Hardware
United Kingdom, United States
1990
93 Min
Color
1.85:1
English
Synopsis
In the future, a nuclear war has transformed the Earth into a radioactive wasteland where the sea has dried up leaving it as a post-apocalyptic desert. In the desert, A desert scavenger named Nomad discovers a robotic head, arriving in New York City, A space marine named Moses Baxter buys the robotic head from Nomad as a Christmas present for his girlfriend Jill Grakowski, who decides to use it for one of her sculptures. But all hell starts breaking loose, when the robotic head is activated and begins to rebuilt itself. When Alvy, a junkyard dealer discover the robotic head is a Mark 13, a military cyborg of a project that was abandoned. Moses learns Jill’s life is in danger, as the Mark 13 cyborg goes on a violent rampage in Jill’s apartment as Jill has become the the prime target for extermination. –IMDb
Director
Richard Stanley
Richard Stanley (born 22 November 1966) is a film director and screenwriter born in South Africa. Stanley currently works and lives in London, England.
He has worked on music videos for bands like Fields of the Nephilim, as well as directing a 50-minute length video for Marillion’s concept album, Brave, which has since been released on DVD. In April 2006, it was announced he is to direct a new music video for Fields of the Nephilim’s latest studio album, Mourning Sun.
He has directed two feature films: Hardware in 1990 and Dust Devil in 1993.
Hardware was the subject of controversy when it was revealed that Stanley used the story “Shok!” (published in comic magazine 2000 AD) created by Kevin O’Neill and Steve MacManus for a basis of his screenplay. Only after a court case, which Stanley lost, were the two given writing credits on the film. Hardware is now considered the first 2000 AD story to be adapted into film.
Stanley contributed to the screenplay for… read more
Wall
Displaying 4 of 10 wall posts.
dschank
12Aug12
as a movie, this is a hot mess. but as an emblem of pre-grunge counterculture, it's kind of amazing. part "mad max," part david cronenberg, part crappy cyberpunk yarn, part KMFDM video. angst-ridden and aimlessly anti-establishment. lots of red camera filters and declarations about how the world is going to hell, some of them delivered by dylan mcdermott! if you fondly remember dave kendall, you may want to watch it.
Mathias Palmberg and Cbarky99 like this
Siksinaaq
18Jun12
An effective mood piece, which you can thank the color pallette and the synth score for, that I am somewhat surprised isn't a bigger cult film (as noted at a comment below). There's an interesting sense of direction and some memorable imagery that makes this low-budget sci-fi horror captivating to watch. Favourite images? Quite a few actually.
Christopher Smith
15Apr12
An inventive and original sci-fi thriller makes great use of its low budget with Richard Stanley's sharp filmmaking and some impressive practical special effects. Definitely deserves to be better know, a cult classic.
HKFanatic likes this
Tony Smith
11Dec11
Although I loved the industrial soundtrack, I found it jarring to the film's snail-like pacing. Poorly filmed too.
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Displaying 5 of 97 fans.
Articles
Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
Iggy Pop is Angry Bob the DJ again for 'Hardware'!
By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
To celebrate yesterday’s release of Hardware Iggy Pop recreates his cameo role from the film as Angry Bob the DJ. Find the clip after the break…….
HARDWARE Review
By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
[This review originally appeared many moons ago and reappears now, expanded to include information on the brand new – and bloody well spectacular – BluRay issue of the cult classic from Severin Films
Richard Stanley, I presume? An interview with the director of HARDWARE...
By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
Pinning down Richard Stanley can be quite a job, whether you’re talking about trying to find where he is or trying to make sense of the bewildering variety of reputations he has. He’s been called a genius
HARDWARE Review
By Twitchfilm.net on July 16, 2010
[This review originally appeared many moons ago and reappears now, expanded to include information on the brand new – and bloody well spectacular – BluRay issue of the cult classic from Severin Films
Iggy Pop is Angry Bob the DJ again for 'Hardware'!
By Twitchfilm.net on July 16, 2010
To celebrate yesterday’s release of Hardware Iggy Pop recreates his cameo role from the film as Angry Bob the DJ. Find the clip after the break….
Richard Stanley, I presume? An interview with the director of HARDWARE...
By Twitchfilm.net on July 16, 2010
Pinning down Richard Stanley can be quite a job, whether you’re talking about trying to find where he is or trying to make sense of the bewildering variety of reputations he has. He’s been called a genius
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Displaying 1 of 1
Hardware
By Damian on May 12, 2013
Richard Stanley’s horror sci-fi debut, Hardware is a cult oddity, crafted from elements of eighties’s classics like The Terminator, Alien, Blade Runner and Mad Max. As an amalgamation of these films… read review
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Hardware DC R4 Richard Stanley Thread
32 posts by 11 people
4 months ago