Movie Truckers,
So last week we went way back to 1986 when Emilio Estevez was a legitimate star and a coked up Steven King was directing a movie about sentient trucks. I remember this movie being frightening, I swear it was frightening… damn times have changed.
Some Trucks, Motherfucker!
So when a movie starts out with a screen full of exposition, you know it’s gonna be great. So there’s a mysterious unseen comet that comes out of nowhere and swallows the earth up in it’s ‘diffuse tail’ which seems like that’s not how comets work, but whatever. The comet (or something in the comet!) causes all machines on earth to become aware or something… this movie is just a network of plot holes, but it does have some fun/wacky scenes.
So shit starts going weird, machines start coming to life. Electric knives cut people, lawn mowers attack, the soda machine at the little league ballpark is doling out diet rite to the face at 100mph and the marquee at the bank is doing all it can… telling people to fuck off. lol.
The locals at the Dixie truck just think the local waitress is going suicidal with a turkey carver until the trucks start driving themselves into people. At some point the manager of the Piggly Wiggly remembers that he’s running guns (and we can only assume drugs and underage prostitutes) so he breaks out a rocket launcher to stop the trucks. THIS IS VERY EFFECTIVE. but they abandon it early… for reasons, I assume budgetary.
Lisa Simpson shows up as some kind of virgin bride, she is horrible.
The out of town bible salesman who has already proven himself a creep and a scumball is knocked out of his shoes and into a ditch. At some point they decide it’s a good idea to rescue him. and Emilio leads a team through the sewers to get him. HE DED. But they do find the kid who’s basically been having his own movie this whole time avoiding cars and ice cream trucks. His story is basically the only ‘good part’
When they get back they decide that the trucks are just going to run out of gas. then THE TRUCKS… CONTROL.. A 50 Cal Machine gun and force them into refueling them all day. This is my favorite part of the movie. Everyone in the diner takes turns fueling the trucks, a job that they must have had at least 1 person on duty for, since the sign out front says FULL SERVICE. They all act like this is the most difficult work that they have ever done in their lives. Emilio literally has blisters on his hands and CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE! at some point the waitress runs out in to the road and yells ‘BUT WE MADE YOU’ while holding a rocket launcher and gets gunned down by the 50 cal.
They decide that they’re going to make a run for the docks and get on a boat. Which clearly has no electric parts or motors… RIGHT. They make it, but there is one last showdown with the green goblin truck. They kill it, it blow up or something. I can’t even. God this movie is bad. Are we sure Stephen King is a good writer?
In the end more exposition tells us that a Russian satellite blew up an alien spacecraft… NOW HOW WOULD THEY HAVE DONE THAT IF THE MACHINES WERE CONTROLLING EVERYTHING ELECTRONIC?
Theories on the ending.
- sail boat powered satellite.
- the aliens accidentally killed themselves
- the machines still rule the earth, nothing in the end text ever says that the machines returned to normal. maybe the aliens were here to help and got killed also.
Random thoughts.
- if the machines can move ‘non motorized’ parts of themselves (buttons, levers, the whole gun, the trigger, the steering wheel) then why do they even need gas.
- They spray that guy in the eyes with gas, can’t they just fill themselves.
- lots of these kills could have been avoided if they just stayed out of the road
- ‘WE MADE YOU’ lady is THE WORST
- some of the cars seems not to react? only the trucks? and that mobile gun? fuck this is convenient.
- how did that 70’s gameboy kill someone.
- The kid who gets flattened totally biffed it on his own on that bike, it’s mechanical all the way.
Anyway… this movie is hot garbage, but in a good way right?
Looks like it’s Goins pick (then dan, bill, bill)
-Mark
Maximum Overdrive is a 1986 American comedy horror film written and directed by Stephen King.[5] The film stars Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, and Yeardley Smith. The screenplay was inspired by and loosely based on King's short story "Trucks", which was included in the author's first collection of short stories, Night Shift.
Maximum Overdrive is King's only directorial effort, though dozens of films have been based on his novels or short stories. The film contained black humor elements and a generally campy tone, which contrasts with King's sombre subject matter in books. The film has a mid-1980s hard rock soundtrack composed entirely by the group AC/DC, whose album Who Made Who was released as the Maximum Overdrive soundtrack. It includes the best-selling singles "Who Made Who", "You Shook Me All Night Long", and "Hells Bells".
The film was nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Director for King and Worst Actor for Estevez in 1987, but both lost against Prince for Under the Cherry Moon. In 1988, Maximum Overdrive was nominated for "Best Film" at the International Fantasy Film Awards.[6] King disowned the film and described it as a "moron movie". He considered the process a learning experience,[7] after which he intended never to direct again.[8]