Stephen King's MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE Revs Up Madness and Mayhem!

In Episode 43 of Secret Level, we talk about the first and last movie that Stephen King ever directed… the 1986 horror film Maximum Overdrive! This movie is absolutely bonkers and King was completely coked out of his mind while he was making it, which is why the movie must’ve turned out the way it did. It’s been years since we watched this movie and revisiting it was quite the experience of being reminded of the wild madness and mayhem that movie delivers. Things got even more fun for us when we started digging into the behind-the-scenes stories of the film, which we share in this episode along with our silly commentary! We hope you enjoy the show! 

Transcript

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Oh man. Seriously, and that's why I'm never going to attempt to fly a plane again. Dude, only you. That's all I can say to this. Only you. It was the weirdest thing. Alright, well, I mean... So wild. So wild. Oh, that makes me happy. Luckily I landed it alright, but damn. Right. You're lucky you didn't get arrested, is what I'm saying. Dude, so true, bro. So true. Oh my gosh. Yeah, well, I mean, like I said, only you, because I, I, I wouldn't have the balls. Uh, alright everybody. Hey, hey, what's up? What's up, Billy? Hey, bud, I'm so happy to be here right now. I've needed this for a while. It's been a minute. It's been a minute. It's been a minute. You know, last time we were here, it was like, Hey, we're going to get a new podcast and we're going to start doing these more often. And then just life, man, like just starts kicking, kicking you in the ass. Right. Well, and that's been an insane month. Just absolutely insane. But, we've made it back here. We have, we have. Just, just a quick rundown. I dropped my kid off at college. My wife got into a car accident. A week later, my daughter got into a car accident. They're okay. One of the cars is totaled, though. And one of the cars is still in the shop. And then, there's also the, uh, whole thing with, uh, dealing with stupid ad agencies. It just eats up my life, my life with these people. Yeah. They're pretty much the worst. But anyway, anyway, we are here. We're here to have some fun. We're here to like lighten the mood and talk about crazy movies. Like, you know, the, uh, 1986 Stephen King movie, Maximum Overdrive. Okay. So we've done an abundance of silly movies in, on this podcast. This has to be the absolute silliest that I've seen ever. Yes. But before we go on, before we go on, hello, I'm Joey Parr, host of Secret Level. And joining me today is Billy Sugarbuns Fisher. This machine's calling me an asshole. Oh man, yeah. It doesn't get any better than that. Yeah, yeah it doesn't. And today we're talking about that Maximum Overdrive movie. Have you seen that movie? People listening? Yes. Billy has, I have. One of those movies when I was a kid, I remember I have these vivid memories of, of kids being killed with soda cans being shot out of a vending machine. Yes. And I've had nightmares about this, and I don't know, there was this stretch of time where I don't know where that visual came from, like I saw this movie when I was a kid, it wasn't until like, man, late teens, where, like I picked up Maximum Overdrive and thought I was watching it for the first time, and then as it played out, I'm like, Oh my gosh, this is that movie. This is that movie that has haunted me. Yes, it made me scared of lawnmowers for a long time. Steam, lawnmowers, steamrollers. Lawnmowers, steamrollers, yeah, um, things that It could potentially hurt you, but I thought out of nowhere they were just gonna come alive and get at me. It was in the back of my mind. I originally watched the movie because the Green Goblin was on the cover. And I was like The Green Goblin, yep. I was like, yep, we're doing this. I'm watching the Green Goblin movie and You need to own a truck with a giant Green Goblin head. Yes. Yeah. It's, uh, otherwise what's the point of owning a truck? Let's be exactly, there's, there's no reason to own a big rig if you don't have the green goblin on the front. Exactly. Exactly. So, but yeah, watching this movie again, it's been. Been a long time. And so revisiting it, I felt like it was going to be fun and I was kind of excited to revisit it and it started off and I'm like, Oh yeah, this is like the corniness that, that, that I remember, you know, like, Holy cow, this is crazy. That opening sequence of the film is just. Absolute carnage, carnage. It is just insane. And I, and I, and I, I'm enjoying it. I really am. I'm like, Oh, this is just batshit crazy right here. Right. the thing that gets me the most about maximum overdrive is that they try to. Introduce it as something greater than what it really is. Yes. They try to start it off with machines are growing crazy. And this is why, yes. For the next eight days, a comet's flying by the earth and is causing chaos. Yeah. Okay. It's a little bit more advanced than that, but you don't really need to know the rest of that. Exactly. But. It's like when you're sittin in front of your boss and he starts complimenting you and telling you all these great things about yourself, but you're, you know he's gonna shove a spoonful of shit right in your mouth when he's done. He's like, here's all the compliments, open wide, here you go, pfft, and there you go. There, there you go. That's, that's this movie in a nutshell. It is. Stephen King, the mastermind behind some of literature's most iconic and terrifying stories, in 1986 took a shocking turn when he helmed his directorial debut. The only film he's ever directed with Maximum Overdrive, which