User reviews

Sergio Martino's next futuristic film after his classic AFTER THE FALL OF NEW YORK, is unfortunately not apocalyptic, instead deciding to go more after the "bleak future" feel from BLADE RUNNER. Borrowing quite a bit from BLADE RUNNER and THE TERMINATOR, the movie stars Greene (a muscle-bound carbon copy of Mel Gibson for all practical purposes) as a cyborg who gets in a whole lot of trouble and has to find a way to get his old personality back.

The action scenes are wonderfully lame and cheaply done, the cast was outrageously tiny (and packed full of no-names in pivotal roles, many of whom aren't even credited), and the special effects often cheap and uninteresting. Poor production design, poor costumes, bad writing, but the general silly but meaning-to-be-serious atmosphere work well. This is thanks in large part to Claudio Simonetti's wonderfully cheesy downbeat synth score which has a way of staying with you long after seeing the film.

The colorful supporting cast of veteran Italian performers also nearly made up for these flaws. The late Claudio Cassinelli is great in his final role as a crazed bounty hunter, as is George Eastman as a vengeful Mexican arm wrestler. Donald O'Brian is sadly wasted in a nothing role as a mad scientist. Strangely enough, recognizable veteran stuntman Sergio Testori gets an unusually large part as John Saxon's top henchman (and even gets a couple lines in as well). Saxon is underused until the last act where he gets to run around with a laser gun bigger than he is!

Unfortunately large chunks of this film are rather dull and uneventful, and sure takes its time to get going. The last 20 minutes or so are pretty fast paced and feature some cool and out-of-place Sergio Stivalleti gore FX. A likable enough cheapo Italian cheapo action adventure, just very disappointing if you consider Martino's other work. Stay tuned for the ending freeze-frame and quote, which are thoroughly amusing.

Developed by an evil organisation, cyborg Paco Queruak (Daniel Greene) is sent to assassinate a political activist but resists his programming at the last moment. On the run from both the FBI and those who created him, Paco finds employment with Linda (Janet Agren), the beautiful owner of a remote roadside bar and motel. His solitude is short-lived, however, when he comes to blows with local arm-wrestler Raul Morales (George Eastman) who isn't best pleased about Linda's handsome new lodger and who will do whatever it takes to be rid of him.

Unlikely to appeal to most casual movie viewers, Hands of Steel should prove to be of most interest to those with a particular fondness for cheap European sci-fi/action nonsense from the 80s, featuring as it does many a familiar name from the genre. In addition to exploitation legend Eastman (Anthropophagus) and Fulci star Agren (City of the Living Dead), Hands of Steel's cast includes Euro-cinema regulars Claudio Cassinelli (who sadly died during production), Donald O'Brien and John Saxon, all of whom have starred in more than their fair share of Italian schlock.

Seasoned writer/director Sergio Martino approach lacks finesse and style but is still reasonably fun, the cheap and cheerful nonsense on offer including a perilous drive through an acid rain storm, a hilarious arm-wrestling bout involving rattlesnakes, an unforgettable smack-down against a female cyborg wearing a nappy and a plastic skirt, a ridiculous action packed finalé in which Paco is hunted by John Saxon armed with a massive laser cannon, and a mind-numbingly dumb 'surprise' ending. Also adding to the fun: a reasonable rip off of the self-surgery scene from The Terminator by Italian FX man Sergio Stivaletti and a nifty synth score from Claudio Simonetti (of Goblin fame).

I actually saw this movie many years ago. I was a kid when I saw it. The thing is, the movie never left my memory. Unlike so many other low budget action flicks, this one still has a spot in my memory. That is why it is great. I remember the awesome stereotype bounty hunter character (long white hair, long white beard, black leather trenchcoat, sawed off shotgun), I remember the arm wrestling match where the loser gets his wrist pinned in a shackle to be bitten by a poisonous snake, and how the cyborg beat the former champ (who had much bigger arms, by the way), but then saved him from his own snake, I remember the acid rain scene where the cyborg must quickly drive through the acid rain road section, and how you see the hood of the car start to dissolve, and more. For some reason, this movie just was pretty good. It is very low budget looking, but don't let the looks fool you. I have been wanting to see this again for a long time now but I haven't been able to find it anymore. Well, if you find it, consider yourself lucky and watch it. I don't remember much more about it, so, that's all, folks.

