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Hardware (1990)
Hardware (1990) poster
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3.3

Hardware (1990)

Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller • 1h 33m

Overview

Mark 13 is a government-built killing machine programmed with artificial intelligence, able to repair and recharge itself from any energy source. Through a series of coincidences, the cyborg's head ends up in the home of a sculptress as a bizarre Christmas present from her boyfriend. Once inside its new home, the cyborg promptly reconstructs the rest of its body using a variety of household utensils and proceeds to go on a murderous rampage.

Director: Richard Stanley

Best English-Friendly Release

Best Video Release

Umbrella AU 4K Blu-ray, encoded by Fidelity in Motion

Best Audio Release

Original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix: 2018 Ronin Flix US Blu-ray / 2009 Optimum UK Blu-ray
5.1 surround remix: Umbrella AU 4K Blu-ray / Umbrella Blu-ray

The 2.0 on the 4K Blu-ray is a downmix.

Format

UHD Blu-ray

UHD Tiers

Solid
Umbrella:

Caveat: lacks original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix

Length

93 mins

Type

Movie

Last Updated

2 months ago

Contributors

Best English-Friendly Release
Best Video Release

Umbrella AU 4K Blu-ray, encoded by Fidelity in Motion

Best Audio Release

Original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix: 2018 Ronin Flix US Blu-ray / 2009 Optimum UK Blu-ray
5.1 surround remix: Umbrella AU 4K Blu-ray / Umbrella Blu-ray

The 2.0 on the 4K Blu-ray is a downmix.

Format
UHD Blu-ray
UHD Tiers
Solid
Umbrella:

Caveat: lacks original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix

Length
93 mins
Type
Movie
Last Updated
2 months ago
Contributors

More from Richard Stanley

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Dust Devil poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

AU Umbrella 4K Blu-ray > US Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray 

The US/Theatrical Cut on the Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray is AI upscaled and has DNR, along with Kino Lorber's usual poor compression.

Director's Cut uses a proper transfer but suffers from terrible compression, even by Kino standards.

The Umbrella with its FiM encode looks blurrier due to a slight low-pass filter, but is still far better than Kino.

Best Audio:

AU Umbrella 4K Blu-ray and US Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray are the same.

The 5.1 track is a direct port of the lossy NTSC DVD track.

Best English-Friendly:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

AU Umbrella 4K Blu-ray > US Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray 

The US/Theatrical Cut on the Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray is AI upscaled and has DNR, along with Kino Lorber's usual poor compression.

Director's Cut uses a proper transfer but suffers from terrible compression, even by Kino standards.

The Umbrella with its FiM encode looks blurrier due to a slight low-pass filter, but is still far better than Kino.

Best Audio:

AU Umbrella 4K Blu-ray and US Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray are the same.

The 5.1 track is a direct port of the lossy NTSC DVD track.

Color Out of Space poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

US RLJ 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

US RLJ 4K Blu-ray > Germany Plaion Media 4K Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

US RLJ 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

US RLJ 4K Blu-ray > Germany Plaion Media 4K Blu-ray

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Rad poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

2026 Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray, 2025 Umbrella 4K Blu-ray

Rad poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

2026 Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray, 2025 Umbrella 4K Blu-ray

Possession poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Second Sight 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Second Sight 4K Blu-ray > Le Chat Qui Fume 4K Blu-ray > Umbrella 4K Blu-ray see caps

Second Sight uses the same Le Chat Qui Fume master, but encoded by FiM and applied Dolby Vision. Umbrella's encoding is visibly worse than Le Chat Qui Fume.

Additional Info:

Mondo Vision Blu-ray and Anchor Bay DVD have an alternate audio track with an unauthorized soundtrack.

Best English-Friendly:

Second Sight 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Second Sight 4K Blu-ray > Le Chat Qui Fume 4K Blu-ray > Umbrella 4K Blu-ray see caps

Second Sight uses the same Le Chat Qui Fume master, but encoded by FiM and applied Dolby Vision. Umbrella's encoding is visibly worse than Le Chat Qui Fume.

