Maximum Overdrive (DVD, 2001)

Stephen King has had a few duds in his time, whether it's a book written by him made into a movie (not his fault if it's a good book that's done poorly), or it's a screenplay written by him and then he makes it into a movie (definitely his fault). But for the few duds that he's had, I personally think most of his movies are pretty good or are at least watchable. This one doesn't have too much worth to it, except for maybe the nostalgia factor, or if you want to complete your Stephen King movie collection (which is better than trying to complete say the Omen collection or the Exorcist collection when only the original is a five star movie and the rest isn't even close).

Maximum Overdrive starts out with a comet that is supposed to last for eight days and change, and in the meantime machines just do things crazily by themselves or perhaps it's under alien possession (demonic possession would make more sense to me, but I didn't write the story). I wasn't quite sure what was the deal with machines, but it had something to do with the comet. Arcade game machines become electric chairs, pop machines become pitching machines, electric knives go on killing sprees, and lawnmowers mow down people instead of grass-this is all actually kind of funny, but I'm not sure if that's what Stephen King was trying to do, maybe it was, I got a few chuckles out of it. Anyway, after this the movie focuses more on vehicular homicide and the Dixie Boy Truck Stop, where the rest of the story takes place. It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense after that. The semis keep driving around in circles trapping everyone in the truck stop, until they run low on fuel. Then they need someone to fill them back up, so they resort to morse code to get refueled. And the only defense against these machines is the stockpile of ammo that just happens to be in the basement of the truck stop (very convenient, most truck stop owners hide grenades, machine guns, and rocket launchers in their basement-question is, how do they finance so many weapons? maybe I'm in the wrong business).

I guess there is some worth to this movie. Musically AC/DC sounds great with Who Made Who, Shake Your Foundations, and so on. Comically, there are a few good spots. When the waitress keeps yelling "We made you..." until the machine gun vehicle finally shoots her, that was kind of funny. And the best part is at the beginning with Stephen King himself. "That machine called me an @sshole" and seeing Stephen King's face afterward, now that was funny (obviously intentionally by Mr. King). And then there's the nostalgia factor. I watched this movie when I was a kid, and I thought it was dumb. I still think it's dumb, but I kind of like it now because it's so dumb, maybe kind of like the cult following that one of Ed Wood's movies got. So bad that it's good. I have to give Stephen King props for trying, but this is not even close to Carrie, The Stand, The Shining, or even Sleepwalkers. Maybe Tommyknockers, just maybe. The characters are kind of lame in the movie. The only one you try to root for maybe is Emilio Estevez, and that's only a maybe. Otherwise, I was rooting for the machines. In fact, my favorite character in the whole movie was the Goblin Semi (looks like the Goblin on Noddy from the Sprout network, you'd understand if you have kids who watch that show), and he (or it) didn't even utter a word but at least he looked cool taking out the morons at the Dixie Boy Truck Stop.

Great movie starring Emilio Estevez in a classic 80's action horror film, machines take over the world and it's up to a small group led by estevez to fend off the trucks, soda machines, lawnmowers etc. A great 80's film

Not much for plot on this one. But then some of Steven King movies aren't that complicated anmyway. This is one of my favorites, no matter. Big Rigs, Cars, Electric Knives, and even Walk-Mans are under the control of alien powers which have be-fallen Earth in the wake of a comet. The movie centers around a group of people (starring Emelio Estevez) trapped in a gas station/diner. Some laughs, chills, and a little romance. A must have for the 80's & 90's Horror Movie Collector.

When "Who Made Who" starts playing and cars start sliding down the bridge, I start grinning like a little kid. Yes, you can argue that the movie has HUGE plot holes (how can cars see, how can an electric knife pivot towards it's victim), you can say the acting is over the top awful at times ("WE! MADE! YOU!"), and you'll get no disagreement from me. But somehow, this movie is transcends all that and propels itself into cult classic status. King might have set out to scare people, but instead just gave them a rocking good time.

Wow this movie just takes off with no hesitation. It had just enough character development to keep you caring for the humans against the machines. I especially was rooting for the kid that knew the morse code. Hoping that he would stay alive. When the kids get killed on the baseball team and he gets away I was hoping nothing would happen to him more than anyone else. When kids get killed in horror films you immediately have a cult classic and this movie didn't hold alot back. I also liked that the machines didn't have much to say except for "Give us gas" and "We're in charge". And for the horror fans there's just enough gore for ya.

Overall a really entertaining film with just enough of a storyline and action to keep you watching from beginning to end.