I have a weird obsession....to see every film on IMDB's infamous Bottom 100 List. "Barb Wire" is currently #44....and my 94th film on this list! However, after seeing it, I am not sure that it really deserves to be on the list. Sure, Pamela Anderson got the Razzie Award for her performance and it is a dopey film...but unlike most of the films on the list it was never intended to be a good movie. It simply was made as an excuse to dress (and undress) Anderson in very revealing clothes! It's not what anyone would consider a masterpiece, not was it ever intended as one....just a film to show as much of the lady as she was willing to show. And, in places (such as the opening credits) you see a lot.
"Barb Wire" is based on a comic book by Dark Horse, a company known for characters such as The Mask, Hellboy and comics like "Sin City". Again....none of these characters or films were ever intended to be carried by the Criterion Collection nor to be up for Academy Awards!
In this story, Anderson plays the title character, a combination stripper, hooker and assassin. And it's all set in a dystopian and dark world...of the USA in 2017! She strips, turns tricks and leaves bodies where ever she goes! She also, interestingly, sounds like she's doing a Steven Segal impersonation in the film...softly mumbling most of her lines. Bad enough for a Razzie? I wouldn't say so...but it's not like I'm in charge of giving out these infamous awards!
You can probably assume that I thought the film was pretty dumb....and you'd be right. But it's exactly what many folks wanted in 1996...a chance to see Anderson at least semi-naked. It delivers this....along with a dark, silly and not especially enjoyable story.
If you actually JUST want to see Ms. Anderson's body, skip to the special features on the disc and select 'SEXY OUTTAKES'....then you can skip the silly movie entirely and just see what most folks who watch the DVD really want anyway.
By the way, the opening song was "Word Up"....an extremely catchy R&B/hiphop song by Cameo. But, oddly, some other folks perform it...and it's not nearly as good as the original. I wonder why they didn't just pay for the rights to the original....I can't imagine it would have been THAT expensive.