is based on his short story Trucks from Night Shift. Right, which is just a group of short stories. when I first saw this movie, I was a kid, so naturally I was like freaked out and machines are gonna get us and all that. But then after, I don't know if anybody knows this, Joey knows this, I read Stephen King all the time. He's got great books, but sometimes he uses Silly turns of phrase for things. And this movie felt like. We were watching his imagination while he's playing with like G. I. Joe's or something. And we're going to talk about some of his, the process of him directing this movie. There's the, yeah, there's some things we're going to talk about. I just like some of the verbiage, nobody uses these lines in real life, but you read them like in the stand or you read them in like the dark towers. Like he'll say something like. A character will be like, eat my shorts, but you never really expect to hear somebody say that unless they're Bart Simpson. But it was used in this movie in all seriousness. Before Bart Simpson. Before Bart Simpson, yes. Eat my shorts is in this movie. Mmm, yeah. Yeah, so we're gonna get into this. There's a lot we need to talk about. There's a lot we need to unpack because you guys really need to get into this. It's fantastic. It's a wild... Perplexing blend of horror. Yeah. With, filled with 80s rock anthems. Thanks to ACDC. And that was the thing, I was like, yes! I forgot about ACDC doing the music for this. They used a lot of their great, iconic songs. And then some new ones just for this movie. So I was like, yes, you should they show you Bill Robinson played by Emilio Estevez and just hit it with an ACDC song And you're like, oh, yeah, here we go. This is it. This is it. This is the stuff now The movie didn't make any big waves at the box office It was a completely it was completely bombed and Stephen King himself has been very critical of it But, but, it has secured a special place in the hearts of fans and cult movie aficionados. Yep, it sure has. Like, everybody who's seen it would watch it again. It's a, it can be delightfully bizarre and enduringly charming at times. Mm hmm. Like the first half. That's a good way to put it. But the whole thing is just completely unhinged. This is a, if you want to watch an un, you want to know what an unhinged movie is, this maximum overdrive, 100%. It revolves around the idea that machines worldwide become sentient and murderous after earth passes through a tail of a rogue comet. A ragtag group of survivors at a North Carolina truck stop have to fend off an onslaught from possessed vehicles led prominently by the Goblin Face Truck. The fan favorite truck. Did they really call it the Goblin Face Truck? No. Oh, good. I mean it is based on the Green Goblin, but you might as well call it the Goblin Truck. I call it Party Time. Yes. Party Time. Everything about this movie is 80s too. Yeah. This is just 100 percent 80s from the down, you got the, the archetypes, like the down on his luck hero, the sassy waitress, the crooked businessman, the overtop set pieces, the explosions that just feels like there's this, this time capsule. Speaking of waitress, I just, I have to, I have to bring this up. Okay. There's a scene in the movie where I call it the attack of the electric knife scene. Yes. Oh my gosh. Yes. I was laughing so hard. Oh my gosh. Yep, and it attacks the waitress. She is bleeding all over the place. This waitress has just gone through such a traumatic experience. She's cut up. She's bloody and it's so crazy because none of the patrons in the restaurant Seems to care at all that this waitress has just been brutalized by an electric knife. And the way they are talking to her, it's like they are treating the waitress like she is a careless and stupid human being while she is bleeding all over the place. I'm like, what is this? This is so crazy. I, I love that so much because I feel like, okay. So this is one of those scenarios like when you're watching like a Bruce Lee movie, or you're watching like Jackie Chan or Or like you're watching Dread. One of those things you know like I would totally get out of this situation Yeah, I could totally do that, but yeah There's no way you and I are gonna do a backflip and kick somebody in the face or something like that What are you talking about? Oh crazy stuff, but then with that, with that scene I feel like I could have stopped that whole situation. Like it got her in the arm and then it got her in the leg. And I was like, it seemed like a stoppable situation, totally avoidable, but that thing's taking you down. It's great. Oh my gosh. It, the movie embraces complete zaniness. Yeah. I mean, and, but it's dark. It is a super dark film. Kids are murdered in this movie and this is the first movie. That I've probably watched which is why it traumatized me why it that that had stuck out in my head all those years Was because I had never seen kids killed on screen before So I think this this movie like messed me up because it killed kids And the kid watching kids being killed is weird when you're a young kid When you're young, like the soda can firing machine, like knocking kids in the head and the back, whatever. Right. Just knock them to the ground. You got the one kid running away. With these dead bodies of kids just laying on the grass of a baseball field Which is that you just baseball fields are supposed to be safe for kids, right? Right, and then you stand there and watch his coat get pummeled to death by those cans Yeah, and then you've got the steamroller that just rolls over Freaking kids man. What the crap? It's so so intense so messed up. It is such a mess That's a movie. Wow. Yeah. Yep. It's just