This is typically low-grade, silly sci-fi fare with unconvincing special effects and a particularly wooden lead (Daniel Greene). The supporting cast features three Euro-Cult regulars: John Saxon, George Eastman and Claudio Cassinelli (whose last film this turned out to be as, unfortunately, he was killed in a helicopter crash during shooting...but, at least, he manages to preserve his dignity!).

With a script in which a female scientist is hilariously named Dr. Peckinpah, the would-be dystopian elements of the plot (amusingly, the old popular leader is both blind and wheelchair-bound and his fate is even neglected by the film's end!) are jettisoned early on in favor of mostly tepid action sequences (including several irrelevant arm-wrestling bouts and bar-room brawls, a duel of cyborgs in which Greene fights a big blonde bimbo draped in a plastic bag[!] and an interminable climax capped by chief villain Saxon handling a huge laser gun!).

Furthermore, the film's attempts to humanize the cyborg lead (anticipating, amazingly enough, ROBOCOP [1987]!) are pretty dire...but, at least, it's slightly better than Martino's own 2019: AFTER THE FALL OF NEW YORK (1983) - in which, similar to this, the desert location-shooting provided a cheap way of enhancing the film's production values!

The year 1997 : the guardian of the future is much more than a human being... There an evil international industrialist , the arrogant Francis Turner (John Saxon) is determined to terminate the interference of a world-leading ecological scientist (Franco Fantasia) , so he assigns the ace hit killer-cyborg Paco Queruak (Daniel Greene) to murder him . However, things go wrong . As Paco is 30% human, 70% robot, 100% lethal , but then the human side takes over and he refuses to execute his mission. Paco flees to Arizona where he has to take on his opponents ; and ultimately choose between his humanity and robotic natures .

Thrilling , stirring and exciting Cyborg movie with unstopped action , snappy pace , top-rate fights , shootouts , fierce combats and breathtakingly spectacular scenes . It contains traditional and abundant FX perfectly adapted to the noisy action , adding appropriate make-up by specialist Sergio Stivaletti . Vendetta dal futuro (1986) is derivative and rip-offs other American film as Terminator and Over The Top , these were Sergio Martino's influences for the film. Expert filmmaker Sergio Martino relates the uneven , but attractive story at a quick pace by staging compellingly some rousing set pieces , showing breathtaking Arizona desert locations , and he maintains intrigue and surprises throughout, resulting in a dynamic and twisted final . There's a charming cast of familiar Italian B-pic veterans and packing a good support that helps a lot : as a passable acting by the beefy American Daniel Greene as the resourceful cyborg who has been programmed to eliminate the leader of an ecological faction that stands in the way of the dystopian country in which the story is set. Along with the tall George Eastman or Luigi Montefiori in smoothly nasty form excels as an obnoxious wrestling trucker , the lovely Janet Agren as likable motel owner Linda, Donald O'Brien has a swift bit as bitter crippled scientist and unfortunately co-star Claudio Cassinelli died in a helicopter crash on July 12, 1985, during shooting in Arizona .

It displays colorful and adequate cinematography by the good professional cameraman Giancarlo Ferrando , shot on location in Arcosanti , Navajo Generating Station, Page, Lake Powell, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona, The Domes, Casa Grande,Arizona, USA and studios from Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy . Moving and moody score by Claudio Simonetti in his habitual funky style, including ordinary leit motif , composed by means of synthesizer . The motion picture was professionally directed by Sergio Martino who delivers the goods with skillness and aplomb enough . Competently directed by the prolific filmmaker Sergio Martino who usually uses pseudonym as Martin Dolman . Talented and versatile writer/director Sergio Martino has made a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as horror , Giallo , comedy , Western , and science fiction in a career that spans over 40 years . He was especially expert on Western as proved in ¨Mannaja¨ and this ¨Arizona returns¨ , Giallo such as ¨The case of scorpion's tail ¨ , ¨Torso¨ ,¨the scorpion with two tails¨ , ¨The strange vice of Mrs Ward¨ , Cannibal movies such as "Mountain of the Cannibal God", Italian crime thrillers as "Violent Professionals" and ¨Sci-Fi as ¨Destroyer¨ , "2019: After the Fall of New York" . Rating: 6/10 , acceptable and passable , this is a great Sci-Fi Ravioli in which the camera stalks in adequate style throughout a story with decent visual skills . This is a bewildering story , enjoyable as well as violent , and it will appeal to Italian hardcore fans . A hugely amusing flick.

