GL84 Working at a local truck-stop, a woman and a small gang of residents realize that all the vehicles and machines around them are behaving without human operators, and eventually trap them inside when they realize that a deadly chemical spill is responsible and try to get past the homicidal machines.This one here isn't that bad when it really tries to. The film's best feature is that it's pretty packed with action in here which manages to score some big points for all the big sequences. The big opening sequence where the big rig comes to life and chases them through the junkyard is a really enjoyable start to this one, and from the fun of the several thwarted escape attempts at the diner which includes the great corralling inside the motel to the several close-calls and chases of the group trying to get to their trucks or back inside the diner have a lot going for them. Away from the truck-stop, the early action out on the highways is pure greatness, from the encounter in the RV to the chase through the countryside leading up to the diner makes for some fun, and the scenes of the workers attempting to clean up the accident give this some. Throw in a genuinely creepy moment where two victims try to escape from a collapsing tunnel guarded by trucks which turns into a nice rescue attempt and the stellar sequence where they tackle the escape attempt while getting out of the diner into the wilderness provides plenty of destruction and mayhem that leads into the fast pace with a lot going on to keep it moving. The last bit that works is the cleverly-built beginning that successfully makes for a good mystery and a really creepy tone which are the film's good points even though this one does have a few problems. One of the bigger factors that hold it down is the PG-13 rating which is something big to get over. It really neuters the film a lot, since the big body count is taken out by being run over in the distance or by being blown up in an explosion and there's practically no blood at all due to the fact that the kills won't allow it to happen. All of them done with the action forces that to happen, and by being restricted to the truck- stop for the majority of the film, it doesn't offer opportunities for other details. The fact that it is a retread of the original, with the storyline being taken straight out and set against a few new scenes here and there. That the set-up is still pretty much the same and with a few new differences to put in place in here is something to get over. The last big flaw in here is the family drama that consumes so much of the film, whether it be the father-and-son story or the heroine's story or even one from the people stuck in the truck-stop have a sort of family drama about them, and with so many in here having a similar sort of problem take up so much screen-time is a big waste, since it just makes the film look all the weaker for featuring something that is continually brought up that wasn't fun to experience the first time. Beyond these, though, the film's other flaws are what hold it down the most.Rated PG-13: Violence and Language.

Coventry Practically throughout half of the film, I kept on wondering why that imbecilic ginger head of the lead actor looked so damn familiar. And then suddenly, maybe because he pulled a particularly stupid facial expression or something, it just hit me! It's Arnold Pointdexter from the original "Revenge of the Nerds"! You know, the guy with the enormous curly hairdo and glasses as thick as strawberry jelly jars! Apparently he also appeared in a trillion of lousy TV-series, but since I never watched any of those, he's still just Pointdexter to me. I mean, this already should give you some sort of indication of this movie's quality level, no? "Trucks" is a TV-remake of the only (not very successful) horror movie that its author Stephen King directed himself, about a bunch of lifeless trucks in the Area 51 region going berserk without apparent reason, and the fate of humanity lies in the incompetent hands of the ginger artist formerly known as Arnold Pointdexter the nerd! Indeed, "Trucks" is a pretty bad film, but at the same time it also has to be said that it's a tremendously FUN bad film! Like many of the other reviewers have already pointed out, director Chris Thomson and writer Brian Taggart (usually a quite reliable choice) totally didn't grab all the great opportunities you get with murderous wheels! The whole film simply features a handful of trucks, and only one of them is a genuinely impressive eighteen-wheeler. Instead of bombastic machines, the script somehow prefers to generate horror situations through remote-controlled toy trucks and even self-inflatable safety suits. Needless to say these sequences look quite ridiculous and completely sucks out all the scary potential of the basic concept. I must admit, however, that I was pleasantly surprised with the body count and even the amount of gore and bloodshed in "Trucks", especially considering the fact it's a made-for- TV effort. The characters are hopelessly stereotypical; your average assembly of local yokels, reluctant tourists and troubled teenagers. Their acting performances are quite poor, though I have a weakness for the stunning Brenda Bakke. She's a genuine 90's beauty and I never really understood why her career didn't skyrocket. The ending is relatively decent, even though you can see it coming from fifty miles away.

tsmith417 The biggest problem I have with some of Stephen King's stories is their complete lack of logic. It's as though he was getting paid by the word so he just made up situations without thinking about the reasons behind them."Trucks" is just such a story. It seems that all of a sudden the trucks in a town near Area 51 become animated and drive around on their own, stalking and killing humans. But why do they do it? We never seem to get a clear answer. It could be because of a toxic spill that they drove through, or it could be because they're occupied by an alien life force from a meteor or maybe they just got tired of being pushed around by all those redneck truckers.