ludicrous. Ludicrous. Yeah. Yeah. But then. And it leaned into that though. It leaned in. I was just going to say that. To the madness of it all. It was like this, this is how this movie is going to go. Yes. Get ready. It knew what it was and it just ran with it. I give, I give Stephen King credit for that because. Like, he didn't pull any punches. Once it started, it started. When the one kid who survives the soda can attack is riding his bike through town and watching like, people hanging out of You know, wood trimmers and, you know, just blood and guts and gore in spare anybody. No, everybody was affected. It didn't. But as the movie went on, like, like the first half was like, kind of enjoyable. You meet the characters. You're like, Oh, this is a fun, fun film. And it's been a long time since I watched it. And that second half just drags on for some reason. And I'm just like. When is this going to be over? Yeah, it definitely takes a turn. Which is weird because I enjoyed the first half. Right. For what it is, you know, but the second half, I'm just like, gosh, dang, this is just absolute bonkers madness. Well, yeah, I mean, in the first half you've got, uh, a, a drawbridge coming up and people falling off the drawbridge, which is crazy intense. It's like, the biggest fear of anyone going over a drawbridge is all of never seen a draw, a draw, a drawbridge in real life. I Like one of those, I've never, I've never seen one in real life. I've crossed giant bridges, like the Golden Gate Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge and other bridges around the world, but I've never, I've never Physically seeing a drawbridge Now I have to go through the recesses of my memory and see if I have But it's always a fear of mine that any bridge it's like quicksand, right? Yeah. Yeah Because that happens a lot quicksand is very dangerous quicksand for sure. Yeah, but yeah, then and then you have uh, gene carlo Esposito Getting electrocuted and saying yo mama right before he does best line of the movie well It's Stephen King saying this machine's calling me an asshole sugar bum and then Giancarlo Esposito stealing stuff from machines and then calling one Are saying yo mama and then it electrocutes him. That was fantastic. That's all in the first half. I love it's great I love that stephen king opened the movie with himself, right? I mean i'm directing a movie. That's how it's gonna happen Yes, it's very alfred hitchcocky of him. Do you know that this? Movie because of this movie evil dead actually became a franchise There's a Yes, Billy's looking at me very strangely right now. So Stephen King was a big fan of the Evil Dead, the first 1981 film. And it's because of his high praise of that movie that the movie was credited as being a success because he gave interviews and like kind of helped boost the marketing for it. Okay. And while he was making Maximum Overdrive, he heard that Sam Raimi Was having a rough time trying to get a sequel made which we all know the sequel to evil dead is like basically The first one the first one but better better. Yeah And king brought this to the attention of the producer of maximum overdrive Who helped ramey? Get the money to make evil dead 2 so had king not been working on maximum overdrive with this producer At this time, evil Dead too might have never got made, which means there would be no evil dead franchise today. How big it is today, man, fantastic. I mean, that's one of the first things that brought Joey and I together was our love for army of darkness and evil. Dead. Yes, I saw evil. I saw army of darkness before Evil Dead. Me too. And then it was like, and then you find out later, you're like, wait. There's more? There's, there's more to this story? Oh my good gravy dude. I'm, like, Ash is an essential character in both of our stories, in both of our lives. I mean, you of course have to say Groovy, and all the best lines came from Ash. But it's, but it's pretty wild, like how this all worked out for Ramey and how King helped him make that happen. Right. Just because he was making this movie. And the reason King, decided to direct the film himself after writing several movies is because he wanted to see Stephen King, and I'm quoting here, done right. Hmm. He said, if you want it done right, You have to do it yourself. Booyah, in your face. And we all know how that turned out. Ha ha ha ha ha. One of the greatest halves of a movie I've ever seen. And, yeah, it's the only, it's the first and only time Stephen King ever directed a movie. And, it's funny, the reason for that, cause he was asked at one point, why he hasn't directed a movie since Maximum Overdrive in an interview. And he responded, Just watch Maximum Overdrive. And he called it a moron movie. Okay. Yeah. I mean, that sums it up right there. I have nothing else to say about that. Yeah. Well, there you go. He originally wanted Bruce Springsteen to star in the movie. Hmm. In the Emilio Estevez role. So that would have been interesting. That would have been. Gary Busey was interested in starring, that didn't work out. I mean, it was a good thing Emilio Estevez was in it, because, I mean, you know, he had that budding career, he just probably, I think he just got done doing, The Outsiders and was, his career was launching at that point. Yeah, he was fine, he was good in the movie. Yeah. It was Emilio Estevez doing his thing, you know? Yeah. So. But I mean, why was it so crazy? Like I, it's just weird. It seemed like Stephen King was just grabbing at anything he could get. Oh, I'll tell you why I was so crazy, Billy. I'm excited. I'm excited. So, uh. In case you didn't know this about Stephen King, anyone who knows Stephen King's history does know