Tank Girl is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Rachel Talalay and written by Tedi Sarafian.

Based on the British comics series created by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin, the film stars Lori Petty, Naomi Watts, Ice-T, and Malcolm McDowell.

The film's critically praised soundtrack was assembled by Courtney Love, and the Rippers' makeup and prosthetics team was headed by Stan Winston.

Rebecca Buck – "Tank Girl" (Lori Petty) – is a member of a commune in the Australian outback that operates the last water well not controlled by the corporation.

Kesslee, whose body had been reconstructed by the cybernetic surgeon Che'tsai (James Hong), reveals that Tank Girl has unknowingly been bugged.

Writing in the 1997 book Trash Aesthetics: Popular Culture and Its Audience, Deborah Cartmell states that while the comic showed Tank Girl to be "unheroic or even [an] accidental antihero", the film sets her up with "classic western generic" emotional and moral justifications for her liberation and revenge on W&P, as she witnesses the slaughter of her boyfriend and her "trusty steed".

[6] According to Mainon, the film makes fun of female stereotypes, as shown by Tank Girl's repeated emasculation of Kesslee with witty comebacks while she is being tortured, and by her response to the computer training device telling her how to present herself to men at the Liquid Silver club.

The device provides seductive clothing and tells Tank Girl to remove her body hair and to wear make-up and a wig.

[8] In 1988, about a year after the launch of the Tank Girl comic in the British magazine Deadline, its publisher, Tom Astor, began looking for a studio interested in making a film adaptation.

[9] Rachel Talalay's stepdaughter gave her a Tank Girl comic to read while she was shooting her directorial debut film, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (released in 1991).

Talalay turned down an offer from Disney, as she did not believe the studio would allow the levels of violence and the sexual references the plot required.

[14] Believing that MGM would not allow the depiction of a bestial relationship in the film, the romance between Tank Girl and Booga was only written into the second or third version of the script, after the character was already established in the minds of people involved in the production.

According to Talalay, "two or three" of the Spice Girls met while waiting in line for the auditions;[16] Victoria Beckham and Geri Halliwell can be seen standing next to each-other in footage from the event.

Lloyd says it was a coincidence and she barely spoke to Sarafian, and could only speculate as to why Talalay subsequently became "frosty with both of [them]" and then fired her, ostensibly for rescheduling her appointment with the film's hair stylist.

[11] Deborah Cartmell described the "postcoital scene" in the final version, which featured Booga fully clothed, as "carefully edited".

[40] Owen Gleiberman spoke favorably of the soundtrack,[36] as did Laura Barcella writing in the book The End, describing it as a "who's who of '90s female rock.

Approximately 1,500 people attended the screening, including Talalay, Petty, Ice-T, McDowell, Watts, and several other actors from the film, as well as Rebecca De Mornay, Lauren Tom, Brendan Fraser and Jason Simmons.

The website's critical consensus reads: "While unconventional, Tank Girl isn't particularly clever or engaging, and none of the script's copious one-liners have any real zing.

"[53] In 2001, Matt Brunson from Creative Loafing gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying its soundtrack and the glimpse of Naomi Watts' early career were its only redeeming qualities.

[54] Jonathan Rosenbaum gave a moderately positive reviews, concluding: "unless you're a preteen boy who hates girls, it's funnier and a lot more fun than Batman Forever.

[36] Leonard Klady from Variety was more critical of Petty, saying she "has the spunk but, sadly, not the heart of the post-apocalyptic heroine", also stating the film lacked an engaging story to draw its intriguing elements together.

In 2015, Elizabeth Sankey said that while plot and continuity issues left the film "tremendously flawed", she still could not help loving it, praising its soundtrack and costuming.

[60] That same year, Jef Rouner from the San Francisco Chronicle called Tank Girl the most underappreciated comic book film, praising its style and the performance and chemistry between Petty and McDowell,[61] and Cheryl Eddy from Gizmodo described it as a "fun-as-hell" film that had "long since made up for its tepid box-office take by becoming a cult sensation.

Factory acquired the rights to several MGM films, including Tank Girl, and subsequently released a US Blu-ray version on November 19, 2013.

In Australia, Umbrella Entertainment released a Blu-ray of the film in 2024 with existing features as well as a new video essay and interview with Ripper actor Doug Jones.

Subsequently, Tom Astor said the release of the film: "was very helpful, but it did not make up the difference, it lost some of its cult appeal without gaining any mainstream credibility.

[69] Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett have since spoken negatively of their experiences creating the film, calling it "a bit of a sore point" for them.

[75] In July 1995, it was reported that Ocean Software had acquired the licence to create console video-game adaptations of the film,[76] though no game was ever released.

Obtaining the rights was said to be a difficult process, due to legal issues of propriety related to the acquisition of MGM and United Artists by Sony and other companies.

It was reported in September 2019 that a reboot of the film was in early development with Margot Robbie's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who optioned the rights from MGM.