MovieChat Forums > Hardware (1990) Discussion > Can us Hardware lovers on the board get ...

Can us Hardware lovers on the board get together a decent review?

posted 14 years ago by themanamp
20 replies | jump to latest

I've just checked the reviews section for this film. V.depressing, everyone seems to rate it under 5 or so :(

I think this is an absolute under-rated gem of a film and I know I'm not alone. So why don't get some text together and give it the phat 10/10 (well 9, maybe) review it deserves?

I think the majority of sci-fi fans who under-rate this film don't really `get' it because it is very much a pastiche and `arty' flick.

It really winds me up because I don't see understand how fans of the macabre designs of Alien and Terminator can't see the same aesthetics (admittedly cheaper and more European - another plus point) at work in Hardware, ok

PEOPLE C'MON, HARDWARE IS ONE GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY!!!!!

[–] Unicorn-9 14 years ago

The problem is that while Hardware has an interesting setting and mood, Alien and Terminator had those plus interesting characters and plots.

I like it despite the flaws, but ultimately it's not a movie I could ever honestly rate as 9/10 or better.

[–] Defenseman13 12 years ago

who cares about a review on the internets? Just watch it and enjoy it. Who cares about what other people think.

http://us.imdb.com/name/nm2339870/

[–] Phantasm21 14 years ago

I agree that it's much better than a lot of crap that is rated higher. It's a strange business, movie making.

[–] wiking5 14 years ago

One of my favorites, I feel lucky to have seen it in the theater. Also got me started listening to Ministry....

"We all have it coming kid."

[–] philipknowles1 14 years ago

I think the reason this film gets bad reviews is because it is a bad film. If some people enjoy it then that's cool, but it does not mean that the film itself is good. There are plenty of films that I have enjoyed that I know will never get good reviews. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. The thing with Hardware is that most of the people who like it also point out it's failings. Many of them will acknowledge that the low budget meant that the effects were poor, and Unicor-9 points out that the characters and plot were not interesting. I read someone on here who liked the film but would have changed the last 45 minutes! Put all that together and you are left with a film that is never going to win over the critics. But if you like it then who cares?

[–] Badlands1 8 years ago

There are no failings to this film, it's a dark art film... Either you have an appreciation for mature art, and get this film.
Or you only want overdone spoon feed hollywood style emotion, or super complex plot twists/surprise endings. You want the writer to hand hold you through the characters entire meaning and purpose.
Relax and take in this emotional ride.
Left brain vs right brain reviews for this film.

[–] philipknowles1 8 years ago

There certainly are failings to this film. The most obvious to any viewer is the truly woeful special effects. I know it had a small budget but it is still a hindrance to a film that relies so heavily on it's visuals.

As I said, a film does not have to be perfect for it to be enjoyed. I could list my favourites and pick holes in all of them. I still love them though, as many people seem to love Hardware.

You do seem to echo a sentiment shared by other fans of this film. The idea that either you love this film or you don't understand it. I can assure you that there is a third group; people who understand it perfectly well but just didn't enjoy it or think it was very good. I have no problem watching and enjoying interesting or challenging cinema. Of the top of my head I would say The Bothersome Man, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring or Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives are all films which ask a lot more of the viewer. Maybe it's fairer to compare it to other sci-fi. Moon, 2001: A Space Odyssey or even Forbidden Plant would have a lot more interesting ideas in my opinion. Moon would also be a good example of a film with a limited budget but doing great stuff with it.

I suppose it's just reflects how it will always be with films though. Different people like different things. The fact that someone does not share my tastes does not mean that they have poor taste or only like simplistic films.

[–] Badlands1 8 years ago

You do seem to echo a sentiment shared by other haters of this film, the idea that it needs superior special effects to be a good sci-fi film.
When in fact this is an art film.
The decent acting, dark mood, great soundtrack, creative editing, and overall mature explicit theme hold this film up, perhaps you're comparing it to the wrong genre.

[–] philipknowles1 8 years ago

I certainly don't think good sci-fi needs superior special effects. With a good idea you wouldn't necessarily need any effects at all but if a film has this many scenes with effects I do think they should be at least average or tolerable. As I say, I thought the special effects were terrible, even allowing for the budget. I mainly mentioned them though because you said that film has no failings. I simply thought the effects were it's most obvious flaw.

Obviously some of the other films I listed have little or nothing in common with Hardware. I just mention them to illustrate that I would strongly disagree with your notion that not liking this film in some way demonstrates that you can only enjoy spoon-feeding Hollywood type films. That's simply nonsense. The idea that anyone who doesn't like it just didn't understand it, or found it too uncomfortable too watch (as I've read elsewhere on here) is simply not true. Many will have just seen it for what it is: a stolen idea that has been poorly executed. Not something I personally would class as an art film.

Despite my criticisms, I would still say that if you feel a connection to the film and enjoy it then there is nothing wrong with that. I don't think it means that you only like bad films. It just means you happen to like a film that many think is bad, and there's nothing at all wrong with that either.

