Beam Me Up, Scotty!: "Don't call me babe!" was never really Barb's catchphrase in the original comic. She did say it, but she only used those exact words on two occasions. Her giving an aggressive or snappy comeback to sexist comments thrown at her was a recurring element, but she almost never used the same comeback twice. Only the movie turned it into her catchphrase.
The movie
Actor-Inspired Element: The opening "wet strip", in which Barb dances in a strip club with her breasts hanging out of her rubber dress, while being sprayed with water, was suggested by Pamela Anderson after she was inspired by a nightmare she had, in which she was being sprayed with champagne while performing a "nasty dance". David Hogan, who was under pressure to include more nudity, liked the idea, and threw out the movie's original opening to include it.
Creator Backlash: Pamela Anderson doesn't look back on the movie fondly; not only did she suffer a miscarriage while filming it, but according to Pamela: A Love Story, she couldn't tell you what the movie's about.
Franchise Killer: While the original comic had already ended by the time the film premierednote A follow-up comic, Barb Wire: Ace of Spades, was released to coincide with the film, but that was a limited series only intended to run 4 issues, its poor performance ensured there wouldn't be another Barb Wire comic for over 19 years.
No Stunt Double: Pamela Anderson did some of her own stunts, although the corset and the heels she wore made fight scenes very challenging (not to mention that Pamela, who was pregnant at the start of filming, suffered a miscarriage during filming that was possibly caused by the physical demands of the role).
Screwed by the Network: Pamela Anderson actually blamed the studios for making the movie bomb by forcing the inclusion of nude scenes. She claimed the R Rating made it so her teenage fans couldn't go see it.
Star-Derailing Role: For Pamela Anderson, who tried to use this to cross over into mainstream films from TV, but the failure sent her back to TV. Her agent even warned her not to take the role.
Stillborn Franchise: Dark Horse Comics had plans to adapt more Comics' Greatest World titles to film, but pulled the plug on any more adaptations after this film's poor performance.
