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SOURCE-Blu Ray R
I first saw this film not long after it hit theaters. I was already a Stephen King fan. But hadn't read the short story this film is based on. After seeing the film I got a ride to the local library to get the collection of short stories Trucks,that's the title of the story,was published in. And the entire next week in study Hal
I read that collection.
Wow where do I start...this is the first film King directed. And IIRC the only film he had directed. Being a huge rock music fan King got ACDC to do the entire soundtrack to this movie. And it is a really good soundtrack.
Well enough rambling what is this film all about? A comet passes close to Earth. Somehow,this is never explained, this causes most machines to become sentient.
Our lead is Emilio Estevez. A guy on parole who works at a truck stop. And the story is all about a bunch of people now trapped at the truck stop. All because a fleet of 18 wheelers have surrounded the place.The main villain is a huge 18 wheeler with a giant Green Goblin face on the front grill.
It looks like our cast is trapped. ..until the owner of the truck stop reveals that the basement is full of heavy weapons. Machine guns,grenades and even a rocket launcher. Sure this revelation feels very deus ex machina. And it is. But this is a turn your brain off film. One that is best enjoyed by watching with a big group of friends who are all getting shitfaced.
Few bits of trivia. The voice of Lisa Simpson, Yeadrly Smith has a big part as a newlywed who gets trapped at the truck stop. A pre-fame Marla Maples has a small part. Also in the 90s this was remade. It was a USA NETWORK original film. The remake was titled Trucks and has Timothy Busfield as the lead.
The Blu Ray pictured at the top was given to me by CodyLL. A few times a year Cody mails me packages full of movies. He got the Blu Ray R of Maximum Overdrive at a con. And once he got the official Blu Ray release he gave me his old copy. If you look to the right I have a link to Cody's blog. Like myself Cody is a life long horror fan. And every day in October he is posting a review of a horror film. Go check his stuff out.
I have liked this film since I first saw it decades ago. And while it is nothing groundbreaking it is worth seeing. Maximum Overdrive gets a B-.
