Well, there's not a lot to "hold up" when it comes to Maximum Overdrive. The movie is campy fun; don't try to make it something more than that, okay? Lots of things kill people in lots of ways. It's not a political message or an attack on progress.
Dave Riedel at examiner.com recently reviewed the film. I was interested to see what a 2014 review of the film would look like. Riedel gave it 4 out of 5 stars. His favorite line is "nicely done." The acting is nicely done. The sets are nicely done. I guess it's nice.
Riedel writes, "Overall Maximum Overdrive is a nicely done horror flick brought to you by the writer himself, Stephen King. The storyline is twisted as you would expect from King and translates to the screen pretty well. King fans, sci-fi, and horror fans will all likely enjoy this one."
Now rewind. How was Maximum Overdrive seen in 1986? Well, not nice.
Jon Pareles at nytimes.com was not quite so generous with King's directorial debut. Here are some of my favorite lines:
- Mr. King's movie of his own screenplay takes place in Wilmington, N.C., a locale that allows him to indulge almost every dumb-redneck stereotype.
- the movie might be called ''Attack of the Killer Trucks''
- For the most part, he has taken a promising notion - our dependence on our machines - and turned it into one long car-crunch movie, wheezing from setups to crackups.
Check out AMC's Christine v. Maximum Overdrive. (amctv.com/movie-blog)
Of course -- I really like this review:
And, for another more current review, this is from October 2014:
Oh my gosh. The bloody, frickin' Nostalgia Critic. Of all the people I never expected to run into here.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, sometimes he can be funny. What bugs me about some of his reviews is that unless the film is very bad (and this guy has reviewed some clunkers, believe me) he shows a lack of knowledge about various types of storytelling combined with a lack of either film history, or a desire to learn from it.
Personally, I disagree with his Maximum Overdrive review, especially in the fact that he can't see anything frightening in technology. That's short sighted in another way when you stop to think about it. Like owning a computer and never thinking to install anti-virus software.
Still, he can be funny on occasion.
ChrisC
I don't know if this balances anything out, however there is a review of one King's 80s works that does grasp the kind of old school charm that is key to these films.
DeleteIt's a review of Silver Bullet, and it can be found here:
http://blip.tv/OLPresents/silverbulletfinished-6415670
The vid may take moment to start up, but it's working, just be patient.
ChrisC
My own review on my own blog states that the movie had an atrocious script with puns that would have made the cast of Looney Tunes blush. The plot and the action sequences are still relevant, but a new script is absolutely necessary to make this movie meainingful.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the movie on the level of junk cinema, and junk cinema has a relevance that is surprisingly timeless. Timeless for all the wrong reasons, sure...but still.
ReplyDeleteIs it a GOOD movie? Absolutely not. Is it an enjoyable movie? Arguably. I sure do get a laugh out of it when I watch it, which must count for something (if only to me).