SONS OF STEEL

Australia, 1989, 97 minutes, Colour.

Rob Hartley, Roz Wason, Jeff Duff, Dagmar Blahva, Ralph Cotterill, Mark Hambrow.

Directed by Gary.L.Keady.

A bizarre experience, to say the least. It is not a very well-known film from Australia in the 1980s has something of a cult following, the umbrella company promoting it on Australian streaming television.

It is billed as science fiction, as a comedy, as a musical. And, it is difficult to know how much is parody and how much is meant to be straightforward. Her science fiction it goes into the future, a compact amongst the countries of the Pacific Ocean, issues of nuclear submarines, one coming into Sydney Harbour and the plan to cause damage to bridge and Opera house. As comedy, it is all highly exaggerated, seemingly very amateur, cast given their head to improvise. And the difficulties whether the audience is laughing with and laughing at the cast. As a musical, there is a band, Sons of Steel, a singer from the present who is projected into the future in order to save the day, confront politicians, unmask plots, and singing a rather large number of rock songs. This is the only film for Rob Hartley who acts and sings as Black Alice.

While, as mentioned, this is a cult film for some. For others it must be very much on the list of worst films seen.

However, SBS has an article online which gives the background to the writer-director, and Gary L.Keady, the devil is in production, distribution, presence in Cannes, some support from David Stratton, and its subsequent history or non-history.

https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/back-from-the-brink-sons-of-steel/48htsy04h  (from 2010).