Hardware - Special Edition [DVD]

Does anybody remember Richard Stanley? That erratic South African director / screenwriter responsible for the mini-classic "Dust Devil" and notorious for being booted off "The Island Of Doctor Moreau" by John Frankenheimer? Oh yes, and let's not forget the rumours of him returning to the latter's set and attempting to sabotage it... Which is probably why no film studio will touch him with a barge pole nowadays. Anyway, his first movie has finally gotten the go-ahead for release - "Hardware" (1990) and by God, if any movie needs more attention lavished on it...

Known intimately by only the hallowed few through late-night viewings on old-school Channel 4 and currently the Zone Horror channel, the film details how scavengers Mo Baxter (Dylan McDermott) and Shades (John Lynch)come across the M.A.R.K. 13 droid in a heavily polluted 21st Century landscape and attempt to make use of it - Mainly by giving the remains to Baxter's estranged girlfriend Jill (Stacey Travis) to turn into an art project. As the name of the robot states (Mark 13 is a New Testament gospel verse that states "no flesh shall be spared") it's out to fulfil it's programming, which entails slaughtering Jill and taking it from there. Everyrobot needs to start somewhere, right? Cue mayhem and Future Shock on a low budget, which you won't mind to tell the truth. And how Stanley managed to persuade Lemmy from Motorhead, Carl McCoy from Fields Of The Nephilim and Iggy Pop's voice masquerading as a radio DJ to feature is beyond me.

The DVD (as well as the Blu Ray) is a lavish affair, which is a sight to behold in this Age where four-quid re-issues are the norm. Look, you even get conceptual art cards with it by Gawd! Expect commentary from Stanley himself, deleted scenes and a documentary, "Voices Of The Moon". Apocalyptic film always get's me in a lather, and "Hardware" is right up there with the greats. OKay, maybe not "Def Con 4", but close. That was a joke.

One of those films I was beginning to despair of ever appearing in the DVD format Hardware was originally released in 1990 and is a stylish sci-fi/horror film with an interesting back story .The film is based on a "2000 AD "comic story called "SHOK! Walter's Robo-Tale."The original theatrical release did not mention the comic book despite heavily plagiarizing its storyline. Following legal action a caveat was added to later versions and the strip's creators, Steve MacManus and Kevin O'Neill, now get full writers' credit along with the original writer and director Richard Stanley.
Stanley himself has a fascinating history going on to make the flawed dust Devil before being fired as the director of the remake of The Island Of Dr Moreau [DVD] [1996] which given that it turned out to be a Harryhausen sized turkey may not have been a bad thing. However his behaviour post sacking ( sneaking back onto the set in a Dogman mask and trying to sabotage it ) seems to have stymied his directorial career ( In the mid-90s his adaptation of Robert E. Howard's "The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane" was optioned by Ed Pressman who wanted to set it up with Daniel Day-Lewis in the lead role. The whole thing was effectively terminated by the Moreau debacle.)
A great pity as Hardware made on a tiny budget( $1.5 million ) is a terrific little film with a great central idea. Given the memorable tagline that "In the 21st century there will be a new endangered species...man." the plot has Nomad ( played by Carl from the band Fields Of The Nephilim ) discovering a robot head in the radioactive desert .He sells it on to scrap merchant Alvy (Mark Northover ) and it catches the eye of soldier Moses ( Dylan McDermott ) who gives it as a present to his girlfriend Jill ( Stacey Travis) who uses it for her metal art project .
But Alvy discovers that the robot heads comes from a prototype military droid called the Mk 13( Its name is a reference to the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Bible, part of which reads "no flesh shall be spared") and is able to reconstruct itself from any bits of machinery or bits of scrap and will then become a lethal killing machine ..literally.
So before you can shout Robot wars the Mk13 is activated and re-building itself with rather worrying haste and Jill is trapped in the apartment with it though she is also under voyeuristic observation by her sexually perverse neighbour Vernon (Paul McKenzie in a notably repellent cameo) who maybe can offer her a life line .
The film is very effectively rendered building the tension nicely until the action kicks in .Stanley makes proficient use of light and sound and the special effects( by Image Animation who also worked on Hellraiser [1987] [DVD] and Highlander [DVD] [1986] ) are more than sufficient .The acting is variable but good enough and there are notable cameo's for Iggy Pop( pretty good he is too ) as shock D.J. Angry Bob-"Nature never colours like this " referring to nuclear fallout - and Lemmy( rubbish ) as a water taxi driver .
It's good to know the DVD will have plenty of extras with a commentary from Stanley , deleted scenes and a documentary "Voices Of The Moon " ( a 1990 documentary made by Stanley on the Russian invasion of Afghanistan ) and even conceptual insert cards.
The films assertion that the machines we build may ultimately be the death of us is hardly original but the narratives final revelation that the Mk13 is due for mass production is just the sort of thing that probably would happen .As long as human beings want to kill each other for whatever reason homicidal droids are on the agenda. As one of the characters says "Machines don't understand sacrifice - neither do morons."

A solid British post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film, which was unfortunately mis-advertised by Miramax execs at the time it was first released, trying to cash-in on the success of the Terminator. While it involves robots (or droids, choose your terminology..), it is actually a story of technological terror set against a back drop of future industrial decay & despair. A parable for the dangers of humans blindly embracing automation perhaps? Debut director Richard Stanley has a keen eye for composition and creates an atmosphere akin to Ridley Scott's Bladerunner. Wholeheartedly recommended for fans of Science Fiction & Cyberpunk alike...