this, but some people might not, but at one point, Stephen King was a huge cocaine addict. Oh. Yes. And he admitted, later on in his life, that he was, and I quote, coked out of my mind the entire time he was making this movie. He often didn't know what he was doing, and he remarked that he'd like to try directing again someday. But sober, next time. Okay, that makes sense. But now you know why the movie is so insane. Right. That, that explains everything, right there. I mean, I mean the entire movie. Cocaine is a drug. The entire movie. He didn't say it was just like, you know, every now and then. No. You said, out of his mind. But, but, there is a rumor. It has been around for a long time. This rumor is that George Romero, the director of Night of the Living Dead, Actually ghost directed a large part of the film while King was seeking treatment for his cocaine addiction. This is just a rumor. Um, But it makes so much sense. Yes, a lot of fans do note that the film features many of his distinct camera angles and editing choices. But King has never admitted to this upfront. He admitted that he was coked out of his mind, but he has not admitted that Romero jumped in to help direct the movie. He has mentioned, however, that Romero was constantly on set and King would frequently ask him for advice about directing. So Romero was on set, but we don't know the extent to which he helped direct the movie, if that is even true. Well, I mean, you and I talked about this a little bit. There are some distinct deaths in the movie that are very George Romero. Sure. Like the extreme close up while blood is splurting everywhere. Yes. Like things that you're used to seeing him do. And, um, I just wouldn't be surprised if, if he did. Take charge for a little while. Speaking of strange deaths, While shooting the scene where the steamroller rampages across the baseball field, Mm hmm. Keying requested that the special effects department place a bag of flake blood near the dummy of a young player who is going to be run over by it. And this desired effect would be that a smear of blood would appear on the steamroller and be re smeared on the grass over and over and over again like a printing press. Nice. While filming this scene, the bag of blood exploded too soon and sprayed everywhere making it as appear as if the boy's head had also exploded. King was thrilled with the results, but the censors demanded that the shot be cut. Dang it. So we could have saw a little kid's head explode too. That would have, that would have been wonderful. I mean, who doesn't want that? Gross. That's awesome. What a wild set this must have been on. Right. That would have been for the actors and people to be, to work on like, holy cow, to be on a, to be a fly on the wall. Absolutely. It sounds like stuff that we would have done when we were, um, trying to make films as we were younger. Yes. some interesting things about the movie because all the machines in the world are supposed to come alive and start killing people, right? But Camp and the Curtis's cars never become sentiment in the film. That's true. Even Hendershot's car, that had the license plate Bubba stamped on it, never comes alive itself along with nearly all the other cars in the truck stop parking lot. And in other scenes, they just remain calm. Maybe it just like, I was going out of that. Maybe it was just going after cars that could do some damage. Yeah. Sinister. Like it, it was able to pick out sinister looking cars. I don't know. Oh, and machine guns. And, yeah, you definitely Cars with machine guns. You know, you gotta have cars with machine guns. You have a car with a machine gun, Bill. I absolutely do. Um, and if anybody gets in my way, I just blast them. Yeah. It's just how it goes. It's how it goes. I say there's a comet coming by and it took control of my machine gun. Whoops. Oh, man. while they were shooting the movie, in a suburb of Wilmington, North Carolina. There's a radio controlled lawnmower used in one of the scenes that ended up going out of control for real. Of course, of course it did. So it ended up running over a block of wood that was used as a camera support. And when the lawnmower ran over the wood it It tore it up and shot out wood splinters all over the place. And it ended up injuring the director of photography, Armando Nannuzzi. Manoozie. Nanoozie. I like it. He actually lost his right eye. Oh shit. From this accident. And he sued Stephen King in 1987 for 18 million dollars in damages because of it. Wow. The sue ended up being settled out of court. Needless to say, Armando got sued. Some money 18 mil for an eye. I get it. I mean, wouldn't that suck like you're working for a director of photography, dude, his eyes. That's his career, dude, right? And what are the chances you lose your eye while filming a movie? Uh, the same chances as a helicopter falling down and chopping your head off in the middle of a movie? Oh, Billy, you went there. I did. Dang it. One day we're going to go over the Twilight Zone and we're going to talk about that a little bit. Yeah, we will. I just don't want to make Joe Dante mad. We've already done enough. Shit, that's right. But yeah, that's crazy though. Like, what an, what a wild accident. Right. While shooting a movie. It sucks. It's, it's awful. That's the last thing you would have thought would happen. Yeah. What a, what an awful experience. I know kind of like we laughed through it, but like, you know, you laugh because it's uncomfortable. Right. So... Somebody that uses their eyes for work loses one. That's... That's horrible, but at the same time, I mean, okay, I don't want to lighten this up, but I kind of do okay I don't I don't want to joke around