Hardware Wars (1978) on Netflix
A steam iron flees a toaster firing toast at it. Two robots escape the evil Empire and land on a desert planet, where Fluke Starbucker finds a holographic plea from Princess Anne-Droid.
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- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb6.9/102,382 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes83%
Trailer
Plot summary
A parody in the form of a mock trailer: a household steam iron crosses space and is disabled by toast fired from a toaster. Two robots, 4-Q-2 and Artie-Deco, flee the evil Empire in a cassette tape and come down on a desert planet, where Fluke Starbucker finds them. A recorded message inside Artie-Deco repeats Princess Anne-Droid's plea for help from Augie "Ben" Doggie. Fluke meets Ben, a member of the Red-Eye Knights, and receives his father's lightsaber, which is a flashlight. The pair trick the Imperial Steam Trooper guards to get into the city and reach a cantina that Fluke finds too weird. There they meet the renegade Ham Salad and his partner Chuke-Chilla, while Darph Nader interrogates the princess.
Cast
- Frank Robertsonas 4-Q-2
- Jeff Haleas Augie 'Ben' Doggie
- Artie Decoas Self
- Scott Matthewsas Fluke Starbucker
- Cindy Furgatchas Princess Anne-Droid
- Bob Knickerbockeras Ham Salad
- Scott Mathewsas Fluke Starbucker
- Cinthia Freelingas Princess Anne-Droid(Cindy Furgatch)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Hardware Wars (1978)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Hardware Wars is considered the most profitable short film of all time, grossing US$1,000,000 on a budget of just US$8,000, a far better profit ratio than Star Wars itself.
- Writer-director Ernie Fosselius turned his tiny budget into the joke: the spaceships are steam irons, toasters and cassette recorders, and Fluke Starbucker's lightsaber is a flashlight.
- In 2017 Rian Johnson paid tribute to Hardware Wars in The Last Jedi, briefly framing a robotic steam iron to resemble a landing spaceship; John Williams enjoyed writing a bombastic music cue to match the iron descending.
- When Hardware Wars was re-released in 1997 with newly added digital effects, to spoof the "Special Edition" of Star Wars, Fosselius refused to take part, objecting to adding polished effects to a film whose look depended on deliberately cheap ones.
