Maximum Overdrive
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Maximum Overdrive | |
|---|---|
 Original 1986 theatrical poster |
|
| Directed by | Stephen King |
| Produced by | Martha Schumacher |
| Written by | Stephen King (short story and screenplay) |
| Starring | Emilio Estevez Pat Hingle Laura Harrington Yeardley Smith John Short Ellen McElduff J.C. Quinn Christopher Murney Holter Graham Frankie Faison |
| Music by | AC/DC |
| Cinematography | Armando Nannuzzi |
| Editing by | Evan A. Lottman |
| Distributed by | De Laurentiis Entertainment Group |
| Release date(s) | July 25, 1986 (USA) |
| Running time | 97 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Maximum Overdrive is a 1986 film written and directed by horror novelist Stephen King. The screenplay was inspired and loosely based on King's short story "Trucks", which was collected in the 1978 book Night Shift.
AC/DC, one of King's favorite bands, provided the music for the film, and their album Who Made Who was released as the soundtrack.
Maximum Overdrive is King's first and only directorial effort. The neophyte director was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award's Worst Director, but Maximum Overdrive was also nominated for Best Film at The International Fantasy Film Awards.[1]
The short story was adapted again in 1997 as the TV movie Trucks, starring Timothy Busfield.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Maximum Overdrive concerns the apocalyptic mayhem that ensues when radiation from a closely passing comet causes the machines of Earth to become sentient, self-aware and homicidal. Marauding big rig trucks trap a small group of desperate rednecks, travelers and employees in a fictional roadside truck stop called the Dixie Boy. When the trucks begin demanding more than blood, the Dixie Boy survivors realize they will become enslaved by their own machines, and humans must make a final stand. At the end of the movie, a perfunctory title card explains that a Soviet "weather satellite" had destroyed a UFO with Class IV nuclear weapons and powerful laser cannon.
[edit] The vehicles
Most iconic among Maximum Overdrive's trucks is a black 1978 White Western Star with the Green Goblin face mounted on the front, hauling Happy Toyz Co. toys (Happy Toyz Co. is a fictional company). Other notable trucks and vehicles are an orange 1974 International Harvester Transtar II CO4070 with a BIC trailer , a red/green 1966 Autocar A64 B garbage hauler, a blue 1970 Diamond Reo C-114 D with a trailer labled "15", a red 1980 GMC Brigadier with a trailer labled "Thurston", a 1971 White-Freightliner T-166 with a Miller beer trailer, a brown 1969 White 4000 tow truck covered in blood, a green Freightliner cabover with a Liquid oxygen trailer, a 1962 Mack B-61 flatbed, a Chevrolet Step-Van ice cream truck and a military M.U.L.E complete with an M60 machine gun.
[edit] Cast
- Emilio Estevez as Bill Robinson, a paroled truck stop cook, who ends up leading the band of survivors. Nominated for Worst Actor by the Razzies.[1]
- Pat Hingle as the nasty Bubba Hendershot, owner of the Dixie Boy and secret weapons stockpiler
- Laura Harrington as Brett, a stranded hitchhiker who quickly falls in love with Bill.
- Yeardley Smith (later the voice of Lisa Simpson on The Simpsons) as Connie, a hysterical newlywed whose honeymoon has gone haywire. The film was spoofed with a Simpsons episode named "Maximum Homerdrive".
- Giancarlo Esposito as an ill-fated videogame player
- Marla Maples (pre-Donald Trump) gets hit with a watermelon.
- Ned Austin as the bridgemaster
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Maximum Overdrive Awards page at the IMDb
