was it seen as a stinker? did folks think of it as a joke? who saw it at the theater? It looks so low budget. IMDB lists it having a 10 million dollar budget for 1986 which back then the average budget was 16 million of which is exactly what Top Gun costs. And yet MO looks so cheap.
shareI wasn't born yet. I guess it wasn't too memorable. My mother loves Stephen King, and she didn't even remember this film. I saw it when I was between the ages of 4-7, is best guess. But hadn't seen it since then. I asked my mother if she knows a film where vehicles come to life and kill people. She told me "Christine." But didn't know of any others. I just watched that yesterday.
I just found this film today when I searched for films about killer vehicles. I enjoyed it. I liked it more than Christine. Connie is what helped me find it. Because I remember a woman who complained a lot, who was always yelling for "CURTIS!" lol And how she screamed about being scrunched up in the car. I still remember my great grandmother saying, around that part, how Connie talks to much, and that she was sick of her. lol
So I enjoyed it. It seems like one of those films that you look about on as one of the old classics. Even though it was a flop at the time, and corny by modern standards, it's just one of those films most people have seen. Like Wizard of Oz in the 50s. It's seen as a big classic. But seems I recall reading, at the time of its release, it was not considered anything special -if it wasn't a total flop.
____________
If you're gonna pretend to cut her hair, at least put some scissors in your hand!
I remember when it came out. Didn't see it in theatres but did order it when it premiered on pay per view. I saw it for what it was...campy fun.
shareIt was a good time
I was a solphmore in highschool &
I remember everyone laughing & cheering on the trucks
This was the first film that I purchased with my own money, around early 1987, when it was released on VHS. I think it was 30$ or something like that at Hills department store (due to the cost of VHS films, most running between 80-90$, I only owned this, Batman '89, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles '90 in that era). I liked it a lot then (it also had a trailer of 1986's "Manhunter" at the beginning of the cassette, which I think is the greatness), and feel the same way about it today.
shareAll I can say is that when I saw it in theaters, I enjoyed it and it seemed like everyone in the theater did too. It was just a silly popcorn flick. Not surprising it didn't go as well as Stephen King's heavy hitters, but I'm surprised it legit "bombed." It lost money? Damn.
shareWe marveled at it! Many people in the traveling show-tents that were playing it became overwhelmed and fired their revolvers at the screen during the truck attack scenes.
shareIt was stupid then and it's stupid now.
I remember looking forward to Maximum Overdrive after reading Stephen King's short story. Saw the movie and all I could think was WTF??
I'm 58 and recall it being billled as sort of a cool cult type of Stephen King Hit that ended up doing well on Latenight Cable like SHOWTIME and VHS
share