“Look at those guns,” a guy says approvingly, not referring to firearms. There is nothing resembling eroticism, except for the dialogue “she's as tender as Tuscan veal.” Barb Wire's breasts, winched into place and clamped down by leather and steel costumes, seem as immobile as the similarly shaped fenders on a 1957 Olds Rocket 88. The sexuality involves various forms of foreplay to violence. Considering that Barb Wire runs a punk leather club, here's today's quiz: What song would be the Congressional Directorate's anthem, and what song would the party-loving S&Msters sing to drown it out? The movie has been rated “R” for “nudity/sexuality.” There is some nudity, mostly weirdly lit. The one big scene from “Casablanca” that's missing here is the musical showdown, in which the patriots sing the “Marseilles” to drown out the Nazi anthem. At the end, the heroes board an Air Canada flight. But Barb has mercy on an idealistic young woman ( Victoria Rowell) who is married to a resistance leader, and gives her the lenses. The Sydney Greenstreet character, named Big Fatso (Andre Rosey Brown), reclines in the shovel of a Caterpillar tractor at his junkyard, munching on a turkey leg (or maybe an ostrich leg, it's so big) and offering to buy the contact lenses. (One guy tries to light her cigarette, which turns out to be a blow gun, and gets a poison dart between his eyes.) The parallels with “Casablanca” are fun to spot. “Don't call me a babe,” she says-a trademark line like “Make my day” or “I'll be back.” Everyone who calls her “babe” pays with his life. She's backlit in endless scenes where, if she could have figured out a way to send her breasts in separately, she could have stayed at home. Pamela Anderson Lee, while not a great actress, is a good sport. Bogie was a wimp compared to Barb, whose personal DNA, if I heard correctly, “holds the antidote to our secret weapon.” The movie is wonderfully confusing, but I think that means she could have saved Topeka, whether by preventative intercourse or otherwise I haven't a clue. Later, when she poses as a hooker, it's to gain entry to an apartment so she can blow out the wall and rescue a hostage. As the movie opens, she's on a trapeze, being sprayed by a hose in slow motion, a scene that reminded me of the climax of “ Behind the Green Door.” That's when she's posing as a stripper. The biggest howler in the credits is the line “based on a story by Ilene Chaiken.” Would it have killed Ilene to acknowledge “Casablanca?” True, there are differences, too in this movie a kiss is not necessarily just a kiss-not when Barb's sex life includes nailing guys through the middle of the forehead with a stiletto heel.īarb, inspired by a comic book heroine, is played by Pamela Anderson Lee, the “Baywatch” star, in leather, chains and an industrial-strength WonderBra. The Congressional Directorate troops, dressed like Nazis, come into Barb's club and tear it apart, looking for them. A little guy says he knows where they are. Whoever possesses them can get free passage into Canada. She's friends with the local police chief, who is on the take, but has a good heart. So hard, Americans insist on payment in Canadian dollars. The Congressional Directorate has seized control of America (“They used an HIV derivative named Red Ribbon to wipe out Topeka”), but Barb lives in the last free city, where she runs a nightclub. We are in the middle of the Second American Civil War. “Barb Wire” takes place in the year 2017-”the worst year of my life,” according to Barb.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |