Trucks
"I always knew the industrial age would end in chaos." - customer
release year: 1997
genre: sci-fi/horror
viewing setting: home streaming 10/26/25
synopsis: xxxx
impressions: This was another adaptation of the Stephen King short story Trucks (Maximum Overdrive was the first, a decade earlier) and I had never heard of it. But it had the same premise (mechanical things coming to life and attacking humans) and was fairly entertaining. Key elements included, among other things: a guy getting bludgeoned to death by a toy dump truck...the "BC972" contagion...more than just motor vehicles operating themselves...a hazmat suit filling with air and taking an axe and killing two workers!...a poorly-executed drainpipe escape plan...infighting among the trapped people...a girl who can't handle stress and freezes up or does stupid things...a fundamental flaw in the escape plan...a bad surprise at the end.
body count: 12 confirmed kills......
acting: The best-known name here is Brenda Bakke as one of the more sensible (and likeable) people. Timothy Busfield and Brendan Fletcher are the father and son who also keep their cool and are helpful. Ditto Roman Podhora as another dad who was just passing through. Amy Stewart is his wannabe-tough teenaged daughter who (as noted above) hits the bluescreen stage when things get tough.
final word: Reasonably entertaining retelling of the Stephen King story.
back to the main review page