Hardware (1990) is a post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film directed by Richard Stanley and starring Dylan McDermott. Inspired by a short story in 2000 AD, the movie depicts the rampage of a self-repairing cyborg in a post-apocalyptic slum.

In the 21st century, most of the world has been reduced to a radioactive wasteland. People exist in industrialized slums kept running on outdated and decaying computer technology. A nomad zone tripper, (Carl McCoy) comes across the remains of a robot buried in the sand. He collects the pieces and takes them to junk dealer Alvy (Mark Northover), who is talking with 'Hard Mo' Baxter (Dylan McDermott), a soldier in the corps returning home from duty on December 24th during the Christmas cease-fire, and his friend, Shades (John Lynch). Seeing the robot parts, Moses asks the nomad where he found them, to which he repiles, "...Glass Flats, Dune Sea—I go all over." Mo strikes a deal with the nomad to buy them, hoping that they could be a Christmas present for his blow-torch metal sculptor and painter artist girlfriend, Jill Berkowski (Stacey Travis), a recluse who never leaves her apartment (There are subtlties that the apartment building is located inside of Mega-City One).

Hardware is a general term for equipment that can be touched/held by hand such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, belts, plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores.

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry.

Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating – or indoctrinating – citizens. The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue into the language of the viewer.

Films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Viewers perceive motion due to a psychological effect called beta movement.