I have admitted in the past that rips from movies like Robocop, The Terminator, and Alien (among others) are irresistible to me. Maybe it is because I respond to low budget variations on themes that interest me. The man-made machine that rebels against its programming, the fusing of man and machine, the innovative methods of survival when man has no choice but to protect himself against those he creates, etc. I also respond well to films where it is a woman who must protect herself against what man creates. Alien opened doors for female heroines, and I think sexy, capable, strong women in the roles often occupied by men appeals to me. The actress in this film, Stacey Travis is her name I think, I couldn't take my eyes off her. Director Stanley just knows how to shoot her face, setting up compositions that cast a spell on me. I guess some would say the movie is a bit too dark. I just picked up the double-disc special edition dvd today, almost purchasing the blu-ray, so I'm hoping for a quality print.
The harsh voice of Iggy Pop and the repetitive but catchy score that really sets off the close of the film, I was quite excited after watching the movie, although I started reading reviews from others who consider Hardware rather familiar and contrived, too alike others of its ilk. I guess this is right, but I just liked the way it piggybacks on the ideas of films like Mad Max proclaiming a world gone to hell, economic collapse, pollution, starvation, and Hardware does this well I felt. Is it any different than Steel Dawn? Perhaps not. It just comments on themes other films did before it and if it did it badly I guess Hardware wouldn't have remained with me. It is a wee bit better than Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared Syn, at least.
HARDWARE is a great little movie, and you're in for a real treat with that DVD. The business about the film being overly derivative is just eyewash--it has ideas of its own, and it treats them in its own original way.
ReplyDeleteBack when the film was originally released, the MPAA slapped it with an X rating, which was one of its ways of eliminating indie competition with the big studios that created it. This happened at the same time KING OF NEW YORK was given the X, and the controversy became part of the long-running effort to create an "A" (for adults) rating to fall between the R and X. The MPAA, under Jack Valenti absolutely refused to do this, and only when a big studio picture (HENRY & JUNE) faced the X did they create NC-17, but they destroyed the point of it by replacing the X with it, rather than placing it between R and X.
Hollywood politics sickens me. You notice how major studios started to set up independent movie extensions themselves. For some reason this has always left me cold.
DeleteI first rented Hardware when it was released to dvd from Netflix. I then watched a VHS print available to me. But I wanted to add it to my dvd collection. Look forward to getting the two disc to see Stanley's other indie short films included.