Maximum Overdrive (1986)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Stephen King

Writers:

Stephen King (short story "Trucks")
Stephen King (written by)

Release Date:

25 July 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Who Made Who?

Plot:

A group of people try to survive when machines start to come alive and become homicidal.

Plot Keywords:

Truck | Machine | Truck Stop | Earth | Comet

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Emilio Estevez	...	Bill Robinson
Pat Hingle	...	Hendershot
Laura Harrington	...	Brett
Yeardley Smith	...	Connie
John Short	...	Curtis
Ellen McElduff	...	Wanda June
J.C. Quinn	...	Duncan Keller
Christopher Murney	...	Camp Loman
Holter Graham	...	Deke Keller
Frankie Faison	...	Handy
Pat Miller	...	Joe
Jack Canon	...	Max
Barry Bell	...	Steve Gayton
John Brasington	...	Frank
J. Don Ferguson	...	Andy

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Germany:16 (re-rating 2006) | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-16 | Australia:R | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

Company:

De Laurentiis

Trivia:

The trailer for this film used the John Carpenter/Alan Howarth score from Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982).

Goofs:

Continuity: When the coach starts to fall over, a third soda can hits him in the face but there's no wound or blood. When the boy crawls over to him, we see a perfect hole and blood everywhere.

Quotes:

Man At Cashpoint: [First lines]
[as the ATM machine is calling him an asshole]
Man At Cashpoint: Honeybun! This machine just called me an asshole!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pineapple Express (2008)

Extremely stupid but entertaining junk movie.

When an invisible force of Aliens takes over the world in over a week. The force uses the machines to attack on the whole population of the world. The force uses all kinds of things, especially-Trucks. When Citizens and Co-Workers of the Dixie Boy Truck Stop, the people ended up fighting for their lives.

Written & Directed by Stephen King (Screen-writer of Cat's Eye, Silver Bullet, Sleepwalkers) made a dumb but entertaining film. The film's stars:Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington and Yeardley Smith (Who voiced Lisa Simpson in the animated hit show "The Simpsons"). This was a box office flop on it's release. This is still today, extremely underrated but it's not the worst-Stephen King film yet.

DVD has an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and an digitally remastered-Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The Laserdisc Edition has an commentary track by King. Too bad, the Anchor Bay DVD doesn't have his commentary. DVD extras are Stephen King Bio and an excellent funny trailer.

The Canadian DVD from Vivendi ("Universal") has an good anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and an fine Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The campy trailer is included as well. It's worth seeing for Stephen King fans and Curious Viewers. King had to cut 11 seconds to not get an X-Rating. Great rock score by AC/DC. Joe Dunton Camera Widescreen. (J-D-C Scope). (****/*****).