Hardware (1990)

Director:

Richard Stanley

Writers:

Steve MacManus (story) and
Kevin O'Neill (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

14 September 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

It activates it exhilarates... it exterminates

Plot:

A wandering soldier finds a robot head in the post-apocalyptic desert. He brings it back to his girlfriend for use in one of her sculptures...

Plot Keywords:

Surrealism | Surreal | Syringe | Fridge | Population Control

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Dylan McDermott	...	Moses Baxter
Stacey Travis	...	Jill
John Lynch	...	Shades
William Hootkins	...	Lincoln Wineberg Jr.
Iggy Pop	...	Angry Bob
Carl McCoy	...	Nomad
Mark Northover	...	Alvy
Paul McKenzie	...	Vernon
Lemmy	...	Taxi Driver
Mac McDonald	...	Newscaster
Chris McHallem	...	Premier Boelgaxof
Barbara Yu Ling	...	Chinese Mother
Oscar James	...	Chief
Arnold Lee	...	Chinese Family
Susie Savage	...	Chinese Family (as Susie Ng)
Fred Leeown	...	Chinese Family
Mimi Cheung	...	Chinese Family
Sebastian Chee	...	Chinese Family

Directed by
Richard Stanley

Writing credits
Steve MacManus		(story "SHOK!") and
Kevin O'Neill		(story "SHOK!")
Richard Stanley		(written by)
Michael Fallon		(additional dialogue)
Michael Apostolina		uncredited

Produced by
Ray Corbett	....	associate producer
Elizabeth Karlsen	....	supervising producer
Nik Powell	....	executive producer
JoAnne Sellar	....	producer
Paul Trijbits	....	producer
Bob Weinstein	....	executive producer
Harvey Weinstein	....	executive producer
Stephen Woolley	....	executive producer
Trix Worrell	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Simon Boswell

Cinematography by
Steven Chivers

Film Editing by
Derek Trigg

Casting by
Karen Lindsay-Stewart

Production Design by
Joseph Bennett

Art Direction by
Max Gottlieb

Set Decoration by
Addi Cohen-Ziv		(as Addi Cohen-Zif)

Costume Design by
Michael Baldwin

Makeup Department
Lisa Boni	....	hair stylist
Lisa Boni	....	makeup artist: Stacey Travis
Kirstin Chalmers	....	makeup artist
Shaune Harrison	....	special makeup effects artist
Little John	....	special makeup designer
Bob Keen	....	makeup effects consultant
Tracey Lee	....	makeup artist
William Petty	....	makeup effects designer
John Schoonraad	....	makeup effects mold designer

Production Management
Elizabeth Carlsen	....	production supervisor
Stephen Earnhart	....	post-production supervisor (as Steve Earnhart)
John Gavin	....	post-production supervisor
Peter Holt	....	post-production supervisor
Peter Spencer	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ray Corbett	....	first assistant director
Clem Nice	....	assistant director: second unit
Lloyd Stanton	....	third assistant director
Roger Thorpe	....	second unit director
Patrick Tidy	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Sarah Blunt	....	property buyer
Michael Carlin	....	construction manager
Chris Consall	....	constructor
Christopher Cowsill	....	carpenter
Matthew Davies	....	constructor
Daz Edwards	....	art department runner
Annie Gregson	....	stand-by props
Barbara Herman-Skelding	....	set dresser
Michael Houseman	....	construction manager
Graham Humphreys	....	conceptual designer
Graham Humphreys	....	storyboard artist
Trudie McCallum	....	assistant art director
Leon McCarthy	....	art department assistant
Robert McFarlane	....	graphic designer
Antoine Robert	....	constructor
Peter Smith	....	sculptor
Becky Tanner	....	painter
Adrian Thatcher	....	assistant art director
James Wadeson	....	property master
Martin Weiss	....	plasterer

Sound Department
Ronald Bailey	....	second sound recordist (as Ron Bailey)
Ronald Bailey	....	sound mixer
Michelle Baughi	....	boom swinger
Mike Dowson	....	sound mixer
Kate Hopkins	....	sound effects designer
James Mather	....	dialogue editor
Jonathan Miller	....	sound effects designer
Tim Owens	....	adr editor
Brian Saunders	....	sound mixer
Joanne Stephens	....	boom swinger
Mark Stevens	....	special sound effects engineer
Marin Walker	....	footsteps editor

Special Effects by
Paul Catling	....	second unit special effects director
Paul Catling	....	special robotics designer
Neal Champion	....	floor special effects (as Neil Champion)
Chris Cunningham	....	special robots technician
Jim Francis	....	floor special effects
Matthew Horton	....	floor special effects (as Matt Horton)
Barney Jeffrey	....	special effects coordinator
David Keen	....	special robotics chief engineer
Stephen Norrington	....	special robotics technician (as Steve Norrington)
Steve Patton	....	floor special effects (as Steve Paton)
Bill Pearson	....	floor special effects
Paul Spateri	....	special robotics technician
Andrew Stone	....	droid suit operator
Peter Stone	....	droid suit operator
Jon Tucker-Bull	....	special robotics assistant (as John Tucker-Bull)