it around about it, but I kind of do I don't sounds like we're going that way Let's go. It's been it's been a while. I think I think it you know, it's not too soon No, we've had some distance. I don't know. No, seriously though, just the fact that it's like they were making a movie about machines coming to life and hurting people and while they're shooting it, one actually kind of does in a way just is so weird. I was going to say something, but I was going to leave that one alone, but yes. It's a little ironic. Anyway. Okay. The original ending to the script had the Dixie Boys survivors deal with one last obstacle before escaping. A machine gun mounted Coast Guard boat. There was also to be one last shot of the city of Wilmington being destroyed by the machines. And that was rumored to have been done with a matte painting because that's what they did in the eighties. Matt paintings. They were really good at that. I mean, they don't do that anymore. No, they don't do that. And now we have the volume, which is cool and in amongst itself, but we'll talk about that later. Sure. But the ending of the movie of maximum overdrive. Yes. it pisses me off so bad. So, so bad. Why Billy? Why does it piss you off so much? That 30 seconds, the, I, I looked it up. The 30 seconds of you get, um, a little, neat little tie up of how everything happened. Yeah. Is 1, 000 times more interesting than the movie. Right? You're absolutely right. This is what it says, as they're, as they're driving away on their boat, and they're looking at Wilmington. It says, Two days after, a large UFO was destroyed in space by a Russian weather satellite, which happened to be equipped with a laser cannon and a class four nuclear missile. Approximately six days later, the Earth passed beyond the trail of the... Ria M, exactly as predicted. So, we were invaded by a UFO. Yes. That Russia just so happened to be like, this shit's going down, and took it out. I kind of want the Russian side of the story. Yes. How did they know a UFO was coming? That would be interesting. Right? That would be inter like, uh, something that's going on at the same time as the events of Maximum Motor Drive, but in Russia. Right. Like And they're dealing with the situation better than America is. Ooh, dang, that's crazy. Yeah. America won't like that. No, but here's the deal, man. These guys were so caught up in watching their machines go crazy, Russia's like, no, this isn't From this earth. Something's coming for us. Let's get ready. And they sent something up with a nuclear missile, and we're like, and lasers. Ready to fight. What were we doing? We're hiding in a gas station, trying to save, you know, Bible salesmen from getting killed by machines. Yeah. Hey, there's a lot we could say about this, but I'm just gonna leave it right there. Leave it right there. They were prepared. Dang it. We got duped. That's why they got to space first. Dang it. Suckas. Anyway, sorry. Speaking of the comet though, Mm hmm. In the film, the Earth passes through the comet's tail on June 19th, 1987. On June 19th, 1999, King would be hit and nearly killed by a distracted truck driver. The number 19 has been prominent in King's writing for most of his career. Heck yeah. Dude got hit by a minivan and almost died. So crazy. 12 years later. It is. That he, that he, that he almost died. Like, that's crazy. Right. Wow. Yeah, it's, it's nuts dude, but I mean, like we said, this is all connected. It's all very ironic. He knew what was gonna happen. Goofball. Uh, some of the trucks used in the movie were from local businesses and the actual names of the businesses remained on the trucks in the movie. They didn't, they didn't change anything. So, all those trucks with business names, those were real businesses in the 80s. Interesting. Among the products names used on the tractor trailers that are controlled by the Comet are Happy Toys, the Green Goblin Truck, a Mighty Tasty Ice Cream Truck, Miller Brewing Co., Bic Lighters, Job Rolling Papers, Dutch Boy Imported Tobacco, Thurston Motor Lines, Inc. I like that name. Thurston Bridgestone Motorsport Warsley transport, Ryder, Zeke's trash and waste removal, and a liquid oxygen tanker. That's, that's a lot of good advertising for some of those companies. Yeah. Honestly, the low, the lesser ones sound fake, but now that I know they're real, it's crazy. Is it good advertising? Because the movie bombed the box office, so, I don't know. Good point. I don't know good or not. Certainly didn't hurt any of the brands, at least the ones that are still alive today. Right. It's that time. It is. Um, we have... A plethora of sponsors not paying us for this podcast, but we promised that we'd let them, you know, express their feelings on our podcast, and here's one of them. 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So the dolly grip, Gene Poole, pulled the cameraman out of the way at the last second saving his life. So, Gene Pool is a hero. Ah, Gene Pool. That's funny. Raise a glass. Raise a glass to Gene Pool, everybody. Remember that video game in the truck stop? Uh huh. Well the symbols that were flashing on that game? Uh huh. Apparently those were typically used by researchers of clairvoyance and ESP. Oh really? Yeah. Crazy. So, just in case you didn't know, did you know? I didn't know I've never gone to a clairvoyant or, anybody with ESP before. You haven't? Mm mm. Have you ever gone to an ACDC concert? Uh, no. I would really love to. That would be awesome. Stephen King is a huge fan of AC, uh, is a huge fan of ACDC. Right. And when he got to meet them, he asked if they would provide the music for the movie. He also offered the band a role in the film. But, the band declined, stating