mark.waltz 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.

Red-Barracuda 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.

zardoz-13 Sergio Martino's superficial cyborg saga "Hands of Steel" came out a year before "RoboCop" and six years before "Universal Soldier." Interestingly enough, this makes Martino's film somewhat seminal if you put it into a chronological cyborg time-line. These three epics featured cyborgs who suffer a crisis of conscience and rebel against their programming. Of course, all bionic adventures can be traced back to the television series "The Six-Million Dollar Man," but the Lee Majors hero never worried about following orders like the protagonists in "Hands of Steel," "RoboCop," and "Universal Soldier." Prior to these pictures, the biggest Hollywood cyborgs appeared in the "Star Wars" film franchise with Dark Vader as the ultimate cyborgs. Meanwhile, this slightly futuristic Italian melodrama takes place against an aura of political corruption and environmental intrigue. Pollution ranks as our foremost fear in America. An environmental advocate drapes the country with banners that proclaim: You Have No Future." Acid rain drenches parts of America. The villains deploy a primitive prototype of a laser weapon, and they possess a gadget that can penetrate walls and determine the number of individuals in a dwelling. Everything else remains strictly contemporary. "Torso" helmer Martino penned the predictable but action-packed screenplay with number of notable scribes, including Elisa Briganti of "Zombie," John Crowther of "The Evil Men Do," Ernesto Gastaldi of "The Grand Duel," Dardano Sacchetti of "1990: The Bronx Warriors," rookie writer Saul Sasha, with Lewis E. Ciannelli of "Arizona Colt" contributing supplemental dialogue. Most of these scenarists shared screenplay credit on several of Martino's films. Despite six writers, "Hands of Steel" qualifies as a fair to middling, a science fiction hybrid hampered by abysmal acting. Comparably, the film is like its protagonist. At one point, the hero states that he is seventy percent robotic and thirty percent human. "Hands of Steel" is thirty percent sci-fi, while seventy percent contemporary manhunt.The evil chairman of a major foundation, Francis Turner (John Saxon of "Enter The Dragon"), wants to permanently silence an ecology guru, the Reverend Arthur Mosely (Franco Fantasia of "Adios Sabata"), because he is interfering with his so they send a cyborg, Paco Queruak (Daniel Greene of "Kingpin"), to assassinate the popular leader. As it turns out, the same hotel where Mosely is operating out of with his minions is the same place that our hero is staying. Paco slips past FBI security, disposes of Mosely's second-in-command by knocking him out with a powerful blow, and then confronts Mosely. Paco experiences a crisis of conscience when he confronts Mosely. Instead of killing him as programmed, Paco violates his programming and ruptures Mosely's spleen. When Turner's gunsels embark on their search for Paco, they consult a scientist, Professor Olster (Donald O'Brien of "Grand Prix") who no longer works for Turner. Before his encounter with Mosely, Paco had been a classified as the best of the best, maximum in both efficiency and reliability. Olster attributes Paco's refusal to kill to memories from his youth clashing with his operating system. He thinks Paco is trying to recapture his past and rebuild his identity. Doesn't this sounds a lot like "RoboCop" with Peter Weller and "Universal Soldier" with Jean-Claude Van Damme, except "Hands of Steel" beat both pictures to the screen? Anyway, the henchmen kill Olster after he provides them with his theories and head to Arizona. Paco heads to his native state of Arizona and masquerades as a handyman for Linda (Janet Agren) who owns a bar and motel for hookers.While hiding out from Turner's hired guns, Paco finds himself caught up with redneck truck drivers in an arm wrestling championship that anticipated the 1987 sports opus "Over the Top" with Sylvester Stallone. A group of rednecks led by Raoul Morales (George Eastman) make life difficult for Paco. At one point, they drag him across the desert behind a tow-truck and then Raoul and his cronies beat him savagely so he cannot participate in the tournament. The sight of Paco dangling helplessly by his ankles while his assailants smash lead pipes against his physique is cartoonishly violent. Later, an arm wrestling championship appears reminiscent of an earlier Saxon movie "The Appaloosa" where scorpions were tied to the table where the match was held and the loser had his hand smashed down on the poisonous creature. Martino and his scribes have changed it up a little. Martino substitutes rattlesnakes for scorpions. This manhunt melodrama doesn't reveal Paco's true identity until almost an hour into the action. This low-budget, inferior thriller has a few good scenes and some bullet-blasting action but it is as moronic as they come. Fortunately, Martino doesn't let this nonsense drag on past 94 minutes. The acting is abysmal. Daniel Greene's performance is thoroughly impassive, but the bionic modification that his character submitted to could account for his wooden delivery. Naturally, John Saxon acquits himself well considering the low-budget and his inept co-stars. According to IMDb.COM, Saxon went to Rome to complete all his scenes since "Hands of Steel" was a non-union shoot. Had he flaunt the Screen Actors' Guild and done his scenes in Arizona, the actor believes that he would have died in the same helicopter crash that claimed co-star Claudio Cassinelli's life. Spaghetti western stalwart George Eastman is a thorough-going dastard! Look out for the scene when Paco tangles with a female cyborg. Claudio Simonetti's orchestral score enlivens the action.Some have accused Martino's Euro-Trash classic of ripping off James Cameron's "The Terminator," released two years before. Actually, Arnold Schwarzenegger played an android rather than a cyborgs in "The Terminator." The biggest surprise in "Hands of Steel" occurs at about 52 minutes when Dr. Peckinpah defines what constitutes a cyborg. "A cyborg is a human body with most of its internal organs, functions, ands structures replaced by mechanical and electrical substitutes. It's human in form and behavior, but it has incredible physical power and endurance." "Hands of Steel" is definitely no masterpiece, but it has a significant place in the chronological cyborg time-line.

wes-connors "An international industrialist is determined to stop the interference of a world-leading ecological scientist. The industrialist hopes to continue his profitable, but environmentally unsafe practices, by sending his cyborg assassin to kill him. His plans take a turn when the cyborg's human side takes control and he refuses to kill the scientist, thus threatening to expose the evil man's enterprises," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Poorly produced in Italy, and poorly dubbed in English as "Hands of Steel" - this is a, consequently, poor "Terminator" movie imitation. Star cyborg Daniel Greene (as Paco Queruak) is a handsome bodybuilder. Cool blonde Janet Agren (as Linda) brings out his "human" side. George Eastman and Claudio Cassinelli (his last feature) are okay; and, John Saxon phones one in. Mr. Greene's battle with the female cyborg is the highlight.** Vendetta dal futuro (3/26/86) Sergio Martino ~ Daniel Greene, Janet Agren, Claudio Cassinelli