on.Yeah. I watched this as part of my mission of movies to see from the How Did This Get Made podcast list. Otherwise, I wouldn't have ever seen it. Did I hate it? Again, no. It was fun 1990s garb never to be taken seriously.For some reason – again from a gay guy – I found her sexy and ridged enough to like and care about her making it alive to the end. While not the best 1990s action film, I would actually still, unbelievably, recommend it!* * * Final thoughts: I try to do no research before I see a movie – I love to go in fresh and cold. I knew of this movie years (almost decades) ago, but never gave it a second thought until it popped up on my How Did This Get Made podcast list. OK, I knew it existed, was on the HDTGM list and it starred the voluptuous PLA, but what I wouldn't learn until following my viewing was that…this was a retelling of Casablanca??? Wow. I guess so. I already knew the story wasn't anything new, but to put this anywhere near Casablanca is just...crazy talk. Just leave your brain at the door and watch this fun little movie.Oh, and I almost forgot. This movie sparked my quote of the day at my employment: "How can you get Pamela Lee Anderson and Anna Nicole Smith confused?" asked a coworker after I did just that."How can you NOT get the two confused? Sorry, I meant four," I responded.

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.