they're not actors. Yeah, I get it. Now, claims that there is a scene with the band on a boat are untrue. However, the band agreed to do the soundtrack after Stephen King's song, Ain't No Fun. Waitin round to be a millionaire from their 1976 album, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. King sang I would like to hear that. What? Did Stephen King? Yeah, I would love to hear that. King actually sang this entire song from start to finish and had the band laughing. And so they agreed. That, uh, because he was such a big fan that they do the movie for him. They perform all but two songs featured in the movie, including two unreleased mixes of previously recorded songs and the entire 1987 album who made who is the soundtrack of this movie. ACDC wrote a new track called Who Made Who and various instrumentals, only two of which appear on the album. The rest of the songs are from previous ACDC albums. And at the time of the release, many music stores had no idea. That the album, Who Made Who, was a compilation soundtrack for this movie. And many mislabeled the album as an ACDC Greatest Hits. Oh, I get it. So apparently, you know, the ACDC marketing team didn't do a very good job promoting this. Or promoting the movie, for that matter. I think more fans would have gone to see it if they knew. There was a, there were limited pressings of the album that were done that featured the movie's logo, stating it was the soundtrack to Maximum Overdrive, but this was later removed from future pressings. Huh. They might as well have just kept it being the maximum overdrive soundtrack. Right. Like, what's the harm of that? Apparently a lot. Apparently. Several of the radio controlled trucks used for the Dixie Boy Siege broke down throughout filming, which delayed production as every time a truck would break down and get repaired, another truck would also break down. So you can imagine that that was... absolutely frustrating and during those times where those trucks were breaking down and being fixed we all know where Stephen King was and what he was doing. What? I don't get it. And then when he'd come back he's like everything just needs to be crazier. No kids are crazier. No kids are dying in this scene, we need to fix that. The Green Goblin Truck. Yes. Happy Toys. Yes. Happy Toys. About a year after this movie was released, The Green Goblin Truck was taken to Silent Rick's Towing and Salvage in North Carolina. The lower jaw, lower teeth, and tongue, and the top of the ears were gone. And what was left was burnt severely. John Allison of Wilmington, North Carolina, saw it there and purchased it. He later had to sell it. And Tim Shockley of Pecton, Ohio. Purchased it. Pecton, yeah. Purchased it in, on February 19th, 19th, 1987, and Tim was the owner of a video store and displayed it in the store. It was called Uncle Jim's Videoland in Waverly, Ohio. And he had it there for several years until he sold the business. And then, I'm sure that business is now out of business. He ended up moving it to his backyard for about 20 years. And it was then moved into his garage. And he started restoring it in 2011. He spent two years over the nights and weekends restoring the head. He now travels across the USA and Canada, taking it to horror and comic cons. Good for him. At least, you know, I don't know if he's still doing that, but he spent, you know, he spent a good amount of time taking that thing around. Kind of be cool to see in person. I mean, I've seen people put up videos of it, not knowing what it's from. Just like, hey, this truck is crazy. It's Green Goblin, but yeah, it'll be a little bit more exciting knowing where it's from. It's interesting. We are now living in a time where there are a generation Of people that have not watched Maximum Overdrive, or know what Maximum Overdrive is. Or know who Emilio Estevez is. Yeah, they all know who Stephen King is. Yes. Stephen King's a very prominent name that people know. But a lot of people don't know that he made this movie, Yep Which is it's interesting like we just live in this weird time that these this younger generation don't go out like looking For these kind of films anymore And back when we were growing up, we had the videos the physical video stores where we could go into and see These movies like they're in our faces. We have a place to go where we can look at covers look at titles Pick them up read the backs of them, right? and We get a chance to like, know, we were introduced to movies that way back in the day. Now it's all streaming and you just, and they just go through and flip through stuff. But you're not seeing movies like Maximum Overdrive on screen, on streaming these days. You know, you've got all the new stuff that is placed right out front in front of you. And that's what people don't know to go looking for this stuff. And I think that's one of the problems is When we'd go to video art and we'd go in looking for one specific movie, but it was gone, it's gone. There's nothing you can do. So you start looking around you start browsing. Hey, I'm walking out with a movie today What's it gonna be? Yeah, and you try something that you wouldn't have tried Exactly. And you can do that with streaming, but you don't know where to look for certain things. You don't know what you're looking for. You can be scrolling through a bunch of stuff, but it's not like going into a video store and seeing everything just laid out for you and browsing down aisles. You know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely. You can go into the horror section and you'd see Maximum Overdrive with the Green Goblin. That's how I got it. But you can't, like when I'm going through streaming