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My grandfather was a part of this film. He played the bridge operator in the opening scene. He was the one who screamed "CANT YOU SEE WE HAVE A SITUATION?!"
@Revan085 according to my dad yes he did, he loved that stuff. He didn't talk about it much though because he didn't want people to see him cussing a lot
you have to rank them based on the amount of coke he was doing as well. Honestly, I still think the worst is "It". He totally lost focus and was messed up writing that and the strong start is turned to crap by the end.
The book makes you feel like you’re in the shoes of a technophobe living their worst nightmare. The movie… well… let’s just say it reminds you why people mocks technophobia.
He clearly has no understanding of technology is the frustrating part. In Under the Dome the power was gone because the wires were broken but they still had internet because in King’s mind it’s all wireless. And before you ask he never clarified that everyone was using cell hotspots. Everyone’s laptop could still go online with no explanation whatsoever.
Tbf, '80s/'90s was one of the times when techphobia was at it's peak, as this was when we have the Terminator series some of the X-Files episodes building on it, and some of the '80s/'90s giving nods to '50s sci-fi (which also had a techphobia peak as a lot of sci-fi was about science-gone-wrong to reflect people's fears and worries of nuclear missile mismanagement in the Cold War Era). Better understanding of technology isn't exactly something a lot of people had until it was easier and easier for people to own laptops/computers and smartphones.
I love this movie for so many reasons. Fun fact: the guy killed by the arcade machine was played by Giancarlo Esposito who went on to play villain Gus in Breaking Bad!
@@richstoehr3247 Also, he's in a number of Spike Lee's earlier films. All of them drastically different from Gus (though, his character in School Daze is close). You can't unsee him in things.
The "weird vehicle-less island" is probably based on Mackinac Island in Michigan! It's a beautiful island that you literally cannot use motorized vehicles on!
I get the idea, but considering they took a somehow docile motorboat and that the kid was at some point chased by *planes* (without considering there may be emergency vehicles as in Mackinac), that ending truly lacked a "motors just stop a mile around the isle" explanation (And usually King LOVES his "the heroes discover an element that conditionally disempowers the aliens" reveals, so I'm going to put that on the cocaine.)
I will also throw in that this story is centered around coastal North Carolina, so the islands mentioned could potentially be any of the towns located across the Outer Banks. They’re remote enough that they still have a few people out there with High Tider accents, which is about as close to an old pirate accent as we’ll ever get to hear.
The young actor who plays Deke (Holter Graham) would later go on to do the audiobook reading for Stephen King's 'Christine'. As unengaged as he appears in Maximum Overdrive, he does a great job with the book.
When I was a kid, my youngest sibling became obsessed with this movie and we ended up watching it over and over. We used to quote the lines and drove my mother absolutely insane. It was wildly inappropriate for us at the ages we were but hey! It was the 80s.
The first time I saw this movie, on VHS with a bunch of my friends, we all laughed so hard at the opening scene that I thought I was going to pass out. I was out of breath and gasping for air. The draw bridge opening for the speedboat is what set it off - I couldn’t get the image out of my mind. I’m actually laughing right now just typing this message. Actually there’s the scene later in the movie where the truck full of toilet paper explodes, and I got stuck laughing and thinking about the speedboat again. MO is severely underrated, and thoroughly enjoyable. I would happily watch it again any chance I had.
In the early 2000s, my older brother watched this movie, he was around 16. I distinctly remember one day I was playing video games in my room, (I was around 11) he bursts in and just goes "we're watching this movie now." No explanation, no forewarning about what I was about to witness. So we watch this movie, and we're both cracking up the entire time, it was great. It's one of my favorite memories of my brother as a kid.
People who think it is not typical for Stephen King should probably read the rest of Night Shift. Not every story he does has bullies in maine and that collection does an excellent job of showing it. There's some really interesting stuff in there.
It's funny. I'm a Mainer. I'm a UMO graduate. And I've read exactly one Stephen King novel in its entirety. It was Christine. It took place in Pennsylvania.
In King’s book On Writing he extensively talks about his substance abuse problems and how he used that “tortured artist” myth to justify it for years. It’s a really interesting read because he talks about how much he struggled to write after his accident and also without the aid of a substance. Subjectively I think his best work came after he got clean as well. Hell, even my own work is better since I quit abusing certain substances. Amazing how that myth persists.
I think it persists because it misrepresents a real phenomenon. That being the writing from genuine experience/using creativity to work through trauma. This is absolutely a thing that happens. BUT it's nuts to think that it's the only way that creativity can germinate and it's even more dangerous to think it should be actively sought out.
Psychology 101 teaches you that correlation =/= causation. Most people with creative minds are more emotionally vulnerable, which can lead to substance abuse. Like I love writing, and when I’m happy I’m very happy, but when I’m upset I’m VERY upset. And yeah, that plus childhood trauma led me to drink
His nods in various books to his addiction and its negative effects (while in the middle of them in most cases) really showcase his struggles... The Dark Tower series hits the strongest for me, and having read the first 4 in middle school (before his accident, so there were only 4 written at that point) really internalized the danger of addiction in me more than any scaremongering PSA - and definitely more than any DARE session with cops saying "drugs are bad and give you superpowers" The first book written before and during his first brushes with addiction, the second and third focusing on a junkie as one of the main characters that then becomes sober against his will, and the lure of nostalgia and addictive nature of revenge as themes through the fourth book were among the MANY emotional self reflections King made that were also forced upon the reader to consider.
If I directed the movie, I wouldn't have been able to resist dubbing in the Goofy holler (ahh-hoo-hoo-hoo-hweeey!) when that guy slides off the drawbridge into the river.
The soundtrack for this movie is brilliantly insane. I love the part when the kid is riding away from the baseball field on his bike and the sprinklers dance to AC/DC.
Two things: 1) Stephen King may be a disturbed mind, but he's an entertaining disturbed mind. 2) Nice to have you on face cam. Hope you and kitty have an awesome day!
OK, I've slept on this a few times, and had a bit of a "Wait a minute..." moment. What this alien force can do is really inconsistent. It can just control a non-motorized gun turret and can steer a truck, but it still needs gas to power the trucks and it can't just levitate the gas pump handles to fuel the trucks itself?
One of the reasons I always appreciated King is his complete disregard for the expectation that kids are safe from harm. Even as a kid I picked up pretty quickly on the tendency of films and shows to never seriously threaten child characters. Which meant that whenever kids were in danger it'd usually be met with an eyeroll. So seeing that steamroller scene made me appreciate that film a lot more than it probably deserves. My favorite King novels are probably The Long Walk (which he wrote under his pseudonym), Gerald's Game and The Stand (the doorstopper version, despite the underwhelming ending).
Pet Sematray? Was the kid safe from harm? IT? With the pages and pages that go on with them doing inappropriate things with bev. IT took 88 children and 14 adults in the book. Carrie? The Mist? Honestly I could prob name more ....
@@emd1494 Those are all King novels in which children die. I was talking about how films not based on King novels generally had me unconvinced of any real danger for child characters, though I see how that may not be clear from how I phrased things.
@@Syurtpiutha In the movie (IT, Carrie, Pet Sematray, the mist) the kids do end up cactus. I kinda get what you mean ... that's why when the new IT came out and it showed Gorgies arm being bitten off I got excited ... lol like ohhh dammmm this not going to be like the original IT film
I remember Tim Burton said something about that in the commentary for "Sleepy Hollow" when the Horseman kills a cute little boy; he said he hated how children were always spared in horror movies. And how many times have filmmakers thought they were being original and ironic by having the giant crazy killer refuse to kill children or animals?
This is amazing and ridiculous lollll. Honestly I also really likes addressing the substance abuse aspect, especially the myth that it always improves art. That's always bothered me and this is a good explanation. I especially liked the visual aid with your own art.
Thank you for having actual commercial lead-ins. Jarring cuts in the middle of sentences just frustrate me, particularly when I get a 15 minute Dr. Squatch ad, so getting me mentally prepared for it was a big help. I hope more creators do this.
@@inyrui I watch a lot of RU-vid while I'm doing housework, cooking or eating, or whatever else I'm doing where I might not have my hands free. The bigger issue is that they allow ads that are more than 5-10% of the total length of the video. Heck, Even regular TV has about 8 minutes of ad and a half an hour, and that would be an improvement over these 45 minute "long-form" ads interrupting my 12 minute video.
