Hands of Steel (1986) User Reviews (52)

Goofy and low-budget, but likable (in a poverty row kind of way anyway)

[Aylmer · 6/10 · 20 December 1998]

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.

I'm crushing your head.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 26 May 2013]

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).

HANDS OF STEEL (Sergio Martino, 1986) **

[Bunuel1976 · 4/10 · 28 April 2006]

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!

low budget but great...

[Solrac-3 · 23 April 1999]

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.

Script of Kleenex, plot of sewage.

[mark.waltz · 2/10 · 16 October 2016]

Daniel Greene, the "actor" from the Chuck Norris school of acting, takes on the biggest acting challenge since Schwartznegger in "Conan the Barbarian". He is a "cyborg" (part man/part robot) involved in the plot of assassinating a scientist who ends up in hiding. One of the more entertaining segments has Greene taking on an arm wrestling champion and being told that after he's done, he'll need to "wipe himself" with his nose. That poetic line is one of the more clever lines among the script's absurdities, and the plot goes into so many ridiculous directions that it's tempting to pull out a compass to see where you are. Then, it stops altogether, becoming crass and violent with no purpose. Greene seems to be giving a deliberately wooden performance, showing no depth and passion, a far cry from his likable heroic roles on "Falcon Crest" and opposite Elvira in "Mistress of the Dark". John Saxon adds some class, but the other actors just come off instantly forgettable. This ain't no " Terminator" or even a "Robo Cop", an obvious rip-off of science fiction TV shows and movies without really much thought put into it.

Hands of Steel

[Scarecrow-88 · 6/10 · 7 June 2009]

A ruthless businessman, Francis Turner(John Saxon) attempts to assassinate a political revolutionary using a human cybernetic killing machine but doesn't expect that his creation would recall his humanity, softening the blows of his hands of steel leaving the target alive. On the lam, Paco Queruak(Daniel Greene) will find a temporary home working for a lonely female bar owner, Linda(Janet Agren) in the Arizona desert as Turner's agents and the FBI search for his whereabouts. Paco also finds an adversary in truck driver Raoul Morales(George Eastman as yet another memorable heavy, this time a sweaty, hostile, conniving aggressor who doesn't appreciate defeat, especially in an arm wrestling match, and often attempts to harm his foe in underhanded attacks)who eventually assists Peter Hallo(Claudio Cassinelli), Hunter's hired assassin, in trying to upend Paco so that he wouldn't leave a trace to his creator's organization.

Sergio Martino's Italian imitation of James Cameron's The Terminator lays the melodrama on a bit thick, but Hands of Steel benefits from some exciting action sequences where herculean Greene's Paco crushes skulls and snaps heads of those that threaten him. Saxon's Hunter is as cruel and vicious as they come, having those under his command eliminated if they fail to carry out his orders in either killing or retrieving his creation..Saxon is relegated to a glorified supporting role, mostly ordering his men from a safe distance in his office, only at the end hitching a ride in a helicopter to personally survey the situation from the sky, although he does eventually comes face to face with Paco, as you'd expect.

Being a fan of "human cyborg" movies, Hands of Steel was entertaining if cheap(..the attempts to make the weapons futuristic fail, such as a giant laser and a missile launcher) with attempts at building the central relationship, a blossoming love affair between Paco and Linda, a man made mostly of metal and the woman that helps him communicate with that human side that remains, is really cornball. The arm wrestling matches(..perhaps influenced by Stallone's Over the Top)are a bit of fun filler with Paco's battle with portly baldy Anatola Blanco a particular highlight..the loser would set off a trap releasing a rattlesnake! I thought the use of Arizona in this film was rather effective(..I'm quite fond of films in godforsaken destitute sun-drenched settings where most folks avoid due to the miserable climate)and Linda's remote bar, a place parked in the middle of nowhere, exactly the ideal location for someone on the run from the authorities and assassins, works as an isolated hellhole only bar scum would inhabit. Hands of Steel is a far cry from Martino's stylish giallo thrillers in terms of quality, but the film might be appreciated by aficionados who love B-movie low budget action junk. Terrific electronic score from Claudio Simoneti and a cool special fx sequence where Paco is repairing mechanical problems with his arm.

Delightfully crappy!