mm-hmm. maximum overdrive, I'm not seeing the cover of Green Goblin anywhere. I'm not seeing maximum overdrive as I'm, you know, scrolling through Netflix or. Peacock or Paramount plus or Hulu, whatever you use. But I think it's on Pluto. Is that where it's on? It is. So it's on Pluto. That's where, that's where I watched it. Yeah. But, but you have to like actively look for it. Even if you're not, even if you're scrolling through Pluto, it just doesn't show up like I had to like type maximum overdrive, you know, right. It's not like easily displayed there for you to see. But anyway, yeah, we just live in a very different time. I feel sorry for this generation that has to grow up browsing movies on streaming and basically watching things that are, they are, they are spoon feeding you to watch. I was just going to say the same thing. Were you? Sweet. That's why we've got to get another video store going. Yes. There are some that still exist, surprisingly. I know I found one today. I'm really excited. Oh, really? Yes. Where? In one of the sketchier parts of Phoenix, we were driving around looking at, um, Halloween lights that have been put up. And, uh, I was like, all right, they had video, VHS, laser disc and DVDs. So I'm going to go check it out. Awesome. I could find a laser disc player, man. That's it. Yeardley Smith. Ah, Lisa Simpson. Lisa Simpson, yes, the voice of Lisa Simpson. She played Connie in this movie. Yes, she did. She is very embarrassed by this movie. Wha? Uh? No. Yes. Oh. My kids heard her and were like, She sounds a lot like Lisa Simpson. I was like, That is Lisa Simpson. And they're like, No. They still don't believe me. Even though I've tried to show them videos and whatnot, whatever, they watched for a couple seconds. Speaking of Yeardley Smith, who voices the character of Lisa Simpson on The Simpsons, uh, in the film, the character Brett says to the Bible salesman, Eat my shorts under her breath. Um, the line is also used in The Breakfast Club, another movie starring Emilio Estevez. Yes. So, there's that. So he's to blame for it. He's to blame for it. Yes. How do you feel now? Emilio Emilio Estevez, the man, the myth, the legend, uh, after shooting up the building, the M 60, this is an interesting little thing that I read that just, I don't know what to think about it. So I'll get your two cents after shooting up the building. The M 60 makes a small growl. And apparently this hints that it may be being operated by an invisible alien. What are your thoughts on that, Billy? Okay. So, as we already know, we've talked about it, that the Russians shut down a UFO, you know. Yes. Shortly after the events that happened at Dixie Boy. Yes. So, do you think... Go ahead. Go ahead. No, I absolutely think you're right. I think the aliens are giving the impression that the machines are going weird, but that also explains why certain cars aren't moving and certain cars are. So that's, that's the thing, right? Are they being possessed or are they being operated by invisible aliens? I mean. I hope, I hope it's uh, Invisible Aliens, cause that explains a lot. I'll take Invisible Aliens, why not? Right. Sure. Uh, but now I wish they would have, gone over that a little bit. But who knows if that's true? Right. Hmm. I don't remember invisible aliens in the short story. No, there aren't. But, uh... But like I said, that explains a lot. It does explain a lot, yes. Yeah. So, I don't know. I guess we'll leave it up to your interpretation, listeners. Whatever you wanna, whatever you wanna think is what it is. Yeah, go watch it. But it explains why that comet's so deadly. Cause the aliens are using it as a, uh, a look over here. Like a little distraction. Hey, look! This comet's causing everything to go crazy! It is. Yeah, cause that's how aliens talk. I don't know if you know that. It is. That's exactly. That's how I imagine aliens speaking. Hehehehe The two drawbridge operators at the beginning of the film are seen playing Knock Rummy. At the beginning of Stand By Me, which is also a King, Stephen King story, the boys are seen playing the same card game in their clubhouse. I, I want to know the rules to this. You've never played Knock Rummy before? No, never. Right. I would. That's how you play. Oh. I'm teaching all my friends this. It's a goocher. Um... Rummy! Let's see... In the scene where two trucks are killed with rockets, the weapon is a... Light Anti Tank Assault Weapon, the LAAW, which is, in reality, a shoulder fired, one time use weapon and cannot be reloaded with another round and fired again like they did in the movie. It's a bunch of bullshit. This movie lied to us about rocket launchers! Damn them. I can't believe they did that. At least get something right. Right. The Dixie boy truck stop was a set constructed 10 miles outside of Wilmington, North Carolina. It was. Convincing enough that several truckers tried to stop in and eventually the producers had to put announcements in local papers Saying that the dixie boys was just a movie set. I wonder how mad they got when they're like, hey, there's no gas here Well, yeah, I wonder how many drew like stopped Uh by at night when no one was shooting the movie, right like didn't you know, it's kind of funny What the hell's going on here? Um gas The price for gas shown on the pumps at the Dixie truck stop when the Green Goblin truck is filling up is 1. 