Barb Wire

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Barb Wire

R

1996

1h 38m

Action

Sci-Fi

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

28%

Tomatometer

36 Reviews

15%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

A sexy nightclub owner, Barb Wire (Pamela Anderson Lee) moonlights as a mercenary in Steel Harbor, one of the last free zones in the now fascist United States. When scientist Cora Devonshire (Victoria Rowell) wanders into Barb's establishment, she gets roped into a top-secret government plot involving biological weapons. Soon Barb is reunited with her old flame Axel Hood (Temuera Morrison), who is now Cora's husband and a guerrilla fighter, resulting in plenty of tense action.

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Critics Consensus

Barb Wire could've been fun camp, but Pamela Anderson can't deliver her lines with any dramatic or comedic impact.

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Jul 7, 2010

C

The irony of this style, with its high-swank grunge clutter, is that it's too dissociated to have coherence even as pop; we're always aware that we're watching sets being photographed.

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Hal Hinson

Washington Post

Apr 27, 2007

The movie carries its cyberpunk variation right through to the end, and usually with enough wit and craziness to freshen the mix. Then, there is Pamela, whose tight, disciplined performance deserves more respect than it will almost certainly get.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Apr 27, 2007

Its main source is a comic book, but it might as well be a computer.

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Sep 9, 2020

2/10

Every time it tries to approach the subject matter with sincerity, it just grows more unintentionally goofy.

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Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

Mar 20, 2013

A lemon of a comic book movie with an uninteresting heroine, bad acting, and a bland humorless premise...

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Feb 7, 2011

0/4

...a consistently inept and astonishingly dull actioner...

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Anderson O

@Platinum2027 Apr 3, 2026

The Year was 2017, the worst year of Barb Wire’s life. lol! This is one of Dark House comic book’s worst adaptation in the 1990’s hands down. Bad dialog, bad pacing, bad editing to sell Pamela Anderson Lee’s sex appeal, bad acting and C level Action. It really doesn’t age verwell at all 30 years later.

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Justin T

@RT08580778 Dec 29, 2025

Why did they set it in 2017? Anyway this is about as bad as a Hollywood movie can be. Barb has to be the most unlikeable and obnoxious character of all time and she’s the protagonist. Her name is Barb Wire, it’s possibly the stupidest name ever. Plus Pamela Anderson in army fatigues is the stupidest looking thing ever, it is not even remotely believable. The acting is atrocious and the writing is worse than amateur. It’s such a muddled story and even at 1.5 speed it’s boring. The flashes of white over the whole screen when they shoot the guns is so annoying. The only nice thing I have to say is that there are some really cool stunts in the finale but they are ruined with horribly overcut editing. And yes, I had taken it off 1.5 speed for the finale.

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Rami A

@Bunt101 Jul 29, 2025

This movie is like a nice car with no engine. I think you figure out which is which.

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thiago s

@Thiagostone Jun 6, 2025

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom.

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Matt J

@RT95392035 May 31, 2025

A chance to see Pam's perfect assets on the big screen, which is really what this film was all about. The action and acting isn't that bad either, but let's face it, that's not why anyone is watching this. Worth a watch if you're a fan of Pamela Anderson, or smoking hot ladies in "B" class action films from the 90's...

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Mark C

@Filmzy Apr 6, 2024

Actually pretty well done. Some good action here. Took me right back to the 90s.

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David Hogan

Director

Pamela Anderson

Barb Wire

Temuera Morrison

Axel

Victoria Rowell

Cora D

Jack Noseworthy

Charlie

Xander Berkeley

Alexander Willis

Barb Wire: Official Clip - Trashing the Bar

2:41

Now Playing

Barb Wire: Official Clip - I Got You, Babe

2:30

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Barb Wire: Official Clip - Escape from Steel Harbor

2:59

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Barb Wire: Official Clip - How Romantic

2:07

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Barb Wire: Official Clip - Don't Call Me Babe

2:59

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Barb Wire: Official Clip - The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

2:13

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Barb Wire: Official Clip - Big Fatso

1:58

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Barb Wire: Official Clip - Package Check

1:46

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Barb Wire: Official Clip - Not a Bad Night's Work

2:42

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Barb Wire: Official Clip - Extortion

1:50

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Synopsis

A sexy nightclub owner, Barb Wire (Pamela Anderson Lee) moonlights as a mercenary in Steel Harbor, one of the last free zones in the now fascist United States. When scientist Cora Devonshire (Victoria Rowell) wanders into Barb's establishment, she gets roped into a top-secret government plot involving biological weapons. Soon Barb is reunited with her old flame Axel Hood (Temuera Morrison), who is now Cora's husband and a guerrilla fighter, resulting in plenty of tense action.

Director: David Hogan
Producer: Todd Moyer, Mike Richardson, Brad Wyman
Screenwriter: Chuck Pfarrer, Ilene Chaiken
Production Co: Propaganda Films, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Dark Horse Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 19, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.6M
Runtime: 1h 38m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo

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