@@inyrui I watch a lot of RU-vid while I'm doing housework, cooking or eating, or whatever else I'm doing where I might not have my hands free. The bigger issue is that they allow ads that are more than 5-10% of the total length of the video. Heck, Even regular TV has about 8 minutes of ad and a half an hour, and that would be an improvement over these 45 minute "long-form" ads interrupting my 12 minute video.
@@soylencer I watch RU-vid while doing the exact same things. I just stop for 5 seconds and walk over to my phone and skip the ad. Idk lol ads have never bothered me seems like a super first world problem. That's the price you pay for free content
This was ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL ! Thanks so much for sharing these videos with us ! I'd love to hear you do one of these for The 5th Element and Better Off Dead. They're my two favorite movies to try and explain to people with a straight face.
I remember The Stand being my first King book, it really captured my mind and sucked me into it in a way no book had before and it really got me reading so much it was almost hard to find enough good books for a while. Found it in a local shop on sale for £2, best book deal I've ever had! I really love reading King books and seeing his films because I'm from the UK so seeing his flavour of America is a lot more interesting than the sterile version in a lot of media
i don't know how young i was when i first saw this movie, but i'm pretty sure it was around 5 or 6 and my babysitter's older kids let me watch with them. it's the first horror movie i ever watched and it was so terrifying that even though i have long term memory issues, i still remembered bits and pieces - mostly the rabid knife, the can launcher, and a few other vignettes from the very beginning. Thanks for the nostalgia trip! Between this and discovering X-Files via some VHS tapes that were SUPPOSED to have Sesame Street on them... I gained a morbid curiosity with horror by the time I was 10. My mother encouraged it by getting me both a copy of the original Grimm's Fairy Tales as well as an anthology of short horror stories curated by Alfred Hitchcock that I used to read whenever we went camping. Ah, memories...
You have to love how the trucks watch them in the side mirrors. I really have to know how that works. Cool to see Giancarlo Esposito in an early role even if it's one where he dies. The irony is how impossible this story was back then, but how possible it is now.
Yeah, a lot of horror/sci-fi stories have often had a lot of themes warning people about what could happen as technology takes over, people just don't often think of it since AI is advanced but not Skynet-levels of advanced and it's getting partially socially-acceptable to be addicted to our devices. At least, not yet, until the day we advance it just because we can.
Most times King goes off the rails, you can still make out at least a general shape of the train tracks. This movie (from what I can tell via various reviews), the train reaches the speed of Thursday before falling hamburgerwards into your childhood crib because it’s you, except imbued with all the secrets of the universe for as long as you don’t blink.
remembering tommyknockers being about people digging up an alien spaceship, and the people turning into aliens, with one guy sacrificing himself by flying it back into space... yep, sounds about right.
I unironically love this movie. The VHS box art and blurb on the back scared the crap out of me as a kid whenever I’d see it at stores, but when I finally saw it (I distinctly remember watching it on TBS after an episode of WCW Saturday Night when I was 10 or 11) I realized it was basically just a big dumb action movie. It still entertains me to no end, I probably watch it once every year or so. Also that clip of King’s house brings back a lot of memories, I lived around the corner from it for awhile when I was attending Husson College in the early ‘00s and walked by it regularly.
No matter what anyone says, this will always be one of the greatest movies ever. Like Roses, I was also exposed to a lot of things that I shouldn't have been exposed to at a young age. I have an uncle who's only about 12 years older than I am, so between the ages of 5 and 10 I saw all kinds of crazy stuff. Killer Klowns from Outer Space is probably why I hate clowns 30+ years later, I saw every Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street before I was 12 (the ones that existed before I was 12, anyhow), Critters, Tremors, Piranha. Tons of other slasher, gore, and horror movies from the 80s that I don't know the names of. And lots of nudity. Was it healthy? Who can say. But I love horror and weird stuff like this to this day probably because of it all.
No lie, this is easily one of my favourite movies. Its like Tremors, in a way. Completely off the rails to a psychotic degree, but I'll be damned if it isn't hilarious watching as it rolls around in the lunatic fringe.
Same here, and I love both of these movies because they are just so bonkers, and with Maximum Overdrive it does help that AC/DC did the soundtrack, as I'm a huge AC/DC fan!
when I was 16, my high school boyfriend lent me Night Shift because he knew I loved Stephen king and that was something we shared, when we broke up I kept the book thinking I’d give it back eventually, but when I was 20 and he 19, he was involved in a tram accident and passed away, I can’t ever give his book back, but it will always remind me of him.