Additional Info:

Mondo Vision Blu-ray and Anchor Bay DVD have an alternate audio track with an unauthorized soundtrack.

Santa Sangre poster
UHD Blu-ray
Upcoming Release:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, part of Alejandro Jodorowsky Collector’s Edition, scheduled for November 2026 release

Best Video:

Severin 4K Blu-ray has bad encode

Upcoming Release:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, part of Alejandro Jodorowsky Collector’s Edition, scheduled for November 2026 release

Best Video:

Severin 4K Blu-ray has bad encode

The Holy Mountain poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Arrow/US remastered abkco Blu-ray or Germany Bildstörung Blu-ray depending on preference

Upcoming Release:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, part of Alejandro Jodorowsky Collector’s Edition, scheduled for November 2026 release

Best Video:

Even though Arrow/US remastered abkco Blu-ray are the newer restoration, the Germany Bildstörung Blu-ray seeming look better in many of the scenes see caps  ut the grading might also be over-exposed see caps
Ultimately it's up to personal preference.

Best English-Friendly:

Arrow/US remastered abkco Blu-ray or Germany Bildstörung Blu-ray depending on preference

Upcoming Release:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, part of Alejandro Jodorowsky Collector’s Edition, scheduled for November 2026 release

Best Video:

Even though Arrow/US remastered abkco Blu-ray are the newer restoration, the Germany Bildstörung Blu-ray seeming look better in many of the scenes see caps  ut the grading might also be over-exposed see caps
Ultimately it's up to personal preference.

Infernal Affairs II poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion US Blu-ray or Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Maybe Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode), Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray, or Pony Canyon Japan 4K Blu-ray. All other existing 4K Blu-rays have terrible compression: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21423337&postcount=173

The master is heavily DNR'd.

Best Audio:

Original 5.1 from Jokers France 4K Blu-ray or Criterion US Blu-ray or older Blu-rays

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion US Blu-ray or Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Maybe Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode), Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray, or Pony Canyon Japan 4K Blu-ray. All other existing 4K Blu-rays have terrible compression: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21423337&postcount=173

The master is heavily DNR'd.

Best Audio:

Original 5.1 from Jokers France 4K Blu-ray or Criterion US Blu-ray or older Blu-rays

Caché poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray (Haneke boxset)

Best Video:

2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray or 2013 TF1 FR Blu-ray (caps)

Curzon has a slightly better encode and preserves all the noise of the digital source, but ends up obscuring actual detail in some shots. Both are quite good, only caveat being that the TF1 disc is slightly cropped and has a black bar on top.

Best Audio:

2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray

2008 Artificial Eye UK and 2025 Umbrella AU discs have incorrect pitch. TF1 FR disc is missing 7 minutes of audio in the left channel. See spectrograms.

Caché poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray (Haneke boxset)

Best Video:

2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray or 2013 TF1 FR Blu-ray (caps)

Curzon has a slightly better encode and preserves all the noise of the digital source, but ends up obscuring actual detail in some shots. Both are quite good, only caveat being that the TF1 disc is slightly cropped and has a black bar on top.

Best Audio:

2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray

2008 Artificial Eye UK and 2025 Umbrella AU discs have incorrect pitch. TF1 FR disc is missing 7 minutes of audio in the left channel. See spectrograms.

Angel's Egg poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

US GKIDS 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray see caps

Best Audio:

4K restoration includes a high-fidelity remix sourced from new transfers of original magnetic elements, with inconsequential content differences from the original mono mix. Umbrella 4K Blu-ray only includes a 5.1 mixdown of the remix, other discs have it in Dolby Atmos.

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray's 2.0 track is a stereo downmix. Older BDs and LDs have the original mono mix in varying quality, but are all inferior in fidelity to the new 5.1 remix. The digital track on the Bandai/Emotion Japan LaserDisc BELL-942 is the best of the bunch.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23714400&postcount=159

Angel's Egg poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

US GKIDS 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray see caps

Best Audio:

4K restoration includes a high-fidelity remix sourced from new transfers of original magnetic elements, with inconsequential content differences from the original mono mix. Umbrella 4K Blu-ray only includes a 5.1 mixdown of the remix, other discs have it in Dolby Atmos.