08 per gallon for diesel fuel. That sounds nice. Now it would be like what five six dollars Yeah, it is so crazy. So crazy the trailer for maximum overdrive was used in the John Carpenter score from Halloween three season of the witch. Oh nice case. You didn't know that I did not and I have a little note here And my notes it says damage may exceed policy limit Which was from insurance stuff Earlier in the earlier in the week. I was gonna say I completely missed that part of the movie I'm like looking I'm like, what does that mean? I'm like, oh, yeah I like pulled up this these notes to take a quick note for my insurance agency with those car wrecks that we were in Yeah so this is a weird movie in the sense that Um, they try to encompass a lot over a day span. Yes, they do. This is a lot that happens in a day, guys. So much. So much. It is ridiculous. I keep thinking of turquoise. Who doesn't? Who doesn't think of turquoise now? Turquoise will never be the same after our advertisement for it. It's now the Taylor Swift of jewelry. Should have put that in there. Yes. I mean great. Well, you still can when you edit it. Yeah, it's fine Yeah, I like it the way it is, but I do like Anyway, Maximum Overdrive may not have been a blockbuster hit, nor is it critically revered as some of King's other adaptations, but its manic energy, irreverent humor, and sheer audacity have garnered it a dedicated following. It stands as a testament to a time when storytelling had the liberty to be outrageous and fans of the bizarre, the campy, and the distinct 80s, Maximum Overdrive is a rock licking ride that refuses to be forgotten. Dang it, bro. That was poetic. Right? Yeah, that was intense. Sweet. Yeah, I like it. Um, but yeah, what other any other thoughts? That's kind of it guys. We kind of Kind of blew through this episode. It's great. I had a lot of fun doing it Yeah, the turquoise thing just like was amazing too. Oh, i'm glad they sponsor us. I love my turquoise ads I mean I hear it and I feel like royalty When I wear my turquoise. Nice. Yeah. So yeah, is, are there any, like, I've said a couple of my favorite lines, there's still a couple that I've held back, are there any, uh, lines that you feel need to be mentioned? Yes. Do it. Jesus is coming, and he's pissed. I, I, uh, that sounds like a Seinfeld movie tagline. Right? Yeah. Like channel or something like, I love that line because it's like, it is a tagline for a movie. Like if there was a, a Jesus action movie, if someone made a Jesus action movie, this is the tagline. It has to be. Jesus is coming and he is pissed. Oh, and then we've got the, the waitress that runs outside. We made you! We made you! Like, the machines back then had ears and could hear them. We're like, oh, you're right. I'm so sorry. Please excuse me. We made you! There's, there's, there's also another great line that I might as well throw out there. Do it. This is Brett saying, If you don't get your hand off my leg... You're gonna be wiping your ass for the hook next time you take a dump. That's a legit line It's a legit line. It is from the movie and then and now we know how It came to be and then the guy says I never heard no talk like that when I was a boy Man I'd ease my little variation of my turquoise voice in that for some reason you did well, you know how it was supposed to Turn out I had a completely different voice, but as soon as I started reading I was like, oh, this is it Like I found like this is better. You found what you needed. I have to save the other voice for another one now Are we gonna do turquoise outtakes at the end of that one? Yeah, I'm gonna do turquoise outtake on the end of that one for sure. But anyway, thank you everybody for listening to our latest episode of secret level It was great to do this great to unwind great to talk about this fantastically fabulous movie maximum overdrive It's not for everybody, that's for sure. But if you enjoy, you know, campy movies and such, then this is the movie for you. If you've never seen Maximum Overdrive, watch it. You might, you might, you might, you're, you might enjoy it. You might not. I mean, if you go into it thinking it's gonna be a completely campy, out of control blood fest, then there you go. Yeah, exactly. Like Piranha 3D. Sure, sure. Or Sharknado. It's in the same realm. Um, and Joey and I would like to... You know, give a big shout out to Kal El DLT, who suggested us this wonderful movie. Uh, thanks buddy, we appreciate you and your support. And it was recently his birthday, so happy birthday. Happy birthday, buddy. And, uh, don't forget to treat yourselves to some of that turquoise flavored candy. Get it at your local market. Ah, turquoise. Your local flea market. Ooh, now we're just getting fancy. I don't know where to get turquoise flavored candy. Don't forget to follow us on social media. That covers it all. There you go. Uh, our call signs are at GT secret level on Twitter and Facebook. I love it. Thank you for listening, we really appreciate it. And, y'all have a good time living life. Thanks guys, we really appreciate it. And in the meantime, good journey. Good journey. Ladies and gents and candy lovers of all ages, have you ever looked at your jewelry and thought, Gosh, I wish I could just eat that? Well, now you can. Introducing Turquoise! No, not that kind of turquoise. We mean turquoise. The world's first and probably only The world's first and probably only The world's first and probably only candy flavored jewelry Are you tired of your jewelry not tasting as fabulous as it looks? Have you ever secretly wished your bracelet tasted like blueberries and your necklace like a nougat? This is only can This is gonna be hard one to get through. Okay. This is the only candy in town that doubles as jewelry. Or wait, is it the other way around? Who cares? It's the taste bud explosion that's sending tongues on a twisty turvy treat trip. Thread it, wear it, and then eat it. Got a date? Rock a turquoise ring. I'm trying. Me too. 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