Maximum Overdrive (D-)
STARS...
Emilio Estevez,
Laura Harrington, Yeardley Smith, John Short, Pat Hingle, and Ellen McElduff.
PLOT SUMMARY...
A comet, passing the Earth, causes machines to develop a life of their
own.
QUICK SCAN...
This film could be compared to "Christine". Emilio Estevez
fans may enjoy his impersonation of a hunky, roadside diner cook. If you
like footage of big trucks crashing into things, being shot at, and blowing
up, this film may be for you. Alert Stephen King fans will spot him in
an early and humorous cameo appearance. The AC/DC Music is lousy, pointless.
DIRECTOR: Stephen King
YEAR & RATING: 1986 (R)
BEST BETS:
A comet, passing Earth, causes machines to develop a life of their own. The people, who run a gas station/truck stop diner, are trapped inside by marauding killer trucks that circle the truck stop.
A young honeymoon couple is terrorized by a truck. The young, hunky diner cook hits it off with a cute, young female hitchhiker, also trapped in the diner. Trucks kill various people outside the diner.
The honeymoon couple ends up at the diner. The owner of the diner blows up several trucks with a rocket launcher. The cook blows up a truck. The owner blows up a truck, then dies. People escape the diner. The trucks wreck the truck stop diner; it blows up. The group travels to a marina. They confront another truck, blowing it up. They escape on a boat, heading for an island that has no machines on it.
Review:
MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, Written and Directed by Stephen King, is a weak Sci-Fi
effort which turns stupid early.
In 1987, when the earth passes through the tail of a comet for eight days,
machines begin to rebel against man. Emilio Estevez, ("The Mighty
Ducks"), is the hunky young cook with a shady past, who works at
a roadside diner/gas station in North Carolina. Laura Harrington, ("Perfect
Witness"), is an attractive young hitchhiker who happens to be noshing
at the diner, when eighteen wheel trucks come to life and encircle the
gas station, entrapping it's occupants.
This is a loud, stupid movie. When the newlyweds, Connie (Yeardley Smith
of TV's "Herman's Head") and Curt (John Short) are pursued by
a truck with mayhem on its mind, they have the following dialogue exchange:
Connie (screaming), "What's going on?" Curt (yelling), "I
don't know!" See what I mean? Stupid!
When they're not coping with killer trucks, Estevez and Harrington have
time for romance. They also discuss astronomy, and it's relation to everyday
life. Harrington,"You know what I think? Estevez, "What?"
Harrington, "I think it's the comet." Exactly how Harrington
developed her theory of the comet/killer machine link isn't really made
clear, but hey, this is a stupid movie, so pardon me for asking.
Director of Photography, Armando Nannuzzi, occasionally delivers some
interesting composition within the frame. At one point, as newlyweds,
Connie and Curt, drive down the road, we see abandoned cars, their lights
blinking on and off. It's a striking movie image.
The heavy metal songs, by AC/DC, that play during many of the film's scenes,
are loud and pointless, much like the movie itself.
Veteran character actor, Pat Hingle ("Batman Forever", Sudden
Impact") does another S.O.B. turn, as the nasty owner of the diner/gas
station. With his pig-like nose and rough manner, Hingle is quite easy
to dislike, but he's done these kinds of roles to death, and doesn't bring
anything fresh to the role, It's just BATTLEAXE BOSS, #436.
My favorite scene in the film takes place very early on. Writer/Director
King, in a cameo, tries to get cash out of an ATM machine. The words,
"You're an asshole" appear on the machine's screen instead.
In a simple, though vulgar, way, King lets the viewer know, in a purely
visual manner, that something strange is happening to machines.
MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE will be watchable for very few Sci-Fi fans. Stephen
King nuts may want to take a peek, but will be let down. MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE
is a low octane Sci-Fi flick that delivers a minimum of entertainment.
Cruise past it at your video store.
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