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray's 2.0 track is a stereo downmix. Older BDs and LDs have the original mono mix in varying quality, but are all inferior in fidelity to the new 5.1 remix. The digital track on the Bandai/Emotion Japan LaserDisc BELL-942 is the best of the bunch.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23714400&postcount=159

Memento poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Spain Selecta Vision 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Collector's edition of a new restoration from Umbrella

Best Video:

Spain Selecta Vision 4K Blu-ray > other releases and old 2006 release - impressions of Selecta Vision release

Memento poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Spain Selecta Vision 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Collector's edition of a new restoration from Umbrella

Best Video:

Spain Selecta Vision 4K Blu-ray > other releases and old 2006 release - impressions of Selecta Vision release

Wake in Fright poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Umbrella/Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Umbrella/Arrow 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode but the mastering shows signs of DNR albeit only momentarily); all other BDs pretty bad.

Best Audio:

Umbrella/Arrow 4K Blu-ray, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.

Best English-Friendly:

Umbrella/Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Umbrella/Arrow 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode but the mastering shows signs of DNR albeit only momentarily); all other BDs pretty bad.

Best Audio:

Umbrella/Arrow 4K Blu-ray, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.

Dingo poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Umbrella Blu-ray

Best Video:

Australia Umbrella Blu-ray or French Intersections Blu-ray no comparison available

Dingo poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Umbrella Blu-ray

Best Video:

Australia Umbrella Blu-ray or French Intersections Blu-ray no comparison available

More Horror on Blu-ray

Backrooms poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Canada Elevation 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Canada Elevation 4K Blu-ray > US A24 comparisons

Best Audio:

US A24 4K Blu-ray

Backrooms poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Canada Elevation 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Canada Elevation 4K Blu-ray > US A24 comparisons

Best Audio:

US A24 4K Blu-ray

The Shining poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

US Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray

International Cut: Old 2007 Europe Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Box Set

Best Video:

US Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray

International Cut: Old 2007 Europe Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1999 WB DVD

Additional Info:

No Blu-ray or DVD release has presented the movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 for the US cut or 1.66:1 for the International cut.

The packaging on the back of the 4K Blu-ray incorrectly states it as 1.85:1 when the movie is actually 1.78:1 as is the original Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

US Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray

International Cut: Old 2007 Europe Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Box Set

Best Video:

US Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray

International Cut: Old 2007 Europe Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1999 WB DVD

Additional Info:

No Blu-ray or DVD release has presented the movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 for the US cut or 1.66:1 for the International cut.

The packaging on the back of the 4K Blu-ray incorrectly states it as 1.85:1 when the movie is actually 1.78:1 as is the original Blu-ray

28 Days Later poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray see caps

Recovers quite a bit of highlight detail, looks less harsh and clipped in the video footage than the old BD.

Best Audio:

Dolby Atmos Remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1 mix: old OOP Fox Blu-ray

5.1 on the 4K is a downmix of the Atmos remix.

28 Days Later poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray see caps

Recovers quite a bit of highlight detail, looks less harsh and clipped in the video footage than the old BD.

Best Audio:

Dolby Atmos Remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1 mix: old OOP Fox Blu-ray

5.1 on the 4K is a downmix of the Atmos remix.

The Bad Seed poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Warner Bros 2011 Blu-ray

The older track sounds significantly more natural. The WAC BD uses a new mastering which sounds much worse. A lot of the dialogue sounds off, sort of echoey, garbled or even artifacted. Its overzealous click removal also erased some sounds. Its only positive is a new EQ that brings out the bass more making some of the score more effective.

It seems that the new mastering likely uses AI "enhancement" or some other form of aggressive filtering, resulting in extended peaks despite losing real high end detail (most pronounced on sample 3).

