Maximum Overdrive starts by explaining that on 19th June 1987 the Earth passed into the extraordinarily diffuse tail of a comet called Rhea-M, according to calculations the Earth would remain in the tail of the comet for the next eight days. On Earth itself strange things begin happening, machines & electrical equipment start to turn sentient, almost alive like someone or something is controlling them. At first cash machines insult customers & bridges open & close on their own but soon the machines turns against humanity with cars & trucks running people down, electric carving knives slicing open anyone who ventures too near, vending machines that kill, video game machines that electrocute their players & even lawnmowers that cut up their owners. The Dixie Boy truck stop & Diner is attacked by a convoy of huge trucks that refuse to let the terrified people inside leave, as news of the outside events filter int the Dixie Boy it seems that the trucks have plans for the remaining humans. The trucks need fuel to run & make the few survivors fill their tanks which gives them enough time to work out a plan to escape...
Stephen King's name attached to any sort of film seems to be worth money in Hollywood, the amount of his stories or books that have been adapted to the silver screen is testament to that & films with his name attached are still being made, both original works & remakes so he's as popular & well known now as he ever was. Of course he is one of the worlds best horror writers & recognisable names in the genre so why not? Unfortunately you could say that the works of Stephen King have fared reasonably well on the big screen, there's been the odd disaster but most are watchable enough with the odd classic thrown in but most are average. Realising this King opted to adapt his short story 'Trucks' & direct himself with uneven yet entertaining results. Maximum Overdrive is undoubtedly a silly film, some of the decisions the character's make are mind boggling while the story lends itself to some silly imagery & moments but somehow it works on a camp level. To be blunt, I liked Maximum Overdrive for what it is. From the coke vending machine that sends cans flying out with such force that it kills one guy to the opening scene where the cash machine calls a man played by King himself in an uncredited cameo an a hole to the gloriously bad taste moment when a huge steam roller runs over a ten year old kid there are many scenes & moments in Maximum Overdrive that will stay with you, it makes no great sense why some machines are affected & other's aren't while I refuse to believe a huge truck could 'creep' up on someone without them noticing it but again I think there's a real camp entertainment vale to be had here, any fan of junky films will love this. The character's are thin, there's not much of a story to get into but there's a definite watchability to it. At just under 100 minutes it has a good pace & doesn't feel that long which is good, I am sure there are many out there who hate Maximum Overdrive & that's fair enough but I liked it. Some of the dialogue is really bad, the scene set inside the Dixie Boy toilet when Emilio Estevez has to talk to a fat guy on a toilet taking a wet flatulent crap is quite surreal.
Maximum Overdrive lacks any great imagination on King's part & the whole film is a little flat lacking in tension or urgency. Considering how skillful King is writing horror books it's surprising to see such a lack of depth to the character's & the really bad dialogue. There's some good special effects work here though, from exploding trucks to some decent gore a lot of which was cut to get an 'R' rating. Apparently King has admitted that he was high on cocaine the entire time he made Maximum Overdrive so that might explain the silliness & almost random feel. An accident on set occurred when the radio controlled lawnmower went haywire & struck a block of wood sending splinters flying & injuring the director of photography Armando Nannuzzi who ended up losing his right eye & ended up suing King for $18 million in damages.
With a supposed budget of about $10,000,000 Maximum Overdrive has good production values & looks nice enough, filmed in Wilmington in North Carolina. Australian rock band AC/DC composed the music. The acting is suitably hammy & no-one seems to taking it too seriously.
Maximum Overdrive is a film that I enjoyed, whether you enjoy it will depend on personal taste. It's one of those films that only certain people with certain viewing mentalities will get. Apparently Stephen King was asked why he has not directed anything since Maximum Overdrive he replied 'Just watch Maximum Overdrive' which is a quality come back. Certainly not for everyone but I enjoyed it.
Stephen King's name attached to any sort of film seems to be worth money in Hollywood, the amount of his stories or books that have been adapted to the silver screen is testament to that & films with his name attached are still being made, both original works & remakes so he's as popular & well known now as he ever was. Of course he is one of the worlds best horror writers & recognisable names in the genre so why not? Unfortunately you could say that the works of Stephen King have fared reasonably well on the big screen, there's been the odd disaster but most are watchable enough with the odd classic thrown in but most are average. Realising this King opted to adapt his short story 'Trucks' & direct himself with uneven yet entertaining results. Maximum Overdrive is undoubtedly a silly film, some of the decisions the character's make are mind boggling while the story lends itself to some silly imagery & moments but somehow it works on a camp level. To be blunt, I liked Maximum Overdrive for what it is. From the coke vending machine that sends cans flying out with such force that it kills one guy to the opening scene where the cash machine calls a man played by King himself in an uncredited cameo an a hole to the gloriously bad taste moment when a huge steam roller runs over a ten year old kid there are many scenes & moments in Maximum Overdrive that will stay with you, it makes no great sense why some machines are affected & other's aren't while I refuse to believe a huge truck could 'creep' up on someone without them noticing it but again I think there's a real camp entertainment vale to be had here, any fan of junky films will love this. The character's are thin, there's not much of a story to get into but there's a definite watchability to it. At just under 100 minutes it has a good pace & doesn't feel that long which is good, I am sure there are many out there who hate Maximum Overdrive & that's fair enough but I liked it. Some of the dialogue is really bad, the scene set inside the Dixie Boy toilet when Emilio Estevez has to talk to a fat guy on a toilet taking a wet flatulent crap is quite surreal.
Maximum Overdrive lacks any great imagination on King's part & the whole film is a little flat lacking in tension or urgency. Considering how skillful King is writing horror books it's surprising to see such a lack of depth to the character's & the really bad dialogue. There's some good special effects work here though, from exploding trucks to some decent gore a lot of which was cut to get an 'R' rating. Apparently King has admitted that he was high on cocaine the entire time he made Maximum Overdrive so that might explain the silliness & almost random feel. An accident on set occurred when the radio controlled lawnmower went haywire & struck a block of wood sending splinters flying & injuring the director of photography Armando Nannuzzi who ended up losing his right eye & ended up suing King for $18 million in damages.
With a supposed budget of about $10,000,000 Maximum Overdrive has good production values & looks nice enough, filmed in Wilmington in North Carolina. Australian rock band AC/DC composed the music. The acting is suitably hammy & no-one seems to taking it too seriously.
Maximum Overdrive is a film that I enjoyed, whether you enjoy it will depend on personal taste. It's one of those films that only certain people with certain viewing mentalities will get. Apparently Stephen King was asked why he has not directed anything since Maximum Overdrive he replied 'Just watch Maximum Overdrive' which is a quality come back. Certainly not for everyone but I enjoyed it.