Retro Film Review: Barb Wire (1996)

Retro Film Review: Barb Wire (1996) | Ecency

(source: tmdb.org)

(SPECIAL NOTE: Capsule version of the review is available here.)

Long-term effects of Hollywood's remaking of popular films in 1990s are still difficult to speculate on, but some may compare them with cultural holocaust. Not even the most cherished pieces of American cinema are spared from modern – revisionist, "politically correct" or, simply, "hip" reinterpretation. One of such examples could be found in Barb Wire, 1996 science fiction film directed by David Hogan.

The plot is based on popular Dark Horse comic book and set in 2017 AD. USA is ravaged by Second Civil War between two factions - Congressional Republicans and Democratic Front. The only place where Americans can enjoy peace is neutral zone set in Steel Harbor and controlled by UN peacekeepers. Barbara Kopetski a.k.a. Barb Wire (played by Pamela Anderson) is night club owner who earns extra money working as mercenary. Many years ago she was idealistic freedom fighter but nowadays she tries to stay clear of politics and taking sides. Her pragmatic principles are challenged when her old lover Axel Hood (played by Temuera Morrison) comes to Steel Harbor in order to ask her favour. He is accompanied by her wife, Democratic resistance scientist Cora D (played by Victoria Rowell) and needs special contact lenses in order to get to Canada and bring important information stolen from Congressionals. In order to help him, Barb Wire must strike a deal with a sleazy local crime lord Big Fatso (played by Andre Rosey Brown). In the meantime, she must deal with sympathetic local police chief Alexander Willis (played by Xander Berkeley) and not so sympathetic group of Congressional officers led by evil Colonel Pryzer (played by Steve Railsback).

Barb Wire credits claim that the script was, among other things, based on the story by Ilene Chaiken. Anyone who takes this caim seriously either refuses to watch anything made in Hollywood before 1996 or has even greater problem, namely taking anything on the screen seriously. To say that scriptwriters Chaiken and Chuck Pfarrer "borrowed" from Casablanca would be massive understatement -every character and situation was, almost point- by-point, transplanted into nightmarish cyberpunk world of 2017 America. Second World War became Second Civil War, Nazis became Congressional Republicans (which probably constitutes one of the most extreme examples of Hollywood's political bias), Allies became Democratic resistance, Vichy French became UN while some of characters even physically resemble those from Michael Curtiz's classic. This is not the case with Barb Wire, who clearly doesn't look like Humphrey Bogart.

Decision to cast Pamela Anderson was probably the worst decision the film makers could have made. Yes, Anderson was global megastar due to Baywatch and she seemed to fill anatomical criteria of the comic book original. But that same criteria could have been filled by thousands of other Hollywood starlets, many of them having at least some semblance of acting ability. To make things even worse, due to some unfortunate costume design choices and apparent lack of directing talent in David Hogan, Anderson fails to show what was supposed to be the main attraction of this film. What was left is Hogan's lame attempt to tell some kind of story as a 100-minute video clip. At first, it is somewhat amusing to see familiar Casablanca characters and situations in not so familiar surroundings and accompanied by punk rock soundtrack, but after a while novelty wears off and Barb Wire becomes a rather tiresome viewing experience. However, in some parts of the world that experience is going to be somewhat more entertaining, especially the scenes which feature world's greatest superpower being reduced to complete wreck and forced to seek aid from clueless and inept peacekeepers.

RATING: 3/10 (+)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on December 4th 2002)