While I believe Maximum Overdrive was designed with the intention of being a horror movie with a somewhat sci-fi premise (Not a comedy as some suggest), it inadvertently delivers more. This is in terms of the confusion it almost inevitably generates with anyone who watches it. I am talking specifically about how and which machines attack people.
For example, you may find yourself asking how could that soda machine really do that? Or, why do some vehicles chase after people while others are still obedient to their operators? Not to mention several scenes where a victim could have easily avoided being killed even if only four out of their five senses were working properly.
Unfortunately, these aren't the only details overlooked in the movie. The text before the closing credits explaining what events supposedly happen later create more questions, including rehashing the whole "why does this machine attack but not this one" question.
But beyond the lack of explanation and logic, there are other "goofs" that don't take a very keen eye to see. One involves an old Mack truck chasing a car and driving off an embankment to do the whole "car-off-a-cliff exploding thing." This is cheesy enough, but, in this case, the truck seems to start exploding a little prematurely, not to mention the "fall" doesn't seem particularly far.
Another point worth making is that Maximum Overdrive is not so much the scary variety of horror movie as it is the gory variety. So keep this in mind as well as the fact that pets and children aren't spared from the onslaught of King's machines.
As far as the acting goes, it varies significantly by character, bordering somewhere along bearable and believable. Some of the comic relief is actually good.
More on the plus side, the idea of machines coming alive and destroying humanity is thought-provoking to say the least, especially when one considers everyday appliances and automobiles attacking as opposed to more militaristic creations such as those in the Terminator films. Given the considerable expansion of technology that has occurred in our lives since this film was made, a modern adaptation could be very promising as long as some sort of logic behind what types of machines can attack is developed.
Also, the AC/DC soundtrack really fits this film quite well.
In the end, if you can stand the gore (I personally recommend watching a television version which is bad enough) and overlook or laugh at the fairly obvious absence of logic, this movie is worth a look. I couldn't bring myself to give it anything above a "4" but, hey, I couldn't bring myself to give it anything less.
For example, you may find yourself asking how could that soda machine really do that? Or, why do some vehicles chase after people while others are still obedient to their operators? Not to mention several scenes where a victim could have easily avoided being killed even if only four out of their five senses were working properly.
Unfortunately, these aren't the only details overlooked in the movie. The text before the closing credits explaining what events supposedly happen later create more questions, including rehashing the whole "why does this machine attack but not this one" question.
But beyond the lack of explanation and logic, there are other "goofs" that don't take a very keen eye to see. One involves an old Mack truck chasing a car and driving off an embankment to do the whole "car-off-a-cliff exploding thing." This is cheesy enough, but, in this case, the truck seems to start exploding a little prematurely, not to mention the "fall" doesn't seem particularly far.
Another point worth making is that Maximum Overdrive is not so much the scary variety of horror movie as it is the gory variety. So keep this in mind as well as the fact that pets and children aren't spared from the onslaught of King's machines.
As far as the acting goes, it varies significantly by character, bordering somewhere along bearable and believable. Some of the comic relief is actually good.
More on the plus side, the idea of machines coming alive and destroying humanity is thought-provoking to say the least, especially when one considers everyday appliances and automobiles attacking as opposed to more militaristic creations such as those in the Terminator films. Given the considerable expansion of technology that has occurred in our lives since this film was made, a modern adaptation could be very promising as long as some sort of logic behind what types of machines can attack is developed.
Also, the AC/DC soundtrack really fits this film quite well.
In the end, if you can stand the gore (I personally recommend watching a television version which is bad enough) and overlook or laugh at the fairly obvious absence of logic, this movie is worth a look. I couldn't bring myself to give it anything above a "4" but, hey, I couldn't bring myself to give it anything less.
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