Hardware (1990)

As someone who absolutely hated writer/director, Richard Stanley’s Dust Devil, my expectations going into Hardware were extremely tempered. Well, for awhile, Hardware was definitely the better of the two movies, in my opinion, but still far from a great film, and I was expecting a bit more entertainment from a film sporting a killer robot. That said, the acting is rather well done (although I found myself getting pissed at the characters for making stupid decisions, but I’ll save that anger for the script – they made do with what they had).

Rating:

The world has become a radioactive wasteland in the future after a vicious nuclear war. Moses Baxter (Dylan McDermott) and his friend Shades (John Lynch) pick up a head and parts of a M.A.R.K. 13 cyborg. He has decided to surprise his love, Jill (Stacey Travis) with some metal parts that she can use towards her pastime of building mechanical structures and designs. After a bit of a rough patch, it seems that Jill has finally forgiven him for leaving her for work, only to have the M.A.R.K. 13 wake up and instigate a violent rampage in her apartment that leaves a bunch of people dead and her life forever changed.

The violence in Hardware is pretty kick ass. Richard Stanley is not afraid to show the red stuff, and when he does, it’s pretty screwed up. You’ll get stabbings, shootings, severings, puncture wounds, and nasty blood spray. Once the M.A.R.K. 13 starts killing people, it really doesn’t stop. When the machine gets its hands (claws?) on victims, they’re pretty much gonners. There’s not too much they can do once the metallic menace grabs a hold of them. The M.A.R.K. 13 is a pretty creepy looking robot and comes complete with needles that inject a fast-working toxin, powerful hands, saws, and the ability to use whatever weapons may be laying around at the time.

The acting (as I’ve already stated) was pretty damned good. Dylan McDermott (yeah, the one from The Practice) does an excellent job as Moses Baxter, who’s pretty much responsible for bringing the hell home with him. The character has a pretty massive cybernetic hand (that looks like a glove, but for the sake of going along with what the director was trying to do, we’ll say it’s a mechanical hand) that looks pretty powerful, but really only serves a purpose once during the entire film. Seems I’ve gotten off track. His character is central to the plot and it’s good to see a legit actor take on a role in a niche film (yes, I know it was still very early in Dylan’s career). The other main character, Jill, is also played very convincingly by Stacey Travis. Whatever she was going through you really believed it through Travis’ eyes. She also wasn’t too bad on the eyes. The other characters played their respective parts very well, as well. A special nod to the creepy-ass neighbor constantly watching Jill through his telescope; the things this guy says are downright creepy, and he’s very unnerving (almost more so than the M.A.R.K. 13 itself).

The visuals are rather stunning. The wide-open shots of the desert are rich with oranges and reds. The dark shadows and blacks make the deep colors even more brilliant. I was taken aback when I noticed how well this low budget flick was shot. It really paid off later on in the film as well because most of the story takes place in an apartment, and the use of creative camera angles is imperative. The lighting is creatively used as well. The room seems to change as different color lights overtake the last setup. The lights almost play like a character in the film. That said; if you’re susceptible to epileptic fits, stay far away from Hardware. Flash cuts working in tandem with strobe effects run rampant when the M.A.R.K. 13 is on the rampage.

The music is a really interesting mix of score and genre music. The sounds range from western-themed influences to straight up Ministry (yes, the band). Another cool little touch is the inclusion of several rockers throughout the movie. Keep your eyes peeled for a quick cameo of singer/bassist, Lemmy from Motorhead.

Overall, Hardware is a decent film (in this reviewer’s opinion, a much better film than Dust Devil), but it’s not a great film. If you happen to get your hands on this check it out. You may like it. I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to snag it though. There are plenty of other films out there that are more deserving of your time.