I have this very clear memory of being a young kid, probably in grade 2 or 3, sitting cross-legged on the floor of the gym at Centennial Public School.  For some reason, everyone was eating lunch inside, and the teachers had set up a screen and projector.  They put on a movie called Hardware Wars, which featured a flying iron, toaster, and egg beater.  I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my parents how cool it was – like Star Wars, but different.

At that age, I had no concept of parody or satire.  I just thought someone had made a cool movie about appliances flying through space and shooting each other.  Fluke Starbucker, Augie Ben Doggie, and Ham Salad seemed like perfectly normal heroes.  As time passed, I started to think I had dreamed the whole thing during a lunch-time nap.

Almost 30 years later, I thought about the movie again and looked it up on-line.  According to Wikipedia, Hardware Wars is considered the most successful short film of all time, grossing more than $1 million and winning lots of awards.

If you haven’t seen it, or if you’re like me and kinda remember seeing it back in the 1970s, here it is in all it’s low-budget glory.  I’m not sure it’s aged well, but then again, the same could be said for most of us.