Apparently Richard Stanley's cult classic and debut feature Hardware came out on DVD and Blu Ray from Momentum in the UK over a week ago and nobody bothered to tell us. What the F people?
For those region free challenged in the US you will have to wait a little longer as the good folks at Severin will release the Uncut 2 Disc Special Edition, or U2DSE for short, on September 29th.
For those who don't know, Hardware is a kick ass cyber punk horror flick where a young Dylan McDermott unwittingly gives his artist girlfriend a busted up self repairing military robot which comes to life and starts havoc in her apartment, leaving behind a trail of blood and guts. People have been asking about this title for years and news have regularly appeared in the past about this coming out and then nothing has happened. Finally its here and it completely passed us by.
Right now it seems that there are some differences in special features between the releases (the UK version from is single disc) so completists will most likely grumble and dig in to their pockets.
Here are the specs for the UK release:
UK exclusive commentary with the director and producer
Voices of the Moon - documentary by Richard Stanley
Two of Richard Stanley's super 8 shorts
Never before seen deleted, extended and behind the scenes clips
Promotional featurette - Original market promo
Trailer
Set of original concept art cards
Booklet containing liner notes written by Kim Newman and Shok! Reprinted with permission of 2000AD
And here are the US specs:
NTSC All Region
Uncut Uncensored Version!
DD 5.1 Audio
Anamorphic Widescreen
2 DVD SE
Audio Commentary with Richard Stanley
Sea of Perdition - Short Film
Making of Documentary
Early Super 8 Version of Hardware
Both releases are stellar and something that a proper Sci-Fi fan needs to own in their collection. You can order the UK release right now but the US version is not up for preorder on Amazon yet but Diabolik DVD have started to take down orders if you are really anxious.
Thanks to Dread Central for the heads up.
when it was released, the publishers of 2000AD sued over heavy similarities between a short comic from the magazine called "Shok!". Stanley and the producers denied it at the time but it certainly did seem to at least borrow pretty heavily from it. This site has a nice comparison of the shared elements.
(http://www.britishhorrorfilms.co.uk/shok1.shtml) According to wiki their was a legal case solved in the magazine's favor and the strip's writer are now credited alongside the screenwriter.
It is DEFINITELY worth noting that the US and UK versions aren't being released by the same company (US - Severin, UK - Optimum), so the discrepancy in special features and Blu-ray availability is understandable. Reading the above I got the impression that in both the US and UK the releases were through Severin - which would make it a really sleazy stunt to pull giving different sets of special features to each country.
will be available on Blue Ray in the U.S. http://www.diabolikdvd.com/category/Cult-Favorites/Hardware-(Severin-~-Uncut-Uncensored-Version)-(Blu~Ray-All-Region).html
Again right. Fixed. I really should stop being so excited when I post things like this.
I have waited years for a good uncut DVD and now I get it on Blu Ray! "This is what you want, this is what you get!!!"
Wasn't "Voices of the Moon" included in the Dust Devil R1 Megaset (along with 3 or 4 other docs)? Guess it makes sense why they wouldn't include it on this R1.
Sweet, just ordered the UK version, along with Bronson :)
Amazing little film. Great to see this is getting a fully loaded treatment. I notice HKFlix has the pre-order up for Hardware now, too.
...sorry for the double...err,triple...
Hardware, Night of the Creeps,[.REC], Nightmare Concert, The Beyond...all in one year...it has to mean impending doom...
I LOVE DOOM!!! DOOMY,DOOM,DOOOOOOM
I miss Richard Stanley. Can some producer please give him some money so he can make a movie. The Island of Dr. Moreau was a long time ago. Let's all move on and give the man another chance.
I have Hardware on dvd from several years ago and now I'm wondering if it's not the uncut version.