History Trivia / MaximumOverdrive

** Creator/StephenKing himself once referred to the film as a "moron movie". He likes to say that everyone makes mistakes now and then - "I directed ''Maximum Overdrive'', I know what I'm talking about." He also agrees with most people that he should ''not'' have been so coked up while making it. Creator/YeardleySmith reportedly isn't fond of being in it herself, though she was willing to be interviewed for the Blu-ray.

* SelfAdaptation: Creator/StephenKing made the movie, loosely based on his own short story "Literature/{{Trucks}}" from ''Literature/NightShift''. He even released a trailer in which he directly addressed the viewer, boasting that if you want something done right, you've gotta do it yourself. It's the only movie based on his stories that he personally directed and reception was pretty negative, an opinion [[OldShame King himself later agreed with]]. By his own admission, he was also drugged out of his mind for most of the shoot, and it's pretty obvious that he's still heavily rattled in the trailer.

** Creator/StephenKing himself once referred to the film as a "moron movie".

* OldShame: Creator/StephenKing likes to say that everyone makes mistakes now and then - "I directed ''Maximum Overdrive'', I know what I'm talking about." He also agrees with most people that he should ''not'' have been so coked up while making it. Creator/YeardleySmith reportedly isn't fond of being in it herself, though it seems to be an aversion these days as she was willing to be interviewed for the Blu-ray.

** Creator/EmilioEstevez called the film the one he regrets doing the most in his career.

* TroubledProduction: During the making of the film, a radio-controlled lawnmower managed to steer out of control and land on a wooden board. The lawnmower fired splinters of wood that permanently blinded cinematographer/camera operator Armando Nannuzzi in his right eye. Armando Nannuzzi sued Steven King and 17 others on 18 February 1987 for $18 million in damages due to unsafe working practices.

** The scene where one of the little league kids gets run over feet first by a steamroller was [[{{Bowdlerise}} bowdlerised]] from the original production cut. The mannequin used for the steamroller to run over had a bag filled with fake blood placed next to its head in order to add to the gore. However, what the crew didn't expect was for the head of the mannequin to ''[[YourHeadAsplode explode]]'' into a huge mess of fake blood and gore. The crew loved it, but the censors found it too graphic, and ordered for the shot to be cut (though as WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic pointed out, with glee we might add, at least one frame of the original scene can still be seen).

** Before De Laurentiis got the rights, a British filmmaker named Milton Subotsky had planned to adapt ''Trucks'', ''The Lawnmower Man'', and ''The Mangler'' into a compilation film called The Machines. A script was drafted but finances weren't secured.

** Stephen King himself once referred to the film as a "moron movie".

* EyeScream: An unfortunate real life example happened when a remote-controlled lawnmower accidentally struck a piece of wood and the director of photography lost his eye from the splinters. He sued King for several million dollars (they later settled out of court).
* OldShame: Stephen King likes to say that everyone makes mistakes now and then - "I directed ''Maximum Overdrive'', I know what I'm talking about." He also agrees with most people that he should ''not'' have been so coked up while making it. Creator/YeardleySmith reportedly isn't fond of being in it herself, though it seems to be an aversion these days as she was willing to be interviewed for the Blu-ray.
* SelfAdaptation: Creator/StephenKing made the movie ''Maximum Overdrive'', loosely based on his own short story "Literature/{{Trucks}}" from ''Literature/NightShift''. He even released a trailer in which he directly addressed the viewer, boasting that if you want something done right, you've gotta do it yourself. It's the only movie based on his stories that he personally directed and reception was pretty negative, an opinion [[OldShame King himself later agreed with]]. By his own admission, he was also drugged out of his mind for most of the shoot, and it's pretty obvious that he's still heavily rattled in the trailer.

* CreatorBacklash: Stephen King himself once referred to the film as a "moron movie".

** Before De Laurentiis got the rights, a British filmmaker named Milton Subotsky had planned to adapt ''Trucks'', ''The Lawnmower Man'', and ''The Mangler'' into a compilation film called The Machines. A script was drafted but finances weren't secured.

* SelfAdaptation: Creator/StephenKing made the movie ''Maximum Overdrive'', loosely based on his own short story "Literature/{{Trucks}}" from ''Literature/NightShift''. He even released a trailer in which he directly addressed the viewer, boasting that if you want something done right, you've gotta do it yourself. It's the only movie based on his stories that he personally directed and reception was pretty negative, an opinion [[OldShame King himself later agreed with]]. By his own admission, he was also drugged out of his mind for most of the shoot.

** This film, along with the 1986 [[Film/{{Manhunter}} Manhunter]] were originally going to be the last two films that producer Dino De Laurentiis would make with his deal with MGM. However, Dino decided to distribute both films by his own production company De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (originally Embassy Pictures), effectively halting the deal until the 1990s.

* OldShame: Stephen King likes to say that everyone makes mistakes now and then - "I directed ''Maximum Overdrive'', I know what I'm talking about." He also agrees with most people that he should ''not'' have been so coked up while making it. Creator/YeardleySmith reportedly isn't fond of being in it herself.

* RetroactiveRecognition: The guy who gets killed by the arcade game? He's played by [[Series/{{BreakingBad}} Gus Fring]] himself!

** The scene where one of the little league kids gets run over feet first by a steamroller was [[{{Bowdlerise}} bowdlerised]] from the original production cut. The mannequin used for the steamroller to run over had a bag filled with fake blood placed next to its head in order to add to the gore. However, what the crew didn't expect was for the head of the mannequin to ''[[YourHeadAsplode explode]]'' into a huge mess of fake blood and gore. The crew loved it, but the censors found it too graphic, and ordered for the shot to be cut.