Barb Wire (1996)

Directed by David Hogan. Starring Pamela Anderson (Lee), Temuera Morrison, Jack Noseworthy, Xander Berkeley, Victoria Rowell, Steve Railsback, Udo Kier, Andre Rosey Brown, Clint Howard, Jennifer Banko, Shelly Desai, Nicholas Worth, Mary Anna Reyes. [R]

In a civil war-torn future, the jaded, vixenish owner of a nightclub, Barb Wire (Anderson), struggles to stay neutral when an ex-lover (Morrison) comes back into her life. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world… Indeed, while this movie is based on a Dark Horse Comics character, the plot is lifted straight from Casablanca, even though it seems aimed at an audience that has probably never seen (or heard of) that film. Grungy atmospherics aplenty, and some decent action during the climax, but its raison d’être is obviously so viewers can ogle its pneumatic star; fans should take note, however, that after she performs a peekaboo striptease during the opening credits, they’ll have to settle for no more than a lot of leather-clad cleavage after that. She’s also a pretty unimpressive actor who picks one vocal modulation and sticks with it throughout, but that doesn’t really matter, does it?

34/100