Hardware

Released by: Severin Films
Released on: October 13, 2009.
Director: Richard Stanley
Cast: Dylan McDermott, Stacey Travis, John Lynch, William Hootkins, Iggy Pop
Year: 1990
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The Movie:

Loosely based on a strip from the British comic book 2000 A.D. by Steven MacManus and Kevin O'Neill entitled 'Shok,' Richard Stanley's Hardware is a gritty science fiction/horror hybrid that has deservedly gathered a cult following since its release in 1990.

Dylan McDermott (of TV's The Practice) plays a rootless soldier named Moses who, along with his traveling companion, Shades (John Lynch), finds a decapitated robotic head in the desert. After failing to sell it to a junk merchant for a reasonably amount of money, he decides to bring it to his girlfriend, Jill (Stacey Travis of Earth Girls Are Easy and Ghost World), as a gift as he figures she'll want to use in it in one of her metal sculptures.

When he finds out that the robotic head is from the classified Mark-13 project, he realizes that Jill is in great danger because as it happens, that project was cancelled because the robot proved to be too unstable. Moses finds himself in a race against time to save Jill from the robot, which has started reassembling itself using spare parts that Jill has had lying around her apartment. Unfortunately for all involved, the robot proves to be quite the killing machine and things start to get messy when the peeping tom (William Hootkins who would later work with Stanley again on Dust Devil and his aborted Island of Doctor Moreau) from across the way, who has been watching Jill for God only knows how long through his telescope, shows up in hopes of making his move.

While on the surface it might sound like nothing more than a cheap Terminator knock off (and it is cheap, at least in the budgetary sense, it was shot on £1,000,000), there is a lot more going on in the film than may be readily apparent. Stanley takes what could have been a simple 'bad robot on the loose' story and turns it on it's ear, filling it with religious allegory and symbolism and setting it all to a great soundtrack comprised of metal, industrial, and some classical opera as well.

Performances are pretty solid overall. McDermott is pretty decent as Moses and Travis makes a lovely female lead in her role as Jill. Bill Hootkins steals the show as the perverted peeping tom though, and you can almost feel the sweat pouring off of him as he leers at Moses and Jill in bed together. Lynch, as Shades, is the weakest link in the chain, and doesn't make the most believable survivalist we've ever seen, but he could have been a lot worse. Also worth noting is that God, (a.k.a. Lemmy from Motorhead) makes a brief cameo as a taxi driver, while his own music plays on his vehicles radio. Anytime Lemmy is cast in a movie, it's a cause for celebration, and Hardware is no exception to that rule.

Likewise the film looks good. Shot with a multitude of colored hues, at times it has an almost Argento or Bava like look to it as it makes excellent use of red and blue filters, and takes on an almost psychedelic feel in a few scenes.

The actual robot itself is the coolest part of the film though. This mechanical bad ass is pretty menacing and sneaky as Hell, and whenever it's on screen, you can't help but pay attention to it. The effects used to make the robot come to life are, especially by low budget standards, well done, though some of the darkness in which these scenes take place probably help to hide whatever imperfections may have arisen during filming.

Severin's very welcome Blu-ray release of the film presents the full length version. While there's no 'director's cut per se' (more on that later) this version does have a bit more sex and slightly more violence than the trimmed version which has been released in various areas around the world since the film's theatrical release.

Video/Audio/Extras:

While Severin's anamorphic 1080p AVC encoded 1.85.1 widescreen transfer may not rank up there with the latest big budget Blu-ray discs, compared to previous DVD and home video releases of the film it is a true revelation. Some scenes look a little bit grainy and there are some spots where the smoke and grime in the air obscure some of the fine detail, but all in all this is a very nice effort. Close up shots, particularly facial close ups, show plenty of texture previously obscured while black levels remain pretty strong throughout. Color reproduction is very nice, the reds that are used throughout the film bathing the picture in a very surreal light while flesh tones always look lifelike and natural. You'll notice the improvement in picture quality right from the get go with the opening scene in the desert looking quite sharp and detailed. There's a bit of minor print damage here and there but overall this is a very nice effort from Severin and Hardware's fans should be quite pleased with the results.

