''Vendetta dal futuro'' (, also known as ''Hands of Steel'') is an Italian science fiction film directed by
Sergio Martino
Sergio Martino (born 19 July 1938) is an Italian film director and producer, notable for his contributions to the giallo genre.
Martino is the brother of the late producer Luciano Martino (who died in 2013). They collaborated frequently in their ...
George Eastman
George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. He was a major philanthropist, establishing the Eastman ...
and
John Saxon
John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico; August 5, 1936 – July 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked on more than 200 film and television projects during a span of 60 years. He was known for his work in Westerns and horror films, often playing ...
.
Plot
An evil industrialist (John Saxon) has created a cyborg (Daniel Greene) who is 70% robot and 30% human. When the cyborg rebels, he ends up working at a bar frequented by arm wrestling enthusiasts. The cyborg just wants to be left alone but he is hounded by Saxon's men, the government, and the arm wrestlers.
Claudio Cassinelli
Claudio Cassinelli (13 September 1938 – 13 July 1985) was an Italian film, stage and television actor.
Life and career
Born in Bologna to Giuseppina Tafani and Antonio Cassinelli, a well known opera singer, he had two sisters, Paola Cr ...
as Peter Howell
*
John Saxon
John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico; August 5, 1936 – July 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked on more than 200 film and television projects during a span of 60 years. He was known for his work in Westerns and horror films, often playing ...
as Francis Turner
*
George Eastman
George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. He was a major philanthropist, establishing the Eastman ...
Andrea Coppola
Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew.
Origin of the name
The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...
as Eddie
Production
''Hands of Steel'' was filmed in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
with some scenes shot at the Grand Canyon and the town of
Arcosanti
Arcosanti is a projected experimental town with a bronze bell casting business in Yavapai County, central Arizona, United States, north of Phoenix, at an elevation of . Its arcology concept was proposed by Italian-American architect Paolo S ...
. Actor
Claudio Cassinelli
Claudio Cassinelli (13 September 1938 – 13 July 1985) was an Italian film, stage and television actor.
Life and career
Born in Bologna to Giuseppina Tafani and Antonio Cassinelli, a well known opera singer, he had two sisters, Paola Cr ...
Howard Hughes noted that the film belongs to a group of Italian film productions that borrowed elements from the film '' The Terminator'', including Bruno Mattei's ''
Shocking Dark
''Shocking Dark'' (also known as ''Terminator II'', ''Terminator 2'', ''Aliens 2'', ''Aliennators'', and ''Contaminator'') is an Italian science-fiction film written by Claudio Fragasso, produced by Franco Gaudenzi and directed by Bruno Mattei.
...
'' and
Nello Rossati
Nello Rossati (15 June 1942 – 16 October 2009) was an Italian director and screenwriter.
Life and career
Born in Adria, Rossati studied at the Accademia d'Arte Drammatica in Rome, and started his career on stage, as assistant director and o ...
's '' Alien Terminator''. In his overview of 1980s action films, Daniel R. Budnik described the film as "the hybrid movie to end all hybrid movies", noting ''The Terminator'' and ''Blade Runner'' as influences, as well as the plot later being borrowed for ''
Over the Top
Over the top may refer to:
Music
* "Over the Top", a 2017 song by Hey! Say! JUMP
* ''Over the Top'' (Cozy Powell album), 1979 album by British drummer Cozy Powell
* ''Over the Top'' (Infinite album), 2011 album by South Korean band Infinite
* ...
''.
Release
''Vendetta dal futuro'' passed Italian censors in 1986. The film has been released with the English titles of ''Atomic Cyborg'' and ''Hands of Steel''.
Reception
From retrospective reviews, Hughes described ''Vendetta dal futuro'' as "the best example" of a film in debt to ''The Terminator'', noting its other influences of ''
Blade Runner
''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...
'' with a karate-fighting android and praising an action sequence featuring lorries, cars and helicopters as well as the score. Budnik found that the film's beginning was boring with its more political elements, but improved after these scenes and that it was "fine, furious desert action with arm wrestling, and some sort of strange cyborg woman thrown in to confuse things." Donald Guarisco of AllMovie described the film as a "decent time-killer for b-movie fans" noting that its "southwestern setting gives it a unique flavor and Sergio Martino (using the pseudonym of "Martin Dolman") does a decent job of delivering plentiful action on a shoestring budget: his best moment might be a scene where the hero has to fend off gun-toting assassins while also fighting a pair of disguised cyborgs in close quarters." Guarisco concluded that "The end results are frequently silly (it takes the police a really long time to figure out they're hunting a cyborg) but never dull" and declared the film to be "strictly for the b-movie audience but they're likely to enjoy its low-budget fun."