[ONenslo · 5/10 · 19 December 2006]

I got a real kick out of how cheap and crummy this was. The addition of flexible ductwork and/or John Saxon seems to make any movie automatically futuristic. When Saxon is both the most famous and least horrible actor in the movie you have really got something there. I have to give him credit - he always does his best, Just being a workmanlike performer as he is, in comparison with the poor acting of every single other person in the film, makes him look like Sir Laurence Olivier or Richard Burton. The creaky archaic computer graphics, and the odd clunking noise each letter made as it appeared on screen, the Competitive Armwrestling sub-plot, the grand finale shot at Arcosanti (Paolo Soleri's abortive utopia which even twenty years ago looked like a futuristic ruin) all combine into a weird stew of goodbadness. It isn't often that a movie reaches a real crescendo in its final moment, but this film's "how the hell do we end this?" finale is a real masterpiece of inadvertency. Strangely, I was never bored for a moment as every scene was at least as screwed up as the next. I have rarely witnessed a scene more affecting than the torn-off head of the female cyborg grating out "THEY WILL DEE STROY YEW" in her atrocious accent, an even worse accent than that of Paco's nemesis Raoul. I don't believe I will ever watch this again, nor could I recommend it except as punishment, but it was quite a thing to see once.

Exhilarating and nail-biting B-Italian Sci-Fi with acceptable special effects and action enough

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 15 December 2021]

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.

"I guess you're wondering if I'm a man."

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 26 March 2020]

This starts out reasonably well, but when the bionic bikers arrive to take out cyborg Paco Queruak (Daniel Greene) it descends into silliness. From there, it's bring on the bazookas and laser weapons to turn this thing into an extravaganza of weapon fire and explosions. It wouldn't have been so bad if the screen writers explained how Paco's circuitry couldn't possibly have been damaged by taking direct machine gun fire to the chest, or survive getting waterlogged while completely submerged. Well, I guess you're not supposed to think about stuff like that, which inadvertently winds up making me think about stuff like that. As an old time pro wrestling fan, I got a kick out of those photos on the wall of Linda's (Janet Agren) establishment; you had to be quick though, to pick out Bruno Sammartino and Terry Funk, most likely matinee idols for the likes of Raul Morales (George Eastman) and his arm wrestling buddy Anatoly Blanco (Darwyn Swalve). That rattlesnake gimmick was pretty interesting but didn't get very far. As the viewer, one might have been forewarned about getting too involved with this flick, because right there at the very beginning you had this poster of a man pointing with the words 'You Have No Future'. It turned out to be a pretty accurate description of the story.

The T800 meets Lincoln Hawk meets Luc Deveraux

[clauzy82 · 7/10 · 8 July 2022]

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.

There's nothing new about Hands of Steel

[jordondave-28085 · 4/10 · 29 April 2023]

(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.

Best cyborg-on-the-run-who-arm-wrestles-for-fun movie ever!

[udar55 · 8/10 · 15 October 2006]

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.

Silly B movie

[jellopuke · 7/10 · 11 December 2017]

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!

Bad Film - Not Good

[Rainey-Dawn · 2/10 · 13 January 2016]

'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

Low-budget, futuro Eurotrash of the best kind.

[TheVid · 14 April 2003]

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.

cheap 80's sci-fi

[tomimt · 5/10 · 4 March 2012]

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.

"Linda, I need to show you something. Don't be afraid."

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 12 May 2022]

A cyborg assassin goes rogue and ends up in a remote hotel in Arizona indulging in arm wrestling and looking moody, attracting the beautiful lady who runs the hotel. On his trail are his former employers and the F. B. I. It's not a great movie but I watched it all the way through mainly due to Janet Agren, Claudio Cassinelli, John Saxon and a wonderfully sleazy performance from George Eastman. There are some enjoyable scenes like the arm wrestling, the fight with the interestingly attired female cyborg and plenty of shootouts and the locations are quite attractive. The music score by Claudio Simonetti is lively enough to suit the ructions going on.

The ending is rather a non sequitur. Two characters just stand there and an unexplained sentence is superimposed on the screen. What?

Good cyborg. Good girl. A whole lot of bad guys. One BAD movie.

[Vomitron_G · 4/10 · 11 December 2007]

ATOMIC CYBORG aka FISTS OF STEEL aka VENDETTA DAL FUTURO aka AND GOD KNOWS WHAT ELSE THIS MOVIE IS CALLED. When you pop in a movie of which, during the opening credits, the original blue-glowing title of it is blocked by a cheap black strip containing white letters showing us an alternative, even more idiotic title... then you usually have a pretty good idea of what you're in for. And what we have here, is the kind of movie that can be liked by only two groups of people: Very dumb macho-males and... people who can occasionally enjoy a good bad movie. And VENDETTA DAL FUTURO is macho cyborg action cheese in its purest form. And above all... it's of the Italian kind AND... it even manages to rip-off both THE TERMINATOR and BLADE RUNNER at the same time. VENDETTA DAL FUTURO contains that one scene from THE TERMINATOR where Arnold Schwarzenegger opens up his lower arm, revealing metal and hydraulics. Just replace Arnie with Daniel Greene, and voilà, one of the highlights in the rich history of Italian Rip-Off Scenes. Another big scene contains a female cyborg that fights like Pris (Daryl Hannah) and dresses like Zhora (Joanna Cassidy) in BLADE RUNNER. Enough said, I believe.