Stephan King: The Aurora Gorealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your truckstop? PushingUpRoses:Yes. Stephan King: May I see it? PushingUpRoses: No.
19:19 This art piece here is just mesmerizingly beautiful!!! And I agree with what you said too, when I was in more severe stages of my depression I stopped drawing at all, because i didn't have energy for it and couldn't see the point. In the rare moments I did manage to sketch something it were just incoherent scribbles
@@Legather I think that's the movie he actually demanded his name be taken off of because it was SO different from what he wrote it basically wasn't an adaption of his work anymore.
I'm busy right now, but saw the title and needed to say this: Wasn't Stephen King kind of always off the rails? If not on his own track completely, this whole entire time? 😅 I can't wait to watch this later, your videos are freakin awesome!!!
not rly, until he started usin shoeboxes of coke & drinkin mouthwash in tha early 80s, his novels was essentially modernized/americanized remakes of classic horror concepts & styles- "carrie" is a boomer edgar allen poe gothic revenge story, "salems lot" a boomer "dracula", "tha shining" a boomer haunted inn story in tha vein of shirley jackson, "tha stand" is a boomer LOTR combined wit jack londons "tha scarlet plague" & similar doomsday fiction, etc
Hi, really love your vids they help a lot actually. When I get depressed or extremely anxious, I find myself always watching your review of Goosebump or Are you Afraid of The Dark episodes. And without fail, they always manage to bring a smile to my face and make the world less overwhelming. Just wanted to thank you for being downright awesome! Also totally would love to see a review of your favorite episode of the X-Files. It was a show used to watch all the time when I was a kid, and I'd love to hear what your fav case from the X-Files is!
I’m only 6 minutes in and I love this review already. You capture the insanity of this movie well. I’m especially laughed hard when you reveal that the man screaming was NOT an edit! 🤣
I remember watching as far as the pumping gas scene, and that was the end for me. Just don't pump any gas for them? Or pump the wrong kind of gas? There are so many better solutions than "help the evil trucks."
Yeah, or compromise, be like "Okay, some of us will stay and give you fuel, but you have to let the rest go". Nope, everybody stays trapped, 'cause reasons.
Ever seen what happens if you pump gasoline into a diesel truck then try to run it? My Dad's boss at work did that once with a diesel pickup truck and when he started it one of the cylinder heads ended up on the roof of the station. Insurance claims galore that day!
I remember seeing this movie when I was channel surfing with the cable box. It just weirdly pulled me in and I had no idea it was a Stephen King movie.
"We need to go to this no-motors-allowed island!" *Proceed to go to the island with a motorized boat with the kid that was at some point chased by planes and may have told them that they're also airborne. But sure, you'll be fiiiine!*
@@willlastnameguy8329 How did the electric knife "attack" that lady? OK, it's possessed but it's only function is on/off. How did it physically move itself to cut her lol The plot makes more sense if it was aliens and they are invisible and just fucking with people.
This came on tv one day on a saturday, so me, my boyfriend and mom watched it together. The entire time we were laughing at how weird and awful it was, how nothing made sense. I thought it was something like how laserblast tried to follow in the steps of a stephen king-esque plot and failed horribly doing so. I had no idea this was his own doing. I suppose we have to make a few mistakes to learn though.
I remember reading an interview with King in Fangoria magazine that they actually had a blood bag attached to the child mannequin that gets run over by the steamroller. Apparently it burst at the right second, splattering the roller with fake blood and chunks. King loved it, but the studio fearing backlash made him use the take we got instead.
I watched the film as a kid and I remember it being very nuts, but a lot of fun in places. The line "this machine called me an asshole!" still cracks me up.
Thank you for including that "Emiliooo!" clip from Night at the Roxbuy. That scene is all I can think of when people talk about Emilio Estevez. 😂 Thanks for another great video! 💖
Your videos are just the best and your channel is CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED. Your quality is always great and as a kid born in 1989 I love looking back at everything you love looking back on. Keep up your hard work, you’re the best!!!
Y'know, the funny thing is, when it comes to supernatural horror, I actually think it works best when things are explained as little as possible. To use only King's own work as an example, the short story "1408" is probably the most horrifying thing he's ever written, as well as one of his most enigmatic. The problem here, I think, is that the way the story is set up, the threat is too clearly defined to *not* require an explanation. It's also one of his broader, sillier plots, which while entertaining, lacks the gravitas of something like "1408" or The Shining-or even Cujo, which was written at the nadir of his drug addiction and ends on a downer note of Ligottian proportions.
