Hardware

R

Released Sep 14, 1990

1 hr. 32 min.

Sci-Fi

Horror

List

46%

13 Reviews

Tomatometer

52%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In an America ravaged by atomic warfare, nomads spend their days scavenging for scrap in a blasted landscape. That's how ex-soldier Moses Baxter (Dylan McDermott) comes into possession of some spare android parts. He buys them as a present for his artist girlfriend, Jill (Stacey Travis), who plans to put them in a sculpture. What they don't know is that the pieces come from a new kind of android that is capable of reassembling itself -- and is programmed to kill.

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Alec B

A collection of interesting ideas and style that isn't matched by the final execution which falls into a lot of familiar horror tropes. However, I appreciate that the filmmakers actually followed through with their cynical themes.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/13/23

Full Review

Matt M

This is misunderstood genius. Watch for 80s/90s alt rock cameos. Note it's seriously violent and disturbing. Also legit feminist.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/13/23

Full Review

J.P. H

Certainly my first truly exciting experience visiting the movie theater when this opened. Not was I just a little bit younger than most of those in attendance that night, but the entire visual aesthetic of Hardware blew me away from the opening credits. The industrial music-heavy soundtrack was way too fabulous for the time, and for good or ill, added yet another layer of debatably necessary nihilism. And in Hardware's world, nihilism is an almost inescapable evangelical presence. And Lemmy From Motorhead is a boat taxi across a polluted waterway...

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/18/24

Full Review

Steve D

boring and cheap excuse for a film.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Taylor L

*Slaps roof* This baby can fit so many random musicians in it. For a movie that starts off by introducing Iggy Pop as a radio announcer named 'Angry Bob with the Industrial Dick', Hardware is a pretty dull film overall. It's a lot of setup for a killer robot in a post-apocalyptic environment, harvesting the aesthetic of something like Blade Runner with a way lower budget, much less impressive writing and themes, and dodgy acting. Doesn't matter that GWAR and Lemmy show up, the film can't help but feel like a way slower version of Terminator with worse worldbuilding. Most of the action rips off sci-fi shoot-'em'ups of the '80s with a less impressive budget but more gore, and there isn't much in the way of subtext to fall back on even when the visual design is actually pretty high-reaching. Retrofuturism is usually pretty fun though. A bleak, post-apocalyptic industrial future with traveling scavengers picking over the remains of a dead world ... where Schlitz beer is still sold in the '90s cans. (2/5)

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

10/28/22

Full Review

antonis k

The premise is interesting in theory but in reality the execution is a big mess of better Sci-fi films mixed together.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Richard Stanley

Director

Dylan McDermott

Moses Baxter

Stacey Travis

Jill

John Lynch

Shades

William Hootkins

Lincoln Wineberg Jr.

Iggy Pop

Angry Bob

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: D+

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: D+

Sep 14, 1990

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

The problem with this extremely pretentious stylized exercise is that its result is mortally boring. [Full review in Spanish]

Nov 12, 2022

Full Review

Ian Berriman

SFX Magazine

One of those lovingly crafted movies where ingenuity and enthusiasm overcome the budgetary limitations.

Oct 19, 2010

Full Review

Steve Newton

Georgia Straight

Stanley's attempts at visual stylishness are so relentless they preclude the simple act of telling a good tale.

Rated: 2.5/5

Jul 7, 2010

Full Review

Walter Chaw

Film Freak Central

Shut up. Try to pay attention.

Rated: 1.5/4

Jan 19, 2010

Full Review

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Synopsis

In an America ravaged by atomic warfare, nomads spend their days scavenging for scrap in a blasted landscape. That's how ex-soldier Moses Baxter (Dylan McDermott) comes into possession of some spare android parts. He buys them as a present for his artist girlfriend, Jill (Stacey Travis), who plans to put them in a sculpture. What they don't know is that the pieces come from a new kind of android that is capable of reassembling itself -- and is programmed to kill.

Director: Richard Stanley
Screenwriter: Richard Stanley
Rating: R
Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 14, 1990, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 5, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $5.1M
Sound Mix: Surround