Trucks starts in a junk yard just outside the small American town of Lunar whose only claim to fame is that it is located near the infamous Government/Military facility Area 51. As Phil (Harry Neeken) the owner goes about his business an old rusty wreck of a truck suddenly develops a life of it's own & kills Phil. A short time after a large refrigerated truck seems to take control of itself & locks it's driver (Gene Pyrz) in it's trailer & sets off for the nearby town of Lunar where the local mechanic Ray (Timothy Busfield) his son Logan (Brendan Fletcher), two truck drivers Bob (Aidan Devine) & Pete (Rick Skene) are trapped inside the towns diner run by George (Victor Cowie) by the numerous trucks that have gathered & now circle outside ready to run anyone down stupid enough to leave the diner. Meanwhile a guide named Hope (Brenda Bakke) & three hikers on a camping trip Jack (Jay Brazeau), Thad (Roman Podhora) & his young bratty daughter Abby (Amy Stewart) stumble across Phil & are almost killed themselves by a truck, upon their return to Lunar & the diner they discover that all the trucks in the area seem to have a life of their own & aren't friendly towards humans...
This Canadian made-for-cable TV production was directed by Chris Thompson & is pretty average stuff although I liked it in a dumb sort of way, I suspect the only real reason I say that is because I was in a good mood when I watched it. The script by Brian Taggert based on the short story by Stephen King has obvious similarities to King's own Maximum Overdrive (1986) & in fact could easily be described as a remake. A remake of Maximum Overdrive? Great, just what the world needed! I will say no more & concentrate on the film in hand, Trucks moves along at a fair pace to start with but slows down considerably as our bunch of stranded clichéd character's emote with each other & seem to sort all their personal problems out, you know the sort of thing Father makes peace with Daughter whom he has neglected blah blah blah you can probably fill in the blanks yourself. Besides this no explanation is given for anything that happens in the film whatsoever, can someone please tell me why every truck in Lunar & the surrounding area suddenly develop the power to drive, think & even communicate with each other? Why can't they attack the diner & motel rooms? Why do they just circle it for hours? Why does this mysterious force not effect normal cars & motorbikes? What has the mysterious Area 51 have to do with anything? So many questions so few answers... Now for the (slightly) good stuff, namely the scene where the toy dump-truck comes to life attacks & kills an unlucky postman by ramming his ankles & then repeatedly driving into his head! This is a scene that words can't do justice to, by the end of the scene the toy truck is covered in blood & bits of flesh! There is another scene in which a contamination suit comes to life & hacks two men to death with an axe in the films only gory moment, I have no idea why an empty suit would inflate, start walking around & killing people with an axe I just don't & I doubt anyone involved with Trucks did either. What it all boils down to is that Trucks isn't a masterpiece but it just about kept me entertained for 100 odd minutes in a silly lame sort of way. Trucks was made-for-TV & it shows with it's bland cinematography, low key small scale stunts & action scenes which consist mostly of trucks smashing into plywood buildings, forgettable music & a general OK but nothing special feel about it. The acting is average & of TV soap opera quality. Maybe I'm being a bit lenient on Trucks but I found it a fairly decent watch if nothing spectacular, I don't think I'd sit through it again anytime soon. Worth a watch just for the scene when the toy truck smashes the postman's head in, although the scene itself is psychically impossible as a plastic truck simply wouldn't have the weight to generate the forward momentum need to crush someone's skull, would it? Then again it is only a film...
This Canadian made-for-cable TV production was directed by Chris Thompson & is pretty average stuff although I liked it in a dumb sort of way, I suspect the only real reason I say that is because I was in a good mood when I watched it. The script by Brian Taggert based on the short story by Stephen King has obvious similarities to King's own Maximum Overdrive (1986) & in fact could easily be described as a remake. A remake of Maximum Overdrive? Great, just what the world needed! I will say no more & concentrate on the film in hand, Trucks moves along at a fair pace to start with but slows down considerably as our bunch of stranded clichéd character's emote with each other & seem to sort all their personal problems out, you know the sort of thing Father makes peace with Daughter whom he has neglected blah blah blah you can probably fill in the blanks yourself. Besides this no explanation is given for anything that happens in the film whatsoever, can someone please tell me why every truck in Lunar & the surrounding area suddenly develop the power to drive, think & even communicate with each other? Why can't they attack the diner & motel rooms? Why do they just circle it for hours? Why does this mysterious force not effect normal cars & motorbikes? What has the mysterious Area 51 have to do with anything? So many questions so few answers... Now for the (slightly) good stuff, namely the scene where the toy dump-truck comes to life attacks & kills an unlucky postman by ramming his ankles & then repeatedly driving into his head! This is a scene that words can't do justice to, by the end of the scene the toy truck is covered in blood & bits of flesh! There is another scene in which a contamination suit comes to life & hacks two men to death with an axe in the films only gory moment, I have no idea why an empty suit would inflate, start walking around & killing people with an axe I just don't & I doubt anyone involved with Trucks did either. What it all boils down to is that Trucks isn't a masterpiece but it just about kept me entertained for 100 odd minutes in a silly lame sort of way. Trucks was made-for-TV & it shows with it's bland cinematography, low key small scale stunts & action scenes which consist mostly of trucks smashing into plywood buildings, forgettable music & a general OK but nothing special feel about it. The acting is average & of TV soap opera quality. Maybe I'm being a bit lenient on Trucks but I found it a fairly decent watch if nothing spectacular, I don't think I'd sit through it again anytime soon. Worth a watch just for the scene when the toy truck smashes the postman's head in, although the scene itself is psychically impossible as a plastic truck simply wouldn't have the weight to generate the forward momentum need to crush someone's skull, would it? Then again it is only a film...