I've being enjoying Columbo recently, thanks for the great suggestions! Love seeing Leslie Nielson; Patrick McGoohan; and of course our beloved Robert Vaughn (Gelt from the 1980's classic Battle Beyond the Stars). I first saw Maximum Overdrive at a friend's house who was 1. blessed with cable & 2. a stepfather that didn't care what we watched. Though I was not so pleased when the later movie 'Invaders from Mars' was finished.
The making of this film is kind of amazing. If you watch the trailer, you can see all the coke on screen, just look at his face. I kind of wish the lost gore scenes were discovered. Also, Lisa Simpson screams, a lot. Trivia note, the truck stop set was so realistic, that actual truckers tried to stop there more than once for fuel.
I live in Coastal North Carolina and go to Wilmington all the time , I love this movie and ride by a lot of these places ! The bridge is still as it was , so is the area around the gas station . I’m pretty sure I’ve ridden by the baseball fields on my way to Charleston an couple of times , also the roads where the kid was being chased are pretty much the same .
Ok but the scariest part was the "in Wilmington, North Carolina." Had me SHOOK. The stinky stinky place of eastern NC being in a high-profile movie is just unfathomable, and I say that as someone who lives there. Also 2:57 is just normal Wilmington driving tbh
growing up I had some cousins who lived in Wilmington, and we would go up, and see them from time to time, and so when this movie came out on VHS I was like Holly Shit they filmed there in that nothing place?!?!?! Edit: Maximum OverDrive is still one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies of all time, and the AC/DC soundtrack is a big factor in that lol!
In 2020, Joe Hill did an interview with Mick Garris where he stated he wanted to direct a remake of Maximum Overdrive where it’s artificial intelligence, as opposed to *hand wave-y comets + aliens*, that causes the machines to turn against humanity. So...basically SKYNET as imagined by a King scion. I’d watch that in a minute lol.
Honestly, with the "Internet-of-Things" that's a borderline plausible scenario. There are already factories running with (dumb/scripted) AI oversight of practically every valve and gasket in the entire workflow. Every vehicle on the road has multiple computers in it. People can play Doom on their refrigerators. You could tell the same story with zero supernatural element at all. Maybe it's evil AI. Or hackers. Or a virus. Or a software bug causing a cascade failure. There's plenty of options.
You know, I really adore your King's Quest videos and I'm soooo glad you are applying your wit and talent to movie reviews! You're seriously GREAT at it! Thank you!
My husband saw this movie as a kid and loved it so we tried watching it a few months ago and it was just too awful for me to finish and he didn’t even want to finish it 😂 So as a movie that is completely off the rails, I suggest Hudson Hawk. It’s not the usually genre you cover but it is probably the tonally strangest movie I’ve ever seen with performances being total camp. My husband also saw this as a kid but it was so bonkers we finished it as I just had to see how it ended! I’d never heard of it before but I guess it’s infamous.
I saw Hudson Hawk as a kid and forever I will remember the scene where the guy eats spaghetti from a thermos. I cannot tell you why, but that scene lives rent free in my mind. Its all I remember from it.
I like the part in the beginning where the best friend flings herself out the window. It bothered me emotionally but also looked cool- great for setting the tone iirc
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that there was an interview where King was asked why he doesn't direct his own movie material and his response was "just watch Maximum Overdrive", which is a pretty fair and self-aware reason when you think about it. Also, "turns out Green Goblin is a perv" is accurate when you consider the existence of the Sins Past storyline *shivers*.
I had genuinely forgotten about all the bonkers stuff that happens in the back half of 'Maximum OD' - I remember the first half or so vividly, but the rest...it's just a fog. As a lifelong King fan, I've only watched this twice and never really feel the need to again - but thanks for bringing it ALL BACK, Roses!
I like this movie a lot, It’s like The Plan 9 From Outer Space. It’s so bad that it’s so good. The style, the crazy story, aesthetics and the goofiness of it. BRILLIANT for 80s Halloween screening.
fun fact Stephen King wanted Bruce Springsteen in the role of Bill Richardson but producer of the project Dino DeLaurentiis wanted a recognisable name so went with Emilio Estevez
