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Hardware
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Stanley
Produced by	Ray Corbett Nik Powell Polly du Plessis
Written by	Steve MacManus Kevin O'Neill Richard Stanley
Starring	Dylan McDermott Stacey Travis Keith Chegwin Iggy Pop Carl McCoy Lemmy
Music by	Simon Boswell Paul Barker Al Jourgensen Motörhead
Cinematography	Steven Chivers
Editing by	Derek Trigg
Distributed by	Palace Pictures
Release date(s)	September 14, 1990
Running time	93 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$1,500,000 (estimated)

Hardware (1990), also known as M.A.R.K. 13 is a post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Richard Stanley and starring Dylan McDermott.

Plot

The 21st century world is a radioactive wasteland as a result of a nuclear war. A travelling scavenger comes across the remains of a cyborg named M.A.R.K-13 in the desert, and salvages pieces of it. The cyborg head ends up with a metal sculptress, who is unaware of the cyborg's infamy as a governmental killing machine project that was scrapped due to its defects. M.A.R.K-13 reconstructs itself utilizing household appliances and metal parts, and goes amok.

M.A.R.K-13 is a prototype killer combat droid. Its name is a reference to the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Bible, part of which reads no flesh shall be spared (Mark 13:20).

The robot, capable of reconstructing itself if damaged in combat, can augment and rebuild its body using any machinery and metal parts available nearby. It also comes equipped with an anti-personnel chemical weapon in the form of an injectable cytotoxin that causes sensory distortion (hallucination) before death. The ultimate purpose of this weapon is to allow the government to commit mass genocide of its own citizens to alleviate overpopulation.

M.A.R.K-13's Achilles' heel is a faulty insulation system, highly sensitive to moisture and humidity. Although built for fighting in arid terrain, this huge flaw in the droid caused its governmental project funding to be initially suspended. At the end of the film it is revealed the M.A.R.K-13 will enter mass production.^[1]

Overview

Advertised as The Terminator for the nineties, the film's soundtrack features music from Iggy Pop (who, although never seen in the movie, has a cameo role as the radio personality known as "Angry Bob"), Motörhead (whose lead singer, Lemmy, has a cameo as a taxi driver), Ministry and Public Image Limited. Carl McCoy, the vocalist from Fields of the Nephilim played the 'zone tripper' who brings the M.A.R.K-13 into human contact, and GWAR is featured in a music video, although the song playing at the time is "Stigmata" by Ministry. The film features excerpts from the film Salo directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Special effects were provided by Image Animation (Hellraiser, Highlander and Nightbreed).

Shok!

The film is based on a 2000 AD comic called SHOK! Walter's Robo-Tale.^[2][3] In the comic version, the robot head part is recovered from the bloody aftermath of the Cursed Earth Saga (almost making Hardware the first Judge Dredd movie ever). The original theatrical release did not mention the comic book despite heavily plagiarizing its storyline. Following legal action a notice was added to later versions and the strip's creators, Steve MacManus and Kevin O'Neill, now get full writers' credits.

It is now considered to be the first 2000 AD movie spin-off, followed by the better-known Judge Dredd.^[4]

Cast

• Dylan McDermott — Moses "Hard Mo" Baxter
• Stacey Travis — Jill
• John Lynch — Shades
• William Hootkins — Lincoln Wineberg Jr.
• Iggy Pop — Angry Bob^[5]
• Carl McCoy — Nomad
• Mark Northover — Alvy
• Paul McKenzie — Vernon
• Lemmy — Water taxi driver

Release Date

Hardware was released on Region 2 DVD and Blu-ray on 22 June 2009. It was released on Region 1 DVD and Blu-Ray on 13 October 2009 by Severin Films.

Unproduced sequel

Promotional poster that was released to promote the unproduced Hardware 2.

Richard Stanley has written a sequel to Hardware, titled Hardware 2: Ground Zero. The script was released to read in December 2009, but the film has yet to enter production.^[6][7] The filming has been slowed because the permissions on the first part, which is based on the script, is still unresolved.

Notes

References

External links

• An early draft of the film's screenplay
• Hardware at the Internet Movie Database
• Hardware at Allmovie