Visual Effects by
Steven Begg	....	matte artist (as Steven Beggs)
Robert Courtney	....	model supervision stand-by carpenter
Neil Culley	....	matte photography
Evan Davies	....	computer graphics animation programmer
Alan Marques	....	computer graphics consultant
James Pritch	....	additional model maker

Stunts
Tim Condren	....	stunt arranger (as Tim Condron)
Sarah Franzl	....	stunt double: Stacey Travis

Camera and Electrical Department
Alan Beechy	....	rigger
Bob Brock	....	electrician (as Rob Brock)
Gerry Floyd	....	additional photographer: second unit
Paul Grech-Ellul	....	focus puller
Kenny Ingram	....	rigger
David Lee	....	gaffer
Hudd Levien	....	assistant camera: second unit
Tim Maurice-Jones	....	camera operator
Rick Morgan	....	rigger
John O'Donnell	....	video operator
John Parker-Rees	....	assistant camera
Rob Pye	....	electrician
Donul Rodan	....	video operator
Andy Shuttleworth	....	steadicam operator
Kate Stark	....	clapper loader
Rob Stewart	....	electrician
Karl Watkins	....	lighting camera operator: second unit
Jay Williams	....	grip
John Williams	....	electrician
Clive Wise	....	rigger

Casting Department
Betsy Fels	....	casting: USA
Cynthia Lole	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Chris Loizou	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Wendy Edgar-Jones	....	second assistant editor (as Wendy Edgar)
Edward Marnier	....	assembly editor
Gabrielle McNamara	....	post-production trainee

Music Department
Ian Hierons	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Gillon Jacoby	....	driver
Richard Mason	....	driver

Other crew
Polly Beaumont	....	assistant to producer
Lesley Broderick	....	production accountant (as Leslie Broderick)
Maggie Choyce	....	script supervisor
Francesca Cicci	....	production secretary
Robin Coe	....	floor runner
Michael Garland	....	post-production accountant
David Golden	....	floor runner
Mark Lucas	....	production runner
Katy McGuiness	....	legal advisor
Gerald McMorrow	....	floor runner
Anthony Morland	....	production runner
Bo Shaw	....	production assistant
Dom Shaw	....	location manager
Andrew Stone	....	operator

Thanks
Nicky Bell	....	special thanks
Immo Horn	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• BSB
• British Screen Productions
• Palace Pictures
• Wicked Films

Distributors

• Buena Vista Home Video
• Cineplex-Odeon Home Video (1991) (Canada) (VHS)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (video)
• Millimeter Films
• Palace Pictures (1990) (UK) (theatrical)
• Palace Video (1990) (UK) (VHS)
• VPS Film-Entertainment GmbH

Other Companies

• Bayly, Martin & Fay International Ltd.  insurance
• Filmoptic  opticals
• Guinness Mahon and Company Ltd.  banking services
• Peter Watson Associates  titles
• Still Moving Music  music supervision
• Westbury Design  matte painting facilities provided by

Also Known As:

M.A.R.K. 13

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, sexuality and language. (also edited version)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 (original rating) | New Zealand:R16 (MGM channel rating) | Iceland:16 | Australia:R | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (also edited version) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

BSB

Trivia:

The nomad who unearths the MARK-13 robot is played by Carl McCoy, lead singer of the goth rock band Fields of the Nephilim, for whom Richard Stanley had previously directed two music videos and designed an album cover. According to him, McCoy's character in "Hardware" is basically the same as it was in the Nephilim work. The character, then titled Preacher Man, had a prostethic hand, yellow contact lenses and wore an old black coat with a cowboy hat.

Quotes:

Shades: It's my heart - it feels like an alligator.

Movie Connections:

Features A Bitter Message of Hopeless Grief (1988) (V)

Soundtrack:

Cold Metal

Some nice touches, especially with the Mark 13 derivative.

The 21st century world is a radioactive wasteland as a result of a nuclear war. A traveling scavenger comes across the remains of a cyborg named Mark 13 in the desert; He 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. Mark 13 reconstructs itself utilizing household appliances and metal parts, and goes amok.

Hardware is a movie that relies on its post-modernistic stylings to bring out its flavor but most of the time it falls flat. It's full of oddly placed music, I heard somewhere that the director Richard Stanley used to direct music videos, so maybe that explains a few reasons as to why this movie is the way it is. The red filter used through at least 50% of the movie can become highly annoying and get in the way of viewing some potentially good, violent scenes. Also the scenes which slowly push the plots progression could have done without the distraction.

Luckily enough, when the movie really gets going (it takes almost an hour!) its quite a fun ride of just extremely painful death scenes as the clunky robot Mark-13 chases down all humans in his way.