Directed by Sergio Martino, he once again tries his very best to earn that precious title 'King of Italian Rip-Offs'. Besides that, the film is just stuffed with hilarious aspects and scenes that will have you shake your head and sigh (or grin, depending on the mood you're in). A few random things, perhaps. The plot: A cyborg develops a conscience and gets chased by the company that created him, the FBI and a bunch of low-life macho-truckers. His creators are bad guys in suits with guns, helmed by a villainous John Saxon (always nice to see the man earn a pay-check even though he clearly, once again, doesn't seem to have a clue what he's doing in this film). The FBI apparently consists out of only one detective duo (a black guy and a white woman) which spends most of their time sitting in their office, trying to figure out who or what it is they're after. The macho-truckers are arm-wrestling morons, spear-headed by the inimitable George"The Ruler Of The Wastelands"Eastman. This man (as an actor) simply looks like a loose cannon in every single movie I've seen him in. For this one, they even dubbed his voice by giving him a ludicrous Latino accent. And he sure was pulling some uncontrollable evil faces during those arm-wrestling scenes.

During all this hilarious, mayhemic, predictable nonsense, Cyborg Man even manages to fall in love (!) with good girl Janet Agren. And the feelings were even mutual (ooh, my poor toes curled up so bad that I'm still having cramps). Also, keep an eye out for those numerous ridiculous gadgets in this movie: The Electronic Weapon Identifier of the FBI, which looks more out-dated than a Commodore 64 computer and doesn't come up with answers but lets YOU guess what the murder weapon could be. The Point-And-Locate device of the bad guys, which through ultra-sensitive infra-red technology will display state-of-the-art graphics of the detected body-heat of people inside a building. And I don't know what was funnier: That cheesy and plastic-looking mega-laser-blaster-gun at the end or the silly faces that John Saxon was pulling while trying to handle it.

Anyway, every self-respecting low-budget action movie from the 80's must have a chase-scene with a helicopter and a car and lots of shooting, right? So does VENDETTA DAL FUTURO, of course. Only, instead of carefully planning that sequence to make it look good and suspenseful, Sergio Martino just points his camera at the vehicles and let them drive and fly. Insert a few close-ups of the actors shooting out their windows, and hoop-la-la, we have a chase scene. What else can we do after that helicopter-chase? Well, let's bring in a big truck, have it crash the hero's car and then bring in another truck and blow that one up. Only, don't show it getting blown up. Too expensive. Just insert some shots of an explosion and a one-second-shot of something that looks like a burning driver's boot of a truck, and viewers won't notice the difference.

VENDETTA DAL FUTURO doesn't really have an ending, but the way it ends is also grin-inducing: The last shot freezes on Daniel Greene's face, displaying an intense and extremely intelligent look in his eyes, and then the following profound text appears "IT WAS A DAY IN OUR NEAR FUTURE THE ERA OF THE CYBORG HAD BEGUN". Very nice.

I almost forgot to mention Claudio Simonetti's rather embarrassing musical score. For once, the man really failed to deliver. His score was very Paul Hardcastle, Jan Hammer and Sandra (anyone remember "Maria Magdalena"? Hèhèhè...) and all, but also very third-rate, unimaginative and uninspired. Oh well, every master is granted a few misfires I guess.

On a final note, I have this feeling that people like to throw around the term 'exploitation movie' a little too loosely. I can hardly call VENDETTA DAL FUTURO an Italian exploitation effort. 'Exploitation' is a genre on its own. And so are 'Italian Rip-Offs', in my humble opinion. And that's what I consider VENDETTA DAL FUTURO to be. And a deliciously bad cheesy B-action flick while at it. I had fun with it, hence my very generous rating. And as far as Sergio Martino goes, if you only see one of his many infamous Rip-Off Movies in your whole life (and I'm not talking about his Giallo efforts), make sure it's 2019: AFTER THE FALL OF NEW YORK. That one is just too good to be true.

Woah boy...