Viewers are given the choice of watching the film in either Dolby Digital 2.0 or Dolby Digital 5.1 in English only with no subtitle options offered. Sadly, no HD audio track is provided, the only real strike against this release. Regardless, the tracks that are here sound fine. Channel separation is good and the levels are properly balanced throughout. Dialogue stays audible, clean and clear and there are no problems with hiss or distortion.

The fantastic array of extras on this release kick off with a commentary track featuring Richard Stanley and moderator Norman Hill (the man behind the excellent Subversive Cinema release of Stanley's Dust Devil a few years back). This track is very comprehensive. Stanley is rarely at a loss for words discussing this film, covering everything from the Biblical references in the movie to the casting, to studio interference to the influence of directors from Argento and Michael Soavi to the more unlikely John 'Bud' Cardos. Stanley talks about the effects work, some of the symbolism in the picture and why it's there, what it was like shooting with a crew of eight people, and difficulties he ran into on the set with some of the more controversial content in the film (think cyborg rape and you're on the right track). There's very little dead air here, in fact, there's only a few seconds, and Hill does a great job of keeping Stanley talking and on topic. Always an interesting subject, Stanley talks about the music, the dangers of working with an intoxicated Lemmy Kilmeister, how Iggy Pop wound up in the picture, and the undeniable influence of Sergio Leone on his work. Excellent stuff and definitely worth listening to from start to finish.

Equally impressive is the No Flesh Shall Be Spared (53:59) documentary which interviews Stanley as well as the still lovely lead actress Stacey Travis, Steven Chivers, Lemmy, Joseph Bennett, David Boaretto, Simon Boswell, and quite a few others about their experiences working on the picture. There's some nifty footage in here as well as some very cool pre-production artwork as the interviewees all wax nostalgic about working on what has essentially become an iconic work of early 90s sci-fi/horror fimmaking. There's a good amount of detail here provided on the score and the soundtrack work, in addition to going over some of the effects work, casting, and the like. It does cover some of the same ground as the commentary track but getting input from others, rather than just Stanley himself, definitely helps round things out nicely - all in all, an excellent and comprehensive piece.

From there we move on to a selection of Richard Stanley's short films starting with Incidents In An Expanding Universe (44:30), a super 8 student film shot in 1985 by Stanley that is essentially a prequel to Hardware, even featuring radio spots from Angry Bob (though not voiced by Iggy this time around). It's a bit rough around the edges and not quite as lean a picture but it's very interesting to see it included here as a companion piece to the feature as you can see where many of the ideas for Hardware first took form and it features some of the same characters. Rites Of Passage (9:50) stars Stanley himself in the lead for this 1983 short about a man wandering around Africa during the dawn of humanity. An unnamed narrator explains what we see, discussing birth and rebirth, complimented by some striking visuals captured in the director's homeland. The Sea Of Perdition (8:33) is a more recent short, finished in 2006, that follows a female astronaut who finds herself stranded on Mars where she discovers a strange temple. It's beautifully shot and set to some appropriately stirring music from Icelandic composer Johann Johansson. The first two shorts are fullframe, the third is 2.35.1, all three are AVC encoded and all appear in their original aspect ratio.

Richard Stanley On Hardware 2 (7:40) is a separate interview with the director in which he discusses the sequel that he'd originally intended on making and which he set up in the first film but which has never been made due to legal hassles and rights issues. Stanley went ahead and uploaded the script online and considers it a better story than the first one. Will it ever get made? Who knows, but based on the director's description it certainly sounds like it deserves to be.

Severin has also included 25:02 worth of deleted and extended scenes, taken from the only existing elements which aren't in the best of shape but which are watchable enough. There's a bit more sex and violence in here, as well as some extended bits between McDermott and Travis.

Rounding out the extras are the German theatrical trailer (fullframe), and a Vintage Hardware Promo Video (3:30), taken from a tape source this is basically a glorified trailer for the film featuring John Lydon's repetitive vocals over top of some clips from the film while interview clips and narration plays out over top. Animated menus and chapter selection are also included.

The Final Word:

Hardware finally gets the special edition treatment that it deserves in North America thanks to Severin's Blu-ray release. Looking better than it ever has before and loaded with some excellent extra features, Stanley's fanbase needs to consider this a must own and this is truly one of the finest cult offerings of the year.