Hardware (1990) ***
I've seen Hardware (1990) three times now and every time I have the same experience—one of frustration. Frustration at the fact that it's half of an awesome post-apocalyptic film with incredible visuals and design, well-done gore and f/x, and some beautifully surreal moments, but that it's also half of an annoyingly inferior cyberpunk film with underdeveloped characters, cringy dialogue, and poorly staged action.
Director Richard Stanley's affection for Dario Argento (in particular Suspiria (1977)), Shin'ya Tsukamoto's Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) is obvious, sometimes obnoxiously so. He takes elements of the The Terminator (1984) and Alien (1979), but doesn't have the craft to match those sci-fi horror classics. Simon Boswell delivers a moody and varied score that helps the atmosphere of the film a lot, particularly when other elements aren't quite working.
I am definitely a bigger fan of Stanley's next feature film, Dust Devil (1992), though there is no denying that Hardware has a lot of merit—it's just unfortunately muddled by its inconsistency. I do have this film to thank for getting me hooked on Public Image Ltd's disgustingly addictive song "The Order Of Death" though.
Director Richard Stanley's affection for Dario Argento (in particular Suspiria (1977)), Shin'ya Tsukamoto's Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) is obvious, sometimes obnoxiously so. He takes elements of the The Terminator (1984) and Alien (1979), but doesn't have the craft to match those sci-fi horror classics. Simon Boswell delivers a moody and varied score that helps the atmosphere of the film a lot, particularly when other elements aren't quite working.
I am definitely a bigger fan of Stanley's next feature film, Dust Devil (1992), though there is no denying that Hardware has a lot of merit—it's just unfortunately muddled by its inconsistency. I do have this film to thank for getting me hooked on Public Image Ltd's disgustingly addictive song "The Order Of Death" though.
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