In a bleak, desolate future that's obviously been through a few more world wars, a lone scavenger combs the desert and finds the remains of a type of robot. He takes it back to a trading post where another scavenger, Mo (Dylan McDermott), purchases it as a Christmas present for his girlfriend, Jill,who is a sculptress. Unfortunately these parts are from a war robot called the Mark 13 and it's capable of self-repair.
Jill never leaves her apartment building where she works and she smokes a lot and watches some strange television. She's afraid of going outside. When Mo first comes to visit her she checks him out with a geiger counter, fearing radioactivity.
Once she makes the remains of the Mark 13 a part of one of her sculptures it starts using material and electronics in her apartment to rebuild itself. Most of this happens when she's asleep--and wakes up just in time before it saws her bed in half. Now, what was the safest place in the world for her has become the most dangerous. It's a battle to the death between human and robot...
I've always liked this movie and seeing it again for the first time in years, the film holds up well. What I particularly like are the "old school" special effects. The killer robot is not some lame CGI effect but a physical presence, which makes a huge difference as it makes it seem much more real. And there's that scene where the guy gets bisected by the front door...
There's actually a second dvd which contains all the extras, which are interviews with Stanley and the cast and crew. It was a bit startling seeing actress Stacey Travis as she looks nothing like she did 20 years ago (just say "NO" to plastic surgery...). There's also the original Super8mm film that Stanley shot which is the basis of HARDWARE and there are lots of similarities between the two films. This DVD release of HARDWARE is definitely worth picking up for the collection.
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Rating: 6.3 out of 10.0 - 3 votes cast total
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