Atomic Cyborg

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.

If you were to have watched this film when it was released, you'd have probably thought it was OK, or been a little disappointed. But watch it now, in 2017, and it takes on a whole different identity.

Hands of Steel is just a pure cheese fest of 80's stereotypes. The fight scenes are badly choreographed, the shoot outs have over the top sound effects dubbed on, magazine clips that never run out, and helicopters that seem to be able to withstand hundreds of bullets with no effect. The bad guys are even worse shots than in Commando!

The music and sound effects are typically and wonderfully 80's, and the script has to contain some of the corniest lines ever. And when they unleash the 'futuristic' laser weapon.. well, that was the final touch of perfection for me!

If you loved the 1980's and the action films it produced, then you will absolutely love Hands of Steel. I have never smiled and laughed so much watching a film in a long time. It's fantastic!

Watch it with a few friends and some beers, and you're guaranteed a fantastic evening.

THIS is a totally awesome, adrenalin rushing, down and dirty in-your-face 80's Italian exploitation effort, but of course you have to be cautious who you may recommend it to! If you're, for example, attending a convention for people with an enormous IQ and you got a couple of hours to kill, you probably shouldn't suggest watching "Fists of Steel" because the script's intellectual value is rather questionable. Or in case you're a guest at a feminist gathering, I wouldn't advise mentioning "Fists of Steel" neither, as the film is literally stuffed with macho characters and typically male showdowns. In fact, to put it rather bluntly, "Fists of Steel" is a movie for guys, and preferably guys that like their heroes invincible, their women docile, their action & violence graphic & plentiful and their dialogs and story lines rudimentary. I'm not implying you have to be a retard in order to enjoy this film (otherwise, I'd be one myself) but it's merely a relaxing and undemanding film to watch after a hard day's work or together with a group of friends where there's loads of beer and pizza.

"Fists of Steel" is basically an attempt to cash in on the huge success of James Cameron's "The Terminator", but without the rather complex time-traveling structure and advanced character developments. In futuristic America, where acid rain hurtles down daily and breathing poisonous air may kill you, beefcake Cyborg Paco Querak is programmed to terminate a blind & crippled environmentalist whose movement is seriously annoying big-shot industrialist John Saxon. However, Paco's conscience prevents him from finishing the job and he flees into the Arizonan desert. He entrenches himself in a cheap & sleazy motel where he falls in love with the friendly owner, arm-wrestles against aggressive truckers and patiently awaits the army of hired killers to come after him. There isn't a single moment of dullness in this movie and I was actually sad when it finished. The arm wrestling contests are incredibly entertaining to behold (muscles all over the screen), the car/truck/helicopter chases are extremely exciting and the fistfights are so harsh you can almost feel them. Daniel Greene is more than adequate in his heroic Cyborg-role but the supportive cast is even better with the almighty John Saxon as the über-bad guy, George Eastman as the jealous lead-trucker and Claudio Cassinelli (who sadly died during shooting) as one of the relentless hit men. Cassinelli's untimely death clearly caused a scripting problem, as his character is killed off screen. As always, Sergio Martino's direction is fast-paced and competent but nothing more than that. He was one of Italy's busiest and most versatile directors during the 60's, 70's and 80's, so don't expect too much typical trademarks or personalized styles as he just wanted to finish the job quick and proper. Claudio Simonetti, the multi-talented brain behind cult band Goblin, was in charge of the music and that's another reason for avid fans of Italian exploitation film to track this puppy down. Great testosterone-driven entertainment, love it or hate it!

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.

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.