Cast: Stacey Travis, Dylan McDermott, John Lynch
Opening Thoughts: I was loosely aware of Hardware for quite awhile thinking it might be one of those cheap second rate knockoff films by a company just wanting to capitalize on the Terminator. The film may have popped up a few times on Cinemax, but I avoided Hardware at all cost. That was until recently Dr. Svet Atanasov of Blu-ray.com called this film the best BluRay release of 2018. So I was curious as to what I was missing and how could Ronin Flix who never released a film before on BluRay pull off this magnificent feat.
Plot: In a post apocalyptic world, jobs are hard to come by and the fastest way to make money is scavenge the wastelands for parts that are still useful to humanity. A mysterious nomad comes across what appears to be a normal android and decides to take what is useful left of the android and sell it to a junk dealer.
Only the junk dealer is not in when the Nomad enters the building. The Nomad ends up selling the robot to Mo, a former soldier now scrapper, and his friend Shades. Mo plans on giving this android to his girlfriend Jill to use in her artwork.
There is just one thing nobody realizes this android is apart of the prototype M13 series. The M13 is a highly advanced war machine designed to self repair and kill its enemy no matter what the cost. What is wrong with bringing a war machine into an apartment complex? Jill and the residents are about to find out first hand.
Review: OMG let's talk about the opening sequence in the wastelands. The gorgeous sepia tone sequence is to die for. I actually backtracked that scene 2 times just to watch it over again to take in the sheer beauty of that sequence it felt like something filmed by Nicolas Roeg.
Once you get past that sequence other colors and the city were introduced to the film leaving you feel like you were in the slums Detroit seen in Robocop. A very effective setting for a film with a low budget. I couldn't ask for more.
The story was kept simple with some erotic sequences featuring Stacy Travis and then the machine versus Jill. That is where the fun of this film begins. A machine that can hack into anything and control your apartment. A machine that can once injured use anything to repair itself even if that means changing the structural design just to acomplish the mission.
The world is essentially the M13's Guinea pigs waiting to be picked off one by one and there is nothing you can do to stop it. The tension is real.
While yes this film is like the Terminator you can easily say this film combines elements of Alien and Gremlins as well. The film is a well put together low budget indie film. The biggest letdown of the film is Dylan McDermott I have a hard time buying him in this role he still reminds me of an actor best suited for light hearted comedies. Other than that the film has not aged as well as it could while I love cameos of Motorhead, Gwar, and Iggy Pop plus British styles of the 80s and low tech computer screens you can definitely pinpoint when this film was made.
Closing thoughts: Hardware will be on my list of regular films to watch probably replacing The Terminator on that list. Just because I like the setting better and I find the M13 to be more dangerous. Not to mention Hardware is more fun to watch. While the positives outweigh the flaws of the film, I can't give the film more than 7 out of 10.
I do think a shout out should be given to Ronin Flix for their stellar transfer. The detail is there, gorgeous colors, and yet the ability to make this film look like it was filmed when made by not doing an over the top restoration is fantastic. For their first effort this is amazing and I'm excited to see what they do to other properties I like.
Is it the best restoration of 2018 maybe, but I give that to Criterion's Sisters.
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