Hamstur

Without comparing it to the orignal Star Wars, it was an excellent space fantasy adventure movie - well worth the money spent to see it and a definite must for Star Wars fans. It doesn't quite stand up to the original in impact. I still give it a high rating compared to most other films.

Although the FX are incredible, they seem to have been focused on to the detriment of character development. Maybe, unlike the first trilogy, which went downhill big time as it went along, Lucas intends to build up to a much better final installment. Let's hope so at least.

The biggest disappointments were the Jedi-like overly cutesy comic relief bits (though not as bad as Jedi) and the screen presence of Jake Lloyd. As Anakin, he just seemed so, well, non-exceptional - too average to end up being the nastiest/coolest screen villain there ever was! I hate to knock the kid's acting, but there are any number of child actors out there who could have pulled this off. Maybe it was how he was directed to be on purpose. Or maybe it's because he just looks too much like Adam Rich of Eight Is Enough.

But all of this ends up as nit-picking when you compare the movie to all of the other films (and not just Star Wars). All in all, it's a pretty dang good movie.

While Barb Wire isn't an Academy style good movie, it succeeds wonderfully at what it is: a comic book translated to film. It's over-acted and over-the-top, but it's supposed to be. It's great eye candy and lots of fun to watch. I think Pamela Anderson did a great job being a two-dimensional comic book hero - think Clint Eastwood spaghetti western with tight leather. Keep in mind what the film is trying to be and you'll have a great time.