“No Flesh Shall Be Spared...”
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--THE PLOT
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In a post-apocalyptic future a nomadic scavenger scours the
windswept desert wastelands, in search of resalable scrap materials.
Protruding from the sands, amongst the remnants of a battle, he
unearths the metallic skull of a droid.
Making his way from the desert wilderness into the overcrowded
urban decay of the pollution riddled city, the mysterious stranger aims
to sell his discovery to a scrap metal dealer. These cyborg remains
make their way into the hands of Moses Baxter (Dylan McDermott), a
soldier-of-fortune, who decides they will be a perfect gift for his
artistically talented girlfriend, Jill (Stacey Travis).
Unbeknownst to the couple, the remains are not that of a simple
service droid as they had first believed, but in-fact those of a
“M.A.R.K. 13” prototype - a somewhat dysfunctional military droid,
which has the ability to self-repair and recharge; leaving Jill trapped in
the apartment with a killing machine…
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--VIDEO
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Let’s put this into perspective; Hardware is a film that has been tied
up in legal wrangles for years. The only version that had been available
in recent times was a terrible full screen release version from
Germany’s Laser Paradise, which simply did the film no justice
whatsoever.
Severin’s 50GB dual layer release is presented in a 1080 progressive HD
anamorphic widescreen. Compared to what had previously been
available, this looks simply stunning with crisp detail, strong colour
balance and accurate flesh tones throughout. The film shows a healthy
amount of natural grain and the digital noise reduction used doesn’t
effect the crisp detail of the film. There is only the most minor
amount of print damage early on in the film, but this is barely
noticeable. Frankly the film has never looked better.
Now the consumer choice you have to make here is between this
release and the UK Optimum Releasing edition, which typically
appeared just before the Severin release and is of equal quality,
although slightly different in the extras department, which I will come
onto shortly.
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--AUDIO
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This Severin release has two audio options, a Dolby Digital 5.1 English
and a Dolby Digital Stereo English. Both audio tracks are crisp,
balanced and dialog is clear throughout.
The UK Optimum release has a PCM 2.0 track.
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--EXTRAS
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Severin have given this release some top-notch extras, which are as
follows:
• Audio commentary by director Richard Stanley, moderated by
Norman Hill
• Incidents In An Expanding Universe short by Richard Stanley (HD -
44:30)
• Rites Of Passage short by Richard Stanley (HD - 9:50)
• The Sea Of Perdition short by Richard Stanley (HD - 8:33)
• No Flesh Shall Be Spared documentary (HD - 53:59)
• Deleted and extended scenes (HD - 25:02)
• Richard Stanley on Hardware 2 featurette (7:40)
• Vintage Hardware Promo Video featurette (3:31)
• German theatrical trailer
In comparison the Optimum Releasing UK edition offers the following:
• Audio commentary by director Richard Stanley and producer Paul
Trijbits
• Incidents In An Expanding Universe short by Richard Stanley (44min)
• Rites Of Passage short by Richard Stanley (10min)
• The Sea Of Perdition short by Richard Stanley (9min)
• Voices Of The Moon documentary by Richard Stanley (30min)
• Deleted and extended scenes
• Behind the Scenes clips featurette
• Theatrical trailer
• Art cards and reproduction of SHOK! 2000AD Comic
As you can see, while there are some common extras between the
releases, there are also some exclusives on both. I personally found
the differing commentary tracks to be of equal merit and if you
already own the US release of Stanley's Dust Devil, you will of course
already have the Voices of the Moon documentary. The differing
trailers are negligible, as are the behind the scenes / promo video
featurettes.
So, what you really are weighing up here is Severin’s fantastic No
Flesh Shall Be Spared documentary, which gives some great insight
into the making of the film, against the rather nifty packaging from
Optimum with Artcards, a replica of 2000AD’s SHOK! (which the film
was partly influenced by) and some informative liner notes from Kim
Newman.
Personally I’m smug and own both, but if I was pushed to own just
one copy I would probably opt for the Severin release for the great
documentary.
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--FINAL THOUGHTS
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Let’s get the obvious out of the way here; on the surface Hardware
could be seen to be derivative of numerous dystopian sci-fi films from
the 10 years or so that proceeded its release - Bladerunner,
Terminator, Mad Max and Alien being the most obvious.
In the hands of a lesser director, the minimal plotline indeed would
probably result in nothing more than a tired retread, but thankfully
Richard Stanley is one of those few gifted directors whose own voice
and vision shine through to make Hardware something a little more
special than the average low-budget Sci-fi effort that was appearing at
the time.
Part of this is down to his influences; while the plotline may contain
elements akin to those in the aforementioned landmarks - such as
dystopian high-rise buildings with computerised security systems,
surrounded by smog and filth, visually and stylistically Hardware is a
very different film, with Stanley wearing his Italian cinema influences
of his sleeve. The early desert scenes are reminiscent of a Sergio
Leone western, while later scenes in Jill’s apartment use a colour
pallet and cinematography straight from the Bava and Argento school
of cinema.
Co-produced by the UK’s Palace Pictures and the US’s Miramax Films
(still an independent studio at that stage), Hardware was a major
success for both companies, going on to gross £6,000,000. Although
with a part British, part American cast and funding, and a South
African director, British genre film fans nearly always love to claim
Hardware as our own. Frankly by the end of the 1980’s / early 1990’s
the UK’s Horror and Sci-fi output was so minimal and frequently
lacklustre, that our film industry would kill to claim any half successful
film as their own.
There’s so much that can be said about Hardware, but dissecting and
analysing the film in-depth in a review is likely to create too many
spoilers and ruin the enjoyment of those who haven’t already had the
pleasure of seeing it.
Needless to say, it is Hardware that made Richard Stanley a cult
favourite on video in the early 1990’s. The 24 year old director, who
had previously only directed independent short features,
documentaries and music videos, was given an inexperienced crew
and a £800,000 budget to pull off the impossible in what is commonly
an effects laden genre. James Cameron and Ridley Scott probably
spend more on their crews’ morning coffee than Hardware’s meagre
budget, yet it has a look and feel that rises it far above this and its
crew’s relative inexperience.
From a cast perspective, it is really Stacey Travis who really makes the
film, as the strong and resilient Jill. Dylan McDermott as Moses and
John Lynch as his friend Shades put in good supporting roles, with
William Hootkins putting a great appearance as a sleazy peeping Tom
neighbour.
Stanley’s cyberpunk effort is also rather musically influenced;
alongside Carl McCoy of Fields of the Nephilim appearing as the nomad
scavenger, there’s cameos from Motorhead’s Lemmy as a cabdriver,
Iggy Pop as radio DJ Angry Bob and a Gwar music video being shown in
the background while Ministry play on the soundtrack.
All in all Hardware is a great film that comes from a time when the vast
majority of genre cinema was of little or no merit and it’s great to see
an official release after so long sitting in the legal entanglement
wasteland. I’d personally put this down on my top 10 releases of the
year for 2009 and would urge those who haven’t done so already, to
pick up a copy immediately.
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