Review of Maximum Overdrive (1986) by Eric-Travis S — 11 Jun 2008

Never underestimate the power of the eighties.

Hard rockin' AC/DC coupled with eighties icon Emilio Estevez battling the carnage of a whole new kind of "monster truck" (read: monster as in eat you truck).

I hadn't seen this movie in over ten years, and forgot how much fun it is. I hesitate to call it a B movie, because it's not much cheesier than a lot of other R-Rated action flicks, just happens to have possessed machines replacing diabolic madmen as the antagonist.

This directorial debut by Stephen King probably is one of the 3 best films he's ever directed.

Other than one inexplicable flaw in the ending (maybe ol' Stepho didn't know that there were engines in those boats) the only real flaws in the film are things that explode that aren't supposed to. But, show me a Hollywood blockbuster that doesn't do that.

Part monster truck rally, part rock concert, all fun... While brutally violent, this movie is a great outing for the fun seekers of the world. And hey, Lisa Simpson voicer Yeardley Smith is in it, too.

Oh, I should mention that although this is perhaps intended to just be a fun roll in the hay with carnage, it does tend to make one think about how surrounded by technology and mechanisation we really are in this world.

That being said, crack a beer, let your mullet down, and roll the film.