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 24 June 2018]

Francis Turner (John Saxon, who I will opine is my favorite American actor in a foreign genre film ever) has created a cyborg who is 70% robot and 30% human, Paco Queruak. He programs him to kill a scientist with plans to cure acid rain (that was a big problem back in the 80's that, much like killer bees, has just gone away). However, his solution runs afoul of the military/industrial complex that Turner works for. So he must die. And guess who programs him? Donald O'Brien, Doctor Butcher, M.D. himself!

However, Paco still has humanity inside and abandons his mission and sets out to discover more of his past in Arizona. There, he finds love with Linda (Janet Agren, City of the Living Dead, Eaten Alive!) in literally ten or twenty seconds of screen time. And he gets into a feud with Paul Morales (George Eastman!), a redneck trucker who don't take too kindly to strangers around these parts.

Paul is an arm wrestler, too. It's no coincidence that Hands of Steel was going to come out at the same time as Over the Top (which according to this article, was filming just 50 miles away).

Then it's back to the military/industrial complex, who sends a whole bunch of killers after our hero. There are bikers, mafia guys and even a ripoff of Pris from Blade Runner that Paco beats by ripping off her head. Then Paul comes back to try and kill Paco, but our hero literally crushes his head with his cyborg grip.

Paco takes down a helicopter and stops Saxon, who has a giant gun, before cops surround the building ala the Rambo: First Blood. Thinking Linda is dead, Paco has gone crazy, but she survives and is able to talk him into surrendering.

Directed by Sergio Martino (The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, All the Colors of the Dark, 2019: After the Fall of New York), this movie sadly shows little of the mastery of the form he showed in his giallo work.

Even worse, there's a tragedy that happened during the filming, as Claudio Cassinelli (Warriors of the Year 2072, Murder Rock) was killed when the helicopter he was in crashed. The rotor blades struck the underside of the bridge and broke off, sending the helicopter into a canyon, where Cassinelli and the pilot died. It wasn't Martino's fault, as the National Transportation Safety Board reported that there were prescription drugs in the pilot's hotel room that would have impaired his judgment. Because John Saxon was a stickler for Screen Actors Guild rules, he shot all of his scenes in Italy and refused to appear in any of the non-union American shot footage. He believes that the SAG saved his life, as otherwise, he would have been on that helicopter.

At least there's a score by Claudio Simonetti of Goblin to liven things up.

Hands of Stone is a kind of movie we don't get much of any longer - a movie that found life on the video shelves, a cyborg movie we could rent when Terminator was out of stock. If there's one compliment I can give this film, the art that sells it is awesome.

It Just Never Ends!

[Hitchcoc · 4/10 · 6 February 2007]

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.

Keruak's Hand of Steel is highly underrated by IMDB's users, don't be fooled by them !!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 31 October 2020]

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

'It wasn't especially large but is was hard, very hard...' Silly Italian sci-fi action.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 2 January 2012]

Hands of Steel is set in the near future where air pollution has become a major factor, hundreds of thousands of people are dying because of simply breathing in polluted air & powerful environmental activist Rev. Arthur Mosely (Franco Fantasia) is planning on doing something about it & exposing the organisations & people behind it. Powerful businessman Francis Turner (John Saxon) is worried by Mosely so he has devised a plan to send an almost indestructible cyborg named Paco Queruak (Daniel Greene) to assassinate him, Paco enters Mosely's room & is about to kill him when some vague memories when he was still a man enter his head & make him abandon his mission. Escaping into the desert Paco makes his way to Arizona where he meets Linda (Janet Agren) & becomes involved in arm wrestling before Turner & his other hired assassins track him down with order's to kill him no matter what...

This Italian production was co-written & directed by Sergio Martino (changed to his usual Martin Dolman for English speaking territories) & is known internationally under a few different titles including Hands of Steel in the US, Fists of Steel here in the UK & Atomic Cyborg which was the title on the version I saw, taking itself extremely seriously this has no less than seven (!) screenwriters credited to it which I find amazing. Set in the not too distant future you sense that this was an Italian attempt at a rip-off of The Terminator (1984) with the cyborg character sent to kill someone important & even contains an almost exact replica of the sequence when Arnie repairs his damaged arm. There's not much here to suggest that Hands of Steel is set in the future, sure there's a brief sequence where Paco drives through some acid rain which is quite literally acid as it burns & melts his car but otherwise the action & setting is pretty much contemporary apart from a few cyborg references. There are a couple of subplots that never really go anywhere, the arm wrestling scenes, the hunt for Paco by the FBI who find him at the end but the film finishes before any sort of final confrontation & Turner's obsession with killing Paco to keep him quiet which should have been the main focus of the story but we never learn how far deep Turner is in or why he wanted Mosely dead so badly or why he had to create a cyborg from a complete stranger & hope it worked rather send his own people in to kill Mosely. None of it makes much sense although it moves along at a fair pace, it has a few decent action scenes & some unintentionally hilarious dialogue, just listen to Pace & Raul trade insults as it pure comedy gold with exchanges like 'anyone know this piece of Rat turd?' & 'he's as strong as a wet fart' particular highlights. At just under 90 minutes there's some fun to be had with Hands of Steel with it's funny dialogue, silly action, subplot about arm wrestling & daft story of a big tough cyborg regaining his humanity & falling in love but it's far from a classic.