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.

You could say this is a rip-off of The Terminator, Over the Top and Universal Soldier, but it predates two of them...

Paco Queruak (Daniel Greene) was trained, programmed and fitted with the tools to assassinate Arthur Mosely (Franco Fantasia) a scientist, reverend and politician who can save all mankind from a respiratory terminal disease that is wiping out the city. Queruak's last minute decision to pull his blow after punching Mosely in the heart saves the old man's life, or maybe it was because Queruak actually punched him in the penis and not the heart. Either way the cyborg assassin is now on the run from the authorities and the agency who created him. Finding refuge in an isolated bar he meets his love interest Linda (Janet Agren), but now he must also contend with the local arm-wrestling truckers. Will Paco use his robotic skeleton to defeat all comers or will he chop logs and arm wrestle?

Apart from some dodgy plot holes, the lab of Prof. Olster (Donald O'Brien) made from some exploding tubes and people randomly sprinting for no reason, this is actually quite an entertaining film. The atmosphere is quality in this movie, a dark dystopian city vibe, followed by a roughneck truck stop, both settings fit the film perfectly. The music is excellent, the acting is hit or miss, with some classic B-movie stars like John Saxon as Francis Turner and George Eastman as Raul Morales. The dialogue is kept to a minimum which works well and adds to the atmosphere. The story is simple and works, ending is a bit bizarre. If you like cheesy B-Movies or want to watch the alternative adventure of a T800 then give this a watch. I want to see more Daniel Greene.

Cheesemelt to watch out for: this film has quite a lot of the cheese. The death punch is definitely worthy. Prof. Olster's hospital scene when he is describing what happened to him, trust me it doesn't sound sexual at all.

Paco is an assassin cyborg, who after a failed assassination escapes and starts to regain his humanity in the tender, loving care of motel keeper Linda. All this happens while the bad guys try to find their broken toy in order to get rid of the evidence before the FBI gets on their track.

If anything is evident from Hands of Steel, it's the evident lack of budget. It's one of those cheap 80's movies, that are filled with clunky special effects, odd music and strange plot pieces which in the case of this movie revolve around arm wrestling.

Hands of Steel is what it is: a cheap, clichéd sci-fi yarn with moments of unintentional hilarity from severally overacted scenes of oozing testosterone and badassery.

Surprisingly enough the movie is not totally unwatchable. It has some nice scenes in it and the camp value is high, but it does require a certain state of mind.

Not only is this Italian flick a ripoff of THE TERMINATOR, but it predated the arm wrestling cinema classic OVER THE TOP. In an undisclosed future, cyborg Paco (David Steele) is sent to assassinate a blind environmentalist (whose slogan is "You have no future!"). But he doesn't finish the job when a bit of his human heart takes over. Paco heads to the Nevada desert to hide out and, while at a cheapo motel, becomes the region's champion arm wrestler. Because we all know arm wrestling is the sport of the future. I laughed out loud when they showed their wall of arm wrestling champs that included wrestlers Bruno Sammartino, Hillbilly Jim, Magnum TA and Dory Funk, Jr. Lead Greene looked so familiar but I couldn't place him. Checking here at the IMDb, he played the Dad in KINGPIN and the meathead in ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK. So there is life after Sergio Martino movies. Janet Agren, John Saxon, George Eastman and Donald O'Brien show up for support and are all fine. Sadly, I also read here that Italian character actor Claudio Cassinelli, who plays Saxon's hired hit-man, was killed in a helicopter crash while filming that. I guess that is why Saxon's men off him quickly at the end and you just see him lying face down. That is really too bad.