I suppose, to bring it back to the point of the thread, I just don't understand why you, the O.P. or any other fan of Hardware would care that it doesn't really get good reviews. And certainly none of you should care for a second that I don't like it. You've got a film you love. Just enjoy it.

[–] Badlands1 8 years ago

Well I just took a gander at your reviews, and there is literally nothing from the 70's-90's except Hardware, so I understand how you don't get this genre art film.
And I'm sorry the special effects failed for you.
It's upsetting so many inartistic people will vote this gem down, and possibly detour future viewers from giving it a try, that's a benefit and a major problem with IMDB

[–] philipknowles1 8 years ago

You do seem to make a lot of assumptions: That not enjoying Hardware means that you can only possibly enjoy a certain type of film, that if you don't like it then that can only possibly mean that you didn't understand it and that not rating many 70's-90's films on IMDB must mean that you've not watched many films from the 70's-90's. All absolute twaddle of course but I'll not bother to try and explain why. You already know everything there is to know about me based on my opinion of one film and a click on what must be a pretty sparse profile (I genuinely can't remember the last time I had any significant activity on here). I'll leave you to it.

[–] robinstigator 14 years ago

I love Hardware and have sene it at least 10 times.
I can understand people nitpicking the FX, although for the low budget of the movie the FX are pretty damn good.
I can understand people complaining about a "threadbare" plot, but then again, this is a cyberpunk film, a bare-bones story with regular people in a postapocalyptic future dealing with the detritus of the military industrial complex. It does not analyze this, because it is not out to preach. it is out to scare and entertain and for that it succeeds.

sci-fi/fantasy movies need to be accepted at face value. They are not movies about the day to day life of people in OUR world.

[–] holnudor 14 years ago

HARDWARE IS ONE GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY!!!!!

That sentence is a perfect review in itself!

Hardware will never be something that appeals to the "mainstream". But for those
who dislike it because it lacks character development; there are tons of other
films out there that SEETHE with the smug, self-aware, "high-speak", character
explorations.

Hardware presents its characters in the rare "reality-of-the-moment" style.
We are only given information about the characters that is relevant to the moment
they (and us) are living and dying in. IMO, this makes characters far more realistic
than if we are led by the hand, and told everything there is to know about the
character's back-story, how they interact with others, how they will react to every
situation, blah blah blah blah...

I think that "Hardware" was terrifyingly effective in 1990, and it still holds up
today.
But it is not a movie that I enjoy watching very often. I sometimes feel as if
I am dying right along with that dude onscreen (and his "Interior Visions").

From an "all-things-considered", logical perspective, I would have to rate the movie
as about 8.5 -- but again; it's definitely not MAINSTREAM-FRIENDLY.

"I know this music... Let's change the beat." --Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg

[–] ShoeBuckle 14 years ago

I gave it a four. It's not that people didn't get it. The movie had a lot of problems. It was not that great of a film. I don't know what you saw that made you rate it a 10.

[–] peter-hoare-668-172834 14 years ago

I don't get why a great film has to have great effects and great characters. It just has to have real heart and get to a place within you emotionally. Like a great friend you don't really give a sheet what they wear. Just who they are. This film fits the bill. I saw it when it first came out and a few times since. Not for a while now. I MUST see it again. LOVED it back then.

[–] philipknowles1 13 years ago

Although we have totally different views on the film, I have to agree with Peter. Sometimes a film can have all sorts of flaws or problems but you don't care and you love it. I thought this film was terrible but something in it grabbed your attention and you loved it. One of my favourite films is a martial arts one called The Barefoot Kid. I could sit and write a long list of faults with it in terms of editing, pacing and so on, but I still enjoy it every time. I might sit and tell you how rubbish Hardware is, but I wouldn't criticize you for liking it (I might get kicked of IMDB for saying that though!)

[–] peter-1700 13 years ago

yep - look i love all the usual great stuff but half the fun of life is finding stuff that few people know about and/or like or something that just rips into you for whatever reason. probably like The Barefoot Kid. I once saw a film as a child in a cinema in the early 70's about a kid who as a lone survivor in a plane crash and lost in an african desert with a dog, gets blinded by a scorpion and ends up accidentally eating his own dog at the unwitting hands of the indigineous locals. it totally affected the rest of my life - and i cannot find out what it was. i can still see those scenes in my head after gee nearly 40 years. not a big or great film but it is your film. i really like flawed things when the flaws are not because no-one cared, it worked out that way because the creative talent was focused on more important stuff. Like a terry gilliam film. god love him.

[–] fgwri 13 years ago

I've got a better idea. How about all of us who hate the movie (which accounts to about 99.9% of those who have seen it) all write a scathing review and push the rating down even further?

[–] jwarren2001 10 years ago

How about you grow up instead?

[–] arkay 9 years ago

You're spending an awful lot of time here on something you hate. Get professional help!