Shot mainly in the Arizona desert the future world that hands of Steel portrays isn't that far removed from the world now, I mean polluted air & corrupt organisations sound very familiar. There's not much blood or gore here, a cyborg is decapitated, a few people are shot, Paco rips someone's heart out & a Snake is karate chopped in half by Paco which probably accounts for the cuts to the original UK VHS release back in the 80's. There are some OK fight sequences & a bit of a car chase at the end as Paco & Linda try to escape & are pursued by hired assassins in a helicopter. It's during the filming of these scenes that tragedy struck on set as a helicopter crashed into a bridge & killed both the pilot & star Claudio Cassinelli.

Probably shot on a low budget the production values are alright as far as they go, being filmed in real locations help the look of Hands of Steel but it just doesn't look futuristic enough & when it does try to be futuristic it ends up looking silly like putting thick piping over cars for no apparent reason. Daniel Greene is awful as the cybernetic hero, Janet Agren & George Eastman, John Saxon & the late Claudio Cassinelli provide better support & are far more watchable.

Hands of Steel, Fists of Steel or Atomic Cyborg whichever title you see this under it's a decent enough post apocalyptic sci-fi action thriller that I imagine was made as a rip-off of The Terminator with added arm wrestling. Good for a few laughs & undemanding if silly entertainment.

A Total Must-See for Fans of Bad Movies

[brando647 · 8/10 · 14 May 2016]

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.

Enjoyable bit of Italian sci-fi action

[Red-Barracuda · 6/10 · 13 March 2015]

It would only be fair to say that Hands of Steel is a film that shows the influence of James Cameron's The Terminator (1984). Moreover, in the early 80's there was a cycle of Italian low-budget sci-fi movies and this is a pretty good example of one of those. An immoral businessman has created a cyborg to kill an ecologist whose activism is at odds with his plans. At the key moment of the assassination attempt, however, the cyborg's human side takes over and he refrains from killing the man. He goes on the run to the Arizona desert and this leads to both his master's henchmen and the police chasing after him.

The director of this one was Sergio Martino who is best known for a string of excellent giallo flicks he helmed in the early 70's. Like most of his fellow Italian genre directors though he had to go with the flow and make films in whatever genre happened to be popular at the time and by 1986, muscular sci-fi action flicks were in. He does a pretty good job here it has to be said and the resultant movie is pleasingly entertaining throughout, with arm wrestling competitions, professional killers, a truck chase and several punch-ups. The film is helped too by the presence of two B movie stalwarts John Saxon and George Eastman. The latter is particularly stand-out in a juicy role as a nasty trucker villain. Additionally, we have a good soundtrack from Goblin member Claudio Simonetti that adds an additional layer of class. Needless to say, this all adds up to a pretty good slice of Italian sci-fi action.

Brainless B-Movie, but Entertains

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 22 July 2022]

In the near future, the cripple and blind politician Rev. Arthur Mosely (Franco Fantasia) is confronting the corporations that are destroying the environment and is the hope of mankind in the elections. Out of the blue, he is attacked by a strong man, Paco Queruak (Daniel Greene), but he does not die. The FBI and the police hunt down the stranger that flees in a fancy car and travels to the Arizona. He stumbles upon the motel owned by Linda (Janet Agren) that offers him a job, and soon the troublemaker Raul Morales (George Eastman) becomes his enemy. When Linda falls in love with Queruak, he discloses to her that he is a cyborg, with 70% of implanted parts and 30% human. Meanwhile, the evil businessman Francis Turner (John Saxon) that has created the cyborg hires killers to murder Queruak.

"Vendetta dal future", a.k.a. "Hands of Steel", is a brainless B-movie, but entertains. The screenplay is not good, the plot is flawed, but surprisingly it is worthwhile watching. The Brazilian title refers to Keruak, instead of Queruak. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Keruak, O Exterminador de Aço" ("Keruak, the Steel Terminator")