Review of Hardware (1990) by Tim B — 11 Jun 2010

On the surface, this movie could fare as your typical "post-modern robot killing humans" film, but there's so much more going on with this one. First off, for a movie of this type, I was absolutely amazed with how much symbolism and political commentaries were tied to its ass.

Themes of spirituality, sexuality, and socialism were all screaming out of the frames without ever being obvious. I was also surprised by this one plenty of times; it would set up a suspense scene in the more common ways then throw your expectations down the chute.

Tag to that, a relentless and well paced action movie to boot! I fell in love with most of the main characters (yes, including the stoner... not the neighbor) and the action sequences were pulled off nicely.

The gory bits were outstanding (HOLY CRAP!) and the wonderful soundtrack kept me glued to the screen. Richard Stanley did a brilliant job here. What happened to him? He bathed the movie in orange and red for almost every frame, the angles on some scenes were incredible (how did he pull some off in the tighter settings?) and he uses slow-mo to perfection.

Not solely trying to make the movie look trippy, Stanley also had nods to classics EVERYWHERE (I stopped counting after 10). Dylan McDermott wasn't famous here yet but you can tell why he became famous.

Dude had me attached at frame one. Stacey Travis played a damsel who was tough, already making her standout. I'm happy to say that she can also act well. John Lynch was tripped out for most of the movie, yet I still warmed up to him.

Great performance. William Hootkins both disgusted and repulsed me, making him a very scary character. The movie does sport a few faults (mainly cheap budget related) but I can't help but still rate it top notch.

It's the ambition that counts and Hardware's ambition surpasses the norm by 10.A gory horror film, a well layered film noir, stylish action sequences, thought-provoking narrative and dark nature.

Magnificent.