6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.6 |
When a mysterious comet passes close to Earth, machines everywhere suddenly take on murderous minds of their own. Soon, video games, cash machines, drawbridges, and steamrollers all go on a psychotic killing spree of global rebellion. But when the Dixie Boy Truck Stop is held hostage by a mob of homicidal 18-wheelers, human vengeance goes into overdrive. Who made who? And who will survive the final showdown of man vs. bloodthirsty machine?
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, Yeardley Smith, Holter GrahamHorror | 100% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
BDInfo
English, English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Cars and trucks have become so computerized over the past several years that it’s almost easy to think of them as having a mind of their own. Maybe that’s one reason my wife dubbed a Chevy Volt we used to own “Christine”, since it often did rather odd things, like crank the heat up to unbearable levels despite the thermostat being set at a reasonable temperature or (in one of the oddest anomalies) suddenly start futzing with the door locks, sending them up and down at intermittent intervals for no discernable reason. All sorts of devices, including cars and trucks, seem possessed by something with malevolent intent in Maximum Overdrive, but this fitfully engaging film, the only Stephen King adaptation directed by the Master of Horror himself, might be thought of as brain dead in a certain way, since its campy humor is kind of hit or miss and its supposedly “scary” elements often end up being more unintentionally funny than any of its ostensible comedy. King himself has not exactly championed the film, and seemed to take it all as a wayside on an otherwise literary journey, but King fans are a hardy lot, and even despite the naysaying by King, some folks find Maximum Overdrive at least a bit of silly fun.
Maximum Overdrive is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Film's Vestron Video imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. These Vestron releases have often provided some fantastic supplements (this one included), but they frequently lack any detailed technical data on the provenance of the element(s) utilized for a release, and that's once again the case here. This is actually a generally pleasing Vestron release, at least in terms of color timing and lack of any significant damage, but there's still a certain variability in terms of clarity and detail, and some of the later material in the darkened diner has a kind of "dupey" look to it at times, with milky blacks and some wavering contrast. Much of the daylight material also looks soft as can pretty easily be gleaned from the screenshots accompanying this review, but I have to say I feel at least part of that is actually due to inconsistent focus pulling and what almost looks like malfunctioning lenses at times. Considering the amount of "misty" shots that feature things like smoke emanating from engines, there are no serious resolution problems, though as with clarity and detail, the grain field is also somewhat variable. While the overall palette looks very healthy, I personally thought that fleshtones were just a little flushed looking at times. Depending on whether or not you have a history with this title in previous releases, I could easily see this getting a wide variety of "scores" from viewers, so parsing the screenshots included with this review may help to define your opinion.
The Blu-ray disc offers the film's theatrical stereo exhibition courtesy of a great sounding and often nicely directional DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, but for those wanting the AC/DC score turned "up to 11" (so to speak), they may want to at least sample the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, which pretty significantly ups amplitude and especially the lower frequency ranges (you'll hear noticeably more "oomph" in some of the explosive effects in the surround track, as well as some of the scoring). That said, the surround track does not consistently engage the side and (especially) rear channels, though occasionally discrete effects may pop now and again. Fidelity is fine on both tracks, and this is actually one release where each soundtrack option has its own selling points, as well as perhaps some deficits.
When even Stephen King himself is on record as being, well, not all that enthusiastic about this film, it's probably wise to temper expectations. There's a certain goofily amenable quality to Maximum Overdrive, but as even the combined commentators seem to recognize, this is probably a curiosity in the King canon more than anything. As with many Vestron releases, the supplemental package is outstanding, while technical merits are generally good (video) to excellent (audio).
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