Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.5

Hardware Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 27, 2009

Richard Stanley's cult picture "Hardware" (1990) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed contains some terrific supplemental features. Region-B "locked".

The Zone

The world has been devastated by a nuclear war. A scrap metal hunter (Carl McCoy, The 13th Sign) wandering The Zone -- a radioactive area sealed off by the military -- uncovers the head and hand of a sophisticated robot. He picks them up and heads to a local dealer where he plans to sell them.

There, he encounters Moses (Dylan McDermott, Where Sleeping Dogs Lie), another scrap metal hunter, who is on his way home. Moses likes the robot parts and buys the head for his part-time girlfriend Jill (Stacey Travis), a high-tech junkie living alone. The hand remains with the dealer.

Moses meets Jill. The two make love and then talk about their lives. The dealer phones Moses and tells him that he needs to see him immediately. Moses isn’t willing to leave Jill yet and asks that they meet some other time. The dealer explains to Moses that it is very important that they meet as soon as possible; he has discovered something very unusual. Slightly annoyed, Moses grabs his jacket and leaves.

Meanwhile, Jill repaints the robot head. She likes how it looks and promptly places it next to her other scrap metal toys. Then, she heads back to the bedroom. She is unaware, however, that one of her neighbors, Lincoln (William Hootkins, Batman), is spying on her. He is a pervert who likes to masturbate while watching Jill walk around her apartment.

Moses arrives at the dealer’s place where he uncovers his dead body. While looking around, he hears a taped message from the dealer where he talks about the hand he bought from the scrap metal hunter -- it is from an advanced killer robot, known as M.A.R.K. 13, capable of repairing and regenerating itself. Moses heads back to Jill’s place where M.A.R.K 13 has already repaired and reactivated itself.

Hardware was filmed at a time when there was a certain type of fascination with post-apocalyptic and gloomy-looking industrial worlds where highly sophisticated machines and vile alien monsters clashed with good looking and muscular male protagonists. The big studios financed and had success with films such as Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982), as well as John McTiernan’s Predator (1987), which left the audiences hungry for more. This gave confidence to smaller film producers to experiment with all sorts of different projects that weren’t necessarily going to make it to the big screen. Some ended up being quite good (Leviathan and Split Second), others not so much (Nemesis).

Hardware is based on an original story entitled “Shock!” by Steve MacManus and Kevin O’Neill that appeared in Fleetway Comics’ “2000AD”. Its director, Richard Stanley, who prior to Hardware had produced only three shorts, mixed a number of different genres that spurred plenty of confusion amongst critics, censors and film buffs (there is a good reason why the censoring of the explicit sex footage has a long and well publicized history). As a result, Hardware was immediately tagged B-film, one that eventually became cult precisely because critics and casual viewers never fully figured it out.

Nowadays, Hardware looks somewhat weak but unique. There is a certain type of atmosphere in it that is absolutely impossible not to admire. Furthermore, there is so much excess -- shock rockers GWAR, Iggy Pop, Ministry and Carl McCoy from Fields of the Nephilim contributed to it for a reason -- that even arthouse aficionados tend to enjoy it. Obviously, given the enormous advancements in CGI, some would likely claim that the film looks dated, even amateurish, but I disagree. I think that in a way Hardware is like a Terry Gilliam film -- it is so bizarre and outrageous, you just cannot loathe it.

Hardware Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-AVC and granted 1080p transfer, Richard Stanley's Hardware arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of UK-based distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

Similar to Terence Young's Red Sun (1971), Hardware is one of those films that never saw a proper treatment on DVD. In every single region, the film was either PAN/SCAN-ed or sourced from a terrible master. So, I was very much looking forward to Optimum's Blu-ray release, hoping that it would be something fans of the film could use to retire their problematic DVDs.

Generally speaking, the basics for Optimum's transfer are intact. Contrast is substantially stronger, clarity finally acceptable and detail enormously improved. Macroblocking, a major issue of concern on the German DVD release, isn't something that plagues Optimum's transfer. Edge-enhancement pops up here and there, but given how heavily manipulated the video is (as intended by Richard Stanley), I think that the overwhelming majority of you won't notice it at all. The color scheme is convincing. The memorable red colors from The Zone, for instance, finally look rich and well saturated.

This being said, Optimum's transfer is far from perfect. During the first twenty or so minutes there are plenty of minor specks, scratches and debris. Given how dark the majority of Hardware is, a lot of these are fairly easy to spot. Later on, however, many of these specks disappear completely. Nevertheless, I believe that some of you will be slightly annoyed with their presence. Still, I think that Optimum's Blu-ray release is very easy to recommend -- simply put, there are no deserving presentations of Hardware on the market, and this is the only release that I have seen that comes close to the type of presentation the film rightfully deserves. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, unless you have a native Region-B or Region-Free player, you won't be able to access its content).

Hardware Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 (48 kHz). Similar to the video presentation, the audio presentation is acceptable. The dialog is mostly crisp, clear and very easy to follow. Additionally, Simon Boswell's soundtrack is balanced quite well with it, and I personally did not detect any disturbing dropouts, pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review. As expected, there isn't much depth on the English LPCM 2.0 track, which obviously has to do with the manner in which the film was shot, but, overall, this new English LPCM 2.0 track is more than pleasing. Finally, I would like to note that Optimum have not provided optional English subtitles (or a HOH track) for the main feature.

Hardware Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are a number of supplemental features on this disc. All of them, however, are in standard-def PAL. Therefore, you need to have a Blu-ray player that converts PAL-NTSC, or a multi-system TV set, in order to access them.

Audio commentary with Richard Stanley and Paul Trijbits – This is a fantastic commentary that was recorded in March of 2009. The two gentlemen provide plenty of terrific information pertaining to the production history of the film, a lot of the footage that was censored, the filming locations (Roundhouse Studios, London and Morocco), the motley crew of actors, the different cuts and takes that were shot, etc. Really, this is one of the better commentaries that I have heard in a very long time.

Deleted, Extended and Behind the Scenes Clips – "Sex and Death", "Jill and Mo", "M.A.R.K. 13", "The Death of Lincoln-Behind The Scenes", "The Kids Get Theirs – rough cut deleted scene". (Please note that while every effort has been made to secure the best source material, imperfections commensurate with the age and nature of the archival footage are unavoidably evident).

The Sea of Perdition - Richard Stanley's 2006 short film about a stranded cosmonaut on Mars. Produced by Grebhtor Smoo and Nikolai Galitzine (special effects technician on Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth) (8 min).

The Early Days – Early Richard Stanley Super 8 movies - Two of the director's early films – "Rites of Passage" (10 min) and "Incidents in an Expanding Universe" (44 min) are offered here.

The Voice of the Moon - A documentary by Richard Stanley about the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. This is a beautifully lensed film with a terrific score by Simon Boswell (33 min).

Original Hardware Promo - (4 min).

Hardware Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Aside from the minor specks and scratches that I've noted in my technical analysis, Optimum's Blu-ray release of Richard Stanley's "Hardware" looks good. More importantly, this UK release contains some terrific supplemental features, including a freshly recorded commentary with Richard Stanley and Paul Trijbits. Recommended.