I'll be getting to the winners of the 90's sci-fi contest soon so don't anyone worry about that. For the time being I want to talk about a film that deservedly was panned by critics across the board, has terrible scores on all the major review sites, and honestly, is a really terribly made film. However, it's so absurd and poorly made that this actually makes it a joy to watch for the kind of person that enjoys finding humor in things that weren't meant to be funny.
There are a lot of films out there like this, but Maximum Overdrive is truly ridiculous and this is precisely why I go back and watch it over and over again.
In 1986, and some would argue to this day, Stephen King could release a film about basically anything and people would go see it in theaters. He already had a string of massively successful films at this point including Carrie (his first), The Shining (rated by many people as one of the best films ever made), and Cat's Eye (panned by critics but a personal favorite of my own. When Maximum Overdrive came out, even though the previews seemed a bit silly, everyone was excited to go see it.
Combine all the above factors with the fact that Emilio Estevez was in what can be considered the high-point of his career and the public didn't have any reason to suspect that this movie was going to absolutely suck.
Many people attribute the suckiness of this movie to the fact that Stephen King himself wrote the screenplay and directed the film despite having little to no experience in the trade. What can you say? Some people just think because they are good at one thing that they are going to be good at everything. It would be the only full-length film that King would ever direct.
If you are unfamiliar with this movie it kind of takes Terminator to another level. Not only do some machines become cognitively aware of their existence and rise up to eliminate their slave master humans, but ALL machines do so. This can be anything from a computer to a car or even a hair dryer. Their only desire in their new-found sentience is to kill all humans.
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lawn mowers have had enough of their slavery
There are also a lot of elements of the film that fail to establish continuity such as the fact that a couple who are in a machine, their own car, are attempting to outrun other vehicles that are trying to kill them. There isn't any explanation as to why their own car doesn't just kill them.
While holed up in a gas station, some of the machines decide to team up and infiltrate the compound. A bulldozer and a military vehicle with a mounted machine gun come by and through morse code - because obviously the military vehicle knows Morse code - demand that the humans come out and fill up their diesel fuel tanks if they wish to escape with their lives.
I'm not going to spoil any more than I already have but the humans are plotting how they can double-cross the machines. Someone in the group who just happens to know Morse code also informs the group about a nearby island where no motorized vehicles are allowed because: reasons. It's completely stupid but the plot needed to move forward I guess.
The sequence of events that happens was the 1986 warning of sorts to tell the world that we have become too dependent upon technology. I can only imagine what they would say about the lives of today where basically nobody knows how to do anything without the help of a smart phone.
Even that trailer is more of an episode of Stephen King talking about how great Stephen King is and just that is cringe enough to get me to watch this movie again. The humorous thing about this is that King struggles with his lines just in this 2- minute video and they had an unlimited amount of takes to get it right. Not only does he suck as a screenwriter and director, but dude can't act worth a damn either.
Should I watch it?
If you appreciate bad cinema that is so bad it is good then I say yes. There is no reason at all to watch this film based on any other reason than to poke fun of just how blisteringly awful it is. The horror isn't scary, the lines are corny, the lack of continuity just goes on and on, and the ending is a non-ending of ultimate convenience that the actions of the characters in the film have zero impact on whatsoever.
It is truly a terrible film. Some would say one of the worst bigger-budget films of all time. It lost money at cinemas but has since become a cult classic for all the wrong reasons. I've seen this movie dozens of times and I go back every now and then just to marvel at the awfulness of it all. I think it was only Stephen King's own ego and probably a fair bit of his own money that resulted in this thing ever being in theaters in the first place.
For the right person
