Hands of Steel (1986)

A cyborg is programmed to kill a scientist who holds the fate of mankind in his hands. He fails and hides in a diner in a desert run by a woman who likes him. The people who sent him are after him and so is the local arm wrestling champ.

Director:

Sergio Martino (as Martin Dolman)

Writers:

Sergio Martino (story by) (as Martin Dolman), Elisa Briganti (screenplay by) (as Elisabeth Parker Jr.)

Stars:

Daniel Greene, Janet Agren, Claudio Cassinelli

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Daniel Greene	...	Paco Queruak
Janet Agren	...	Linda
Claudio Cassinelli	...	Peter Howell
George Eastman	...	Raul Morales
Roberto Bisacco	...	Cooper (as Robert Ben)
Pat Monti
Andrea Coppola	...	Eddie (as Andrew Louis Coppola)
Donald O'Brien	...	Prof. Olster
Frank Walden
Darwyn Swalve	...	Anatola Blanco
Amy Werba	...	Dr. Peckinpah
John Saxon	...	Francis Turner

Storyline

Sinister industrialist Francis Turner, played by John Saxon, creates a cyborg known as Paco Queruak (Daniel Greene) who has been programmed to terminate the leader of an ecological faction that stands in the way of the dystopian country in which the story is set. After failing in his mission to eliminate the ecologist, Paco flees to Arizona where he must face his opponents; and ultimately choose between his humanity and robotic natures.

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Plot Keywords:

world trade center | chinatown manhattan new york city | tragic event | watching tv | broken rule | 

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Taglines:

30% human, 70% robot, 100% lethal. [Scandinavian DVD cover]

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian Spanish English

Release Date:

29 August 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hands of Steel

Filming Locations:

Lee's Ferry Lodge at Vermilion Cliffs - Highway 89A, Marble Canyon, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

National Cinematografica, Dania Film, Medusa Distribuzione

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Saxon, strictly adhering to Screen Actors Guild rules, refused to act in any scenes shot in America (all his scenes were shot in Italy) because this was not a union film. He credits SAG with saving his life, as he would have likely been on the helicopter that crashed, claiming the life of his co-star Claudio Cassinelli; he has not violated any SAG guidelines since. Two different but identically painted Bell helicopters were used for filming; the aircraft seen in close-up shots with Saxon has Italian registration, whereas the one seen flying--the helicopter involved in the fatal crash--has American registration.

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Goofs

At approximately 29 minutes and 46 minutes a Hughes 500 (369) helicopter is seen. These have a 5-bladed main rotor. The sound heard is that of a 2-bladed main rotor helicopter.

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Alternate Versions

The UK video version (released as "Fists Of Steel") was cut by 1 second to remove an ear-clap.

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Connections

Referenced in Noe som skjedde på jobben (2017)

User Reviews

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!