Thank you, Claudio Simonetti. This was neither the first nor the last time in your career that the flavorful original music you provided for a film was one of its top highlights, if not the only highlight. Here, your contribution is not necessarily the only highlight, but it's certainly the most reliable one.
It's not that 'Hands of steel,' initially released as 'Vendetta dal futuro,' is absolutely rotten. The script is a weird hodgepodge, but there are some genuinely good ideas here amidst the more dubious ones, and those plainly borrowed from existing properties. At least a few of the actors on hand seem to be making an effort. The filming locations are terrific, and I think the crew operating behind the scenes turned in some good work including sets, lighting, costume design, and even the cinematography. The stunts and practical effects look pretty good, and the action sequences at large, especially as they populate the back end. The thing is, I can't bring myself to offer more substantial or enthusiastic praise.
Sergio Martino's direction and Aldo Devgen's editing are both rather curt and brusque at points, doing the whole no favors, and there are times when the editing is kind of just sloppy. For every actor seemingly making an effort, there is at least one who is chewing scenery, including star Daniel Greene and Italian B-movie regular George Eastman; elsewhere the performances are direly limp and unconvincing. Even if we make allowances for dubbing the dialogue is mostly terrible, and the dubbing is less than great. The plot development relies in no small part on "Just So" Movie Magic, especially as the government investigates the attempted assassination, and feels coarse and unpolished broadly, and maybe rushed. The picture overflows with tiresome, frankly repulsive machismo, and do note some gratuitous nudity and an obligatory romantic element that is likewise not fully convincing.
I don't mind that 'Hands of steel' lifts some ideas directly from other sci-fi flicks. We get tastes of 'The Terminator' as "Paco" is a cyborg like Arnold, but he is also a hero like Michael Biehn, as paired with "Linda," standing in for, well, Linda Hamilton. Heading into the last third we get a character based on Pris in 'Blade Runner,' and so on. It's fine; these are thoughts I could work with. What I do mind is that the construction here seems a little careless in too many ways. I see fantastic potential in what the feature could have been if the screenplay had been approached more mindfully, if the direction were stronger, if the acting was more consistent, and if the editing didn't questionably chop up the proceedings. Through to the ending, abrupt though it may be, there are smart notions that could have been exercised to meaningful effect. We do get glimmers throughout of that more significant, more lasting value. It's too bad that such glimmers are dragged down by the more tawdry facets.
I don't dislike this title; there are much worse ways to spend your time. For everything else that we could be watching instead, however, there's also not much reason to sit with it unless one is extra keen on B-movies of this nature. Don't go out of your way for 'Hands of steel'; if you're going to check it out then save it for a lazy day, and be well aware of the flaws throughout. Maybe we should just leave it at that.
