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"Maximum Overdrive" is notable for being the only film where the horrormeister, himself, took the reins of a film. Stephen King claimed he wanted to make a "junk picture." He succeeded in making garbage. It may sound cruel to come right out and say a film is garbage, but in this instance, perhaps it is wise to give the warning now. "Maximum Overdrive" attempts to be a thrilling horror film by the man who brought us "Cujo," "Christine" and "Pet Semetary." What is delivered is a piece of camp drivel that is more reminiscent of "Venus In Space" or "Plan 9 From Outer Space."
Based upon his short story, Trucks, "Maximum Overdrive" starts off on a promising note and has an ATM machine calling Stephen King an asshole. Perhaps the machine has seen the film. After explaining that the Earth has passed through the tail of a comet, the picture moves ahead to a point where lawn mowers and other mechanical implements of destruction turn on their creators and blood is shed. Finally, a small band gathers at a truck stop to form what may be the final vestige of human existence. Of course, a large band of eighteen-wheelers gathers outside to intelligently eradicate the human menace. Unfortunately, they missed the man in the director´s chair.
Yes, the premise is that a comet causes machines to power up and function on their own and do so intelligently. They even learn to communicate via Morse code, en englais! The group of humans, who embarrassingly is portrayed by Emilio Estevez and Pat Hingle must either outwait the passing of the comet or find a way to wipe out the fuel hungry trucks. They must also dodge the horrendous plot holes that open up and an occasional continuity error. The film trots along on a very slow pace and instead of picking up tension, pace and thrills; the film gets boring.
It is probably unfortunate that Stephen King has never taken the directors chair again. He is a legendary writer and it would have been nice to get his vision from one of his finer works. This little ´gem´ was probably a bit too much for him to try to conquer on his first outing. After "Maximum Overdrive" he has never gotten another yearning to try directing. Fans of Mr. King are guaranteed disappointment if they are expecting entertainment. The film starts off rather poorly and never takes off. It never offers even the slightest scare or sense of suspense.
Is "Maximum Overdrive" as bad as this reviewer claims? Yes. The 3.9 on IMDB would back up my claim. Why is the rating that high you ask? Well, if you are looking for some camp fun or something to watch after a six-pack, then you are going to find some redeeming quality in this picture. There is some serious silliness to be found and some wonderful artifacts of the eighties to see. I would be lying out of my teeth if I said there wasn´t a moment or two that I didn´t enjoy in this film. There just are not many of them. Oh, if you have a fixation for big rigs, then this is the film for you.
Video:
Who out there would have the guts to schedule a release of "Maximum Overdrive" and keep a straight face about it and then deliver? There are not many companies out there who would take this chance, and Anchor Bay happens to be one of them. "Maximum Overdrive" benefits from an anamorphic widescreen transfer that is properly framed at 2.35:1. The picture quality is above average for a film of this age and classical value. Film grain tries to do its best at simulating what the world would look like if it were passing through a comet´s tail. There are some minor scratches and dirt to be found. The only really bad thing to say about Anchor Bay´s treatment for this film is that they included the movie to look at. Colors are rich and well saturated. The movie is bad. Black levels are pure and deep.
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