Tank Girl (1995)
54%RT Audience Score: 44%
Awards & Nominations: NA
While unconventional, Tank Girl isn’t particularly clever or engaging, and none of the script’s copious one-liners have any real zing
Tank Girl is a wild ride that’s part punk rock concert, part post-apocalyptic fever dream, and all Lori Petty. While some critics may have found it too chaotic, I found it to be a perfect representation of the comic book it’s based on. Plus, who doesn’t love a movie with a killer soundtrack curated by Courtney Love? It may not be for everyone, but if you’re looking for a fun and irreverent take on the superhero genre, Tank Girl is definitely worth a watch.
Production Company(ies)
Aamir Khan Productions, Jhamu Sughand Productions,
Distributor
United Artists, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for violence, language and sexuality
Year of Release
1995
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital DTS-Stereo
-
Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 44m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States, United Kingdom
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 31, 1995 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 2, 2002
Genre(s)
Adventure/Action
Keyword(s)
starring Lori Petty, Malcolm McDowell, Ice-T, Naomi Watts, Don Harvey, Jeff Kober, directed by Rachel Talalay, written by Jamie Hewlett, Tedi Sarafian, Adventure, Action, R, John Watson, Richard B Lewis, Pen Densham, $3.8M, reviewed by Bruce Diones, Owen Gleiberman, Leonard Klady, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Geoff Andrew, Nell Minow, Patrick Dahl, Richard Propes, Mike Massie, Sezín Koehler, Jennie Kermode, Lori Petty as Tank Girl, Malcolm McDowell as Kesslee, Ice-T as T-Saint, Naomi Watts as Jet Girl, Sgt Small, Booga, United Artists, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Stereo, 1995, English, 1h 44m
Worldwide gross: $4,064,495
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $7,992,260
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,036
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 871,566
US/Canada gross: $4,064,495
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $7,992,260
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,677
US/Canada opening weekend: $2,018,183
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $3,968,474
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,133
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $25,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $49,158,996
Production budget ranking: 809
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $26,472,119
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$67,638,856
ROI to date (est.): -89%
ROI ranking: 1,957
Malcolm McDowell – Kesslee
Ice-T – T-Saint
Naomi Watts – Jet Girl
Don Harvey – Sgt. Small
Jeff Kober – Booga
Director(s)
Rachel Talalay
Writer(s)
Jamie Hewlett, Tedi Sarafian
Producer(s)
John Watson, Richard B. Lewis, Pen Densham
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (43) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (17) | Rotten (26)
Lori Petty does her tough-talking best to breathe some life into the comic-book action, but it’s not enough.
May 3, 2013
Bruce Diones
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
An aspiring cult film that would rather be cute than dangerous.
July 6, 2010 | Rating: C-
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
The movie version of the graphic comic book is a classic case of kitchen-sink filmmaking, in which the principals have thrown everything into the stew, hoping enough will stick to the audience.
March 26, 2009
Leonard Klady
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Lori Petty does a nice job in the title role of this enjoyable 1995 feature based on the postapocalyptic SF comic book and set in the year 2033.
April 18, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Generous souls may try to blame this travesty of the Deadline comic-strip on the studio execs who forced director Talalay to tone down and re-edit her cut.
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
December 2, 2003 | Rating: 3/5
Nell Minow
Movie Mom
TOP CRITIC
Tank Girl failed critically and commercially, a badge of honor for a mid-90s postapocalyptic-feminist-punk carnival
August 18, 2021
Patrick Dahl
Screen Slate
Courtney Love coordinates the film’s soundtrack, which only adds fuel to film’s frenetic fire.
September 25, 2020 | Rating: 1.5/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
Partly rebellious, partly playful, but mostly an irreverent, chaotic take on non-supernatural superheroes, it sacrifices entertainment value for hyperstylized originality.
September 24, 2020 | Rating: 3/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
With climate change going unchecked and drinking water shortages abounding, ‘Tank Girl’ predicted a totally possible post-apocalypse scenario.
July 21, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Sezín Koehler
Black Girl Nerds
It may not be great art but it still makes its presence felt.
February 10, 2020 | Rating: 3/5
Jennie Kermode
Eye for Film
Add an Iggy Pop cameo, an unconventional storytelling style, and a unique stylized look, and you’ve got a comic-book movie unlike any that came out back then, nor much like the many that have followed in the more than two decades since its release.
July 5, 2018
Leilani Polk
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)…
Plot
Tank Girl (Rebecca) and her friends are the only remaining citizens living in the wasteland that is Earth, where all the remaining water is controlled by Water and Power, the mega corporation/government that runs the territory. While incarcerated at W + P, Tank Girl and her new friend Jet Girl break out and steal… a tank and a jet. After meeting some mutant kangaroo/humans, and rescuing her little girl (adopted by her friends), the kangaroos and the girls kick Water and Powers’ butt.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Lori Petty brings a lot of charisma to the role of Tank Girl, but unfortunately, the script fails her.
Rachel-Talalay.jpg