(1986) Hands Of Steel/ Vendetta dal futuro DUBBED SCIENCE-FICTION ACTION DRAMA

Obviously inspired by "The Terminator" made in 1984, and the "Mad Max" movies because of the apocalyptic environment. Dubbed into English from it's original language, which is according to imdb.com, the movie was supposed to be in Italian. Co- written and directed by Sergio Martino, with Paco Queruak (Daniel Greene) programmed as a cyborg to execute an important person, who stands up for the average people. Paco manages only to injure him, and while escaping from the police/ FBI started to inhabit some of his own human traits. Corrupt senator, Francis Turner (John Saxon) sends whatever he can have Paco destroyed, since Paco can link Turner to the attempted murder. And while people are trying to find him, Paco seeks refuge on a deserted café joint, bonding with the owner, Linda(Janet Agren), consisting of arm wrestling competitions. Amazingly, this movie was made one year before the original "Robocop" movie in 1987, and may have also encouraged writer and director James Cameron to turn the 'Terminator' played by Arnold Swartzenegger into a good guy in "Terminator 2: Judgement Day", but the whole experience is so cheesy and sometimes silly.

Martino's cyborg movie is definitely one of the better exploitation flicks of it's kind. Daniel Greene makes a good beefcake hero roaming the well-photographed wasteland wasting the sleazy corporate villains. The dire dialog and rather slow pacing tend to work with this Italian B-movie shlocker rather well.

Look, it's not high art, it's a silly B movie about a cyborg punching the bad guys. The effects are pretty bad, the acting is worse, and the so-called future is pretty much just the 80's with a couple of shiny tubes sticking out of things. But it has a goofy charm and any time a dude tears another dude's heart out with his bare hands you've got a good time. And don't forget John Saxon!

'Hands of Steel' AKA 'Atomic Cyborg' (1986) This is a horrible film - not good at all. What kills me is John Saxon is in it - and I like him. He shouldn't be in a film like this but he is. Really the movie is just "ok" - barely watchable but it's better than other things I've seen on TV most of the time.

A cyborg named Paco Queruak is assigned to kill a scientist that holds the fate of mankind in his hands... he fails, hides in a diner where he meets a woman who falls in love with him. Together they must defeat the other cyborgs that are after them and find the scientist to save mankind.

I got this one in a 50-pack horror films. This does not belong in a horror pack... maybe in a pack of action or sci-fi films.

2/10

A film that's been on my post-apocalyptic film list for a while but just handed had a chance to get to it until now. This is a really poor man's Terminator rip-off except not all that entertaining like the most interesting Jean Claude Van Damm film Cyborg. This is a bare bones, made on a low budget film that's rarely if ever actually looks post-apocalyptic and has mediocre acting that drags the film down. I really wasn't expecting much from the film and if you're watching this film, you shouldn't either. This is a film definitely for fans of this sub-genre and those curious about the films of the '80s when a lot of these films were produced.

This is an endless Terminator type movie with a cyborg hero who just keeps on going. Like many of his AI ilk, he seems to have a heart and can love. Sixty percent of the movie is one chase after another with a plethora of weapons and explosions. There is an interesting subplot as he defeats all the local arm wrestlers, getting on the bad side of the local hero. He strikes up a romance with a young lady who runs a bar/motel and he looks after her. Unfortunately, he's so darned indestructible that the fight scenes and the arm wrestling are pointless. If he had wanted to, he could have covered his tracks and protected everyone by just killing a few of them off. After all, that's what they wanted to do to him. It's fun at times in a macho way, but like those Charles Bronson "Death Wish" sequels, it dies of excess and credibility. It portends to be much more than it is.

Oh, man. If you haven't seen HANDS OF STEEL, you are doing yourself a great disservice. This movie is amazing. You'll laugh. You'll scratch your head in confusion. You'll laugh some more. It's a science fiction/action film from director Sergio Martino, released in 1986. I'm assuming it was straight-to-video but I would totally pay to watch it on a big screen with an audience. This movie starts off nuts and only gets crazier from there. Our hero in this near future is Paco Queruak (Daniel Greene), a cybernetic assassin with a heart of gold. We meet him at the start of the film as he's about to complete an assignment; he's been ordered to murder an old, blind politician/environmentalist. Paco appears to complete his mission and goes on the run. Why go rogue? Because he had a change of heart and left the old man alive, and now Paco is the target of both the authorities and the organization who hired him. He leaves town, braving the acid rain (because it's the future and the environment, while appearing absolutely normal at a glance, has fallen on hard times) to hide out in the Arizona desert. He finds shelter with innkeeper Linda (Janet Agren) at her little highway outpost, a quiet place with the exception of the constant prostitute traffic and nightly truck driver arm-wrestling competitions. Paco seems hopeful to start a new, nonviolent life in the desert, but if the organization he betrayed doesn't get to him his new arm-wrestling nemesis Raul Morales (George Eastman) will.

