Vendetta dal futuro (1986)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Sergio Martino

Writers:

Elisa Briganti (screenplay)
Lewis E. Ciannelli (additional dialogue)

Release Date:

August 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A story about a cyborg who is programmed to kill a scientist who holds the fate of mankind in his hands. |

Plot Keywords:

Cyborg | Future | Police Officer | Assassination | Violence

Cast

Daniel Greene	...	Paco Queruak
Janet Agren	...	Linda
Claudio Cassinelli	...	Peter Hallo
George Eastman	...	Raoul Morales
Robert Ben
Pat Monti
Andrea Coppola	...	Hitman (as Andrew Louis Coppola)
Donald O'Brien	...	Professor Olster
Darwyn Swalve	...	Anatola Blanco
Amy Werba	...	Dr. Peckinpah
John Saxon	...	Francis Turner

Also Known As:

Fists of Steel (UK) (video title)
Hands of Steel
Mani di pietra (Italy) (alternative title)
Return of the Terminator (Malaysia: English title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:VM14 | Norway:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | UK:18 (cut)

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

Dania Film

Trivia:

Co-star Claudio Cassinelli died in a helicopter crash during filming in Arizona.

Movie Connections:

References The Terminator (1984)

HANDS OF STEEL (Sergio Martino, 1986) **

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!