Get ready to ROCK! all those fancy oscar-winners may have smartypants actors and pricey special effects, but do they have A SOUNDTRACK BY AC/DC??!!?? Were they written and directed by Stephen King -- before he got sober?!? Do they have more car action than a demolition derby?!?!?
Yes, Maximum Overdrive (1986) is the movie for this Sunday's "monsterdon" watch party over on Mastodon, our fediverse sibling!
- Just start watching that movie this Sunday, July 20, 2025 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT which is 1am Monday UTC
- and follow #monsterdon over on mastodon for live commentary. For example, you can follow that hashtag here: https://mastodon.social/tags/monsterdon
- I usually open two web browser windows side-by-side on a computer. But you could follow the mastodon commentary on a phone app while watching the movie on TV or something.
How to watch the movie:
- tubi (availability varies by country): https://tubitv.com/movies/100010458/maximum-overdrive
- uBlock Origin adblocker on Firefox should work for that tubi link
- archive: https://archive.org/details/maximum.-overdrive.-1986.1080p.-blu-ray.x-264-psychd
- someone usually streams it on https://miru.miyaku.media/ at that time
- if you want to pay and/or watch ads, look here: https://nobraincellsleft.github.io/JustWatch-Search/title/tm119618
follows the events after all machines (including trucks, radios, arcade games, vending machines, etc.) become sentient when Earth crosses the tail of a comet, initiating a worldwide killing spree.
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Maximum Overdrive was theatrically released on July 25, 1986, to critical and commercial failure. It was nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Director for King and Worst Actor for Estevez in 1987, but both lost to Prince for Under the Cherry Moon.[6] King disowned the film, describing it as a "moron movie", and considered the process a learning experience,[7] after which he intended never to direct again.[8]
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first-time director King stated that he was "coked out of [his] mind all through its production, and... really didn't know what [he] was doing".[7] On-set translator Roberto Croci did not remember King's cocaine use, but recalls him drinking from early in the morning until late at night. "I never saw. I didn't. But I did know that he was drunk. That 6 o'clock in the morning we have a roll call and he's drinking beers. And by 8:30, he's on his 10th beer."[9]At a fan screening in 2021, Jock Brandis, the film's gaffer, told the audience that King rode a motorcycle from Maine to Wilmington, so he could ride alongside semi-trucks on the highway. He wanted to get a better feel for how terrifying big-rigs could be when in close proximity, and to better know their loud sounds and movements. When King arrived at the studio on his bike for the initial production meeting, the security guards wouldn't let him through the front gate because they did not believe he was part of any production taking place on the lot. His appearance was disheveled, and he was rambling on about a film he was to direct involving killer trucks that had come alive due to a space comet. He was granted access to the studio lot after Brandis pointed out that the plates on his motorcycle were from Maine.
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King did try to create a positive environment for the crew, at one point renting out an entire theater to screen classic films such as Godzilla and Night of the Living Dead. He provided free refreshments and personal commentary during each film. King would also participate in golf cart races on the studio lot during down time.[9]
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Writing in the Chicago Tribune, Rick Kogan gave the film 1 star out of 4 and called it "a mess of a movie", further stating that "King's direction is heavy handed and his dialogue hackneyed and stiff."[20] Paul Attanasio of The Washington Post wrote that the film "is like sitting alongside a 3-year old as he skids his Tonka trucks across the living room floor and says 'Whee!' except on a somewhat grander scale", and added that as a director Stephen King "proves that he hasn't got an ounce of visual style, the vaguest idea of how to direct actors or the sense that God gave a grapefruit."[21]
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John Clute and Peter Nicholls have offered a modest reappraisal of Maximum Overdrive, admitting the film's many flaws, but arguing that several scenes display enough visual panache to suggest that King was not entirely without talent as a director.
"Anon, can you give us an example from your past in which you demonstrated commitment, creativity, and a depth of knowledge in a subject?"