HANDS OF STEEL has everything you could want: cyborgs, future stuff, strippers, violence, unintentional comedy, and loads of arm wrestling. Still not convinced you need to watch it? How about this: at one point, Paco karate chops the head off a snake. If you're not the least bit curious yet, you've got less humanity than Paco's forearms. Paco Queruak is an unsung hero of the action-packed '80s. HANDS OF STEEL is a faded jewel buried beneath a decade of low-budget genre films just waiting to be discovered. What are Paco's intentions? Who is this mysterious (and obviously well-funded) organization behind his enhancements and what did they have against the old, blind environmentalist? Why does Raul insist on tormenting a man who has proved he could twist him into a man-pretzel without breaking a sweat? Does anyone else think that one guy chasing Paco throughout the movie with the sunglasses looked like the butler from "The Nanny" with a beard? To the point of distraction? Prepare for none of these questions to be answered. They keep the premise simple. Paco was supposed to kill a man. He didn't. He's gone off the grid and the organization needs to kill him before the government gets ahold of him and realizes they've created a cybernetic assassin. Then Linda enters the picture and shows Paco friendship or love or something and gives him a reason to fight. Also arm wrestling. This movie has an obsession with arm wrestling.

You see, Linda's inn has competitions between the local truck drivers every night where they compete for who has the strongest forearms. The reigning champion is a beast named Anatolo Blanco but that doesn't stop Raul from running his mouth because he's second-best. He's loud, obnoxious, and a little too handsy with Linda for Paco's tastes. So there's some animosity between the two men right away and Raul, lacking the sense of self-preservation shared by everyone else in the bar, makes it his life mission to harass Paco. There is a fantastic sequence in the second half of the film where Raul organizes a trap that involves a bunch of locals, a car, a tape recorder, and feigned child endangerment to lure Paco out into the open. Dude, Raul is a drunken halfwit. Where did he find the competence to put this scheme together? Neither HANDS OF STEEL nor I know or care. You question every miraculous judgment call that leads to plot advancement and you'll miss out on all the fun. And a lot of the fun is in the details. I love how this movie is set in a near distant future where it's advanced nature manifests as a (single) futuristic car, a laser cannon, and a pair of cyborgs while literally everything else is so very '80s. I love how the baddies have shotguns that double as rocket launchers; seriously, you just shove the mini- rocket into the end of the barrel and pull the trigger (future magic!). I loved the fight between Paco and Suzie, the even cooler cyborg assassin disguised as a prostitute. I love Daniel Greene's wooden performance as Paco set against George Eastman's manic Raul.

But what I love most of all is that HANDS OF STEEL, like many Z-grade action films I've watched, set itself up for a sequel. At the very end right before the end credits roll, we get a final title card that warns us the movie served as the start of the cyborg era. That's right, Paco was only the first. And we'll never know how it went down from there. But at least we have HANDS OF STEEL, the tale of Paco Queruak and his battle against that jerk at the truck stop in which he karate chops the head off a snake.

Explicitly Hands of Steel takes a ride on the successful "The Terminator", what was to be a plain of low standard carbon copy became in a few time into a cult status through the time, this Italian Sci-fiction has many mighty elements that lifts the movie in another threshold, the start-up lay down in a well drawn up screenplay, fulfilled of action on the poisoned Earth in a near dark future, the leading role by the Bully Boy Daniel Greene is native American as the Cyborg Paco Keruak was another key factor to acceptability of the movie as a whole, a dozen interesting character who carry out with suitable form, also tot up Linda (Janet Agren) as romantic couple in the aim to catch the audience overall, as the villains they bring George Eastman as Mexican troublemaker Raul Morales and the Boss Francis Turner (John Saxon), all special effects are plenty average for a low budge, all weak points were quickly overcame by priceless sequences on a mandatory stop the roadside restaurant-motel, colorful characters were utmost concernment to fill out the feasible gaps that supposedly could appear, strangely underrated and stigmatized by IMDB's users!! Resume:

First watch: 2013 / How many: 2 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7