Maximum Overdrive (1986)
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When Earth crosses the tail of a comet, everyday machines become sentient and begin a violent killing spree against humanity.
The story
On June 19, 1987, as the Earth crosses the tail of a rogue comet, Rhea-M, previously inanimate machines spring to life. An ATM insults a customer and a bascule bridge rises during heavy traffic, causing a catastrophe. Chaos ensues as machines begin hunting down and ruthlessly killing humans worldwide. At the Dixie Boy Truck Stop outside Wilmington, North Carolina, employee Duncan Keller is blinded by a gas pump. After an electric knife injures waitress Wanda June and arcade machines electrocute a customer, cook and paroled ex-convict Bill Robinson begins to suspect foul play.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
As machines turn violent, humans and pets are murdered by lawnmowers, chainsaws, and ice cream trucks. Newlyweds Connie and Curtis discover a corpse at a roadside gas station but escape in their car from a predatory tow truck. They eventually reach the fortified Dixie Boy Truck Stop. The owner, Bubba Hendershot, uses M72 LAW rockets to destroy many trucks, but a platform truck eventually fires its machine gun into the building, killing him and Wanda. The truck demands humans pump its diesel in exchange for their lives. Bill theorizes the comet is a 'broom' operated by interstellar aliens using Earth's machines to destroy humanity so they can repopulate the planet. Bill eventually destroys the platform truck with a grenade and leads the survivors toward a marina. After destroying an ice cream truck and a Green Goblin truck, the survivors board a sailboat for Haven, an island where no motorized vehicles are permitted. Two days later, the machines go silent when a UFO in the comet's tail is destroyed by a Soviet space platform. Six days later, Earth passes out of the comet's tail, and the survivors remain alive.
- First release year
- 1986
- Runtime (minutes)
- 98
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Stephen King
- Writers
- Stephen King · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Emilio Estevez · Bill Robinson; Pat Hingle · Bubba Hendershot; Laura Harrington · Brett Graham; Christopher Murney; John Short; Yeardley Smith · Connie
- Genres
- science fiction; action; horror
- Themes
- human dependence on technology; alien invasion; survival
- Tone and mood
- black humor; campy; ominous
- Setting
- North Carolina, 1987
- Premise and plot tags
- science fiction; horror; trucker film; comet
- Source material / true-story basis
- King's short story "Trucks" from the collection Night Shift
- Reception
- The film was panned by critics and was a critical and commercial failure, though it has developed a dedicated cult following as a 'so bad it's good' horror classic.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 14% · review count: 14; Metacritic · score: 24%; CinemaScore · score: D+ · scale: A to F
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Raspberry Award · Worst Director · 1987 · Nominated; Golden Raspberry Award · Worst Actor · 1987 · Nominated
- Production trivia
- Stephen King rode a motorcycle from Maine to Wilmington to get a feel for big-rigs.; The film's soundtrack was composed entirely by AC/DC.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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