Samples (WAC is mislabeled as UHD)

Additional Info:

Commentary is mono on the Blu-rays and panned stereo on NTSC DVD (different channels for each speaker).

The Bad Seed poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Warner Bros 2011 Blu-ray

The older track sounds significantly more natural. The WAC BD uses a new mastering which sounds much worse. A lot of the dialogue sounds off, sort of echoey, garbled or even artifacted. Its overzealous click removal also erased some sounds. Its only positive is a new EQ that brings out the bass more making some of the score more effective.

It seems that the new mastering likely uses AI "enhancement" or some other form of aggressive filtering, resulting in extended peaks despite losing real high end detail (most pronounced on sample 3).

Samples (WAC is mislabeled as UHD)

Additional Info:

Commentary is mono on the Blu-rays and panned stereo on NTSC DVD (different channels for each speaker).

28 Years Later poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Seconds poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

UK MoC Blu-ray

Best Video:

UK MoC Blu-ray uses the same restoration as Criterion but has more natural contrast and more organic grains see caps

Best Audio:

MoC Blu-ray has the exactly same audio as Criterion Blu-ray

Seconds poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

UK MoC Blu-ray

Best Video:

UK MoC Blu-ray uses the same restoration as Criterion but has more natural contrast and more organic grains see caps

Best Audio:

MoC Blu-ray has the exactly same audio as Criterion Blu-ray

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

28 Weeks Later poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Fox Blu-ray

Best Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Fox Blu-ray

Best Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Scream poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Theatrical: Paramount 4K Blu-ray
Uncut Director's Cut: Either the Germany Kinowelt DVD, the Japan DVD, the Scandinavian DVD, or the US LaserDisc. Fan preservation is likely better quality.

Best Video:

Theatrical: Paramount 4K Blu-ray
Uncut Director's Cut: Either the Germany Kinowelt DVD, the Japan DVD, the Scandinavian DVD, or the US LaserDisc. Fan preservation is likely better quality.

Best Audio:

2011 Blu-ray/2021 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

The 2011 Lionsgate Blu-ray is incredibly poor for every Original Trilogy film; older processed older DVD-era masters with heavy use of DNR, sharpening and edge enhancement with a really dull color grade. The 4K Blu-ray is miles better. The DTS-HD 5.1 across all three films appears to be the same on both the Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray, and they appear to be the untouched theatrical 5.1 mixes. 

The Uncut version has more violence: https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=256325

Scream poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Theatrical: Paramount 4K Blu-ray
Uncut Director's Cut: Either the Germany Kinowelt DVD, the Japan DVD, the Scandinavian DVD, or the US LaserDisc. Fan preservation is likely better quality.

Best Video:

Theatrical: Paramount 4K Blu-ray
Uncut Director's Cut: Either the Germany Kinowelt DVD, the Japan DVD, the Scandinavian DVD, or the US LaserDisc. Fan preservation is likely better quality.

Best Audio:

2011 Blu-ray/2021 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

The 2011 Lionsgate Blu-ray is incredibly poor for every Original Trilogy film; older processed older DVD-era masters with heavy use of DNR, sharpening and edge enhancement with a really dull color grade. The 4K Blu-ray is miles better. The DTS-HD 5.1 across all three films appears to be the same on both the Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray, and they appear to be the untouched theatrical 5.1 mixes. 

The Uncut version has more violence: https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=256325

Deep Blue Sea poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray caps by cinemaniac. Gorgeous upgrade

Additional Info:

Atmos track on Arrow cuts off the end credits music 1 minute before the credits end. 5.1 doesn't have this issue.

Digital 4K appears to be fixed. Could the International WB 4K Blu-ray also be fixed?

Best English-Friendly:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray caps by cinemaniac. Gorgeous upgrade

Additional Info:

Atmos track on Arrow cuts off the end credits music 1 minute before the credits end. 5.1 doesn't have this issue.

Digital 4K appears to be fixed. Could the International WB 4K Blu-ray also be fixed?

Edit History

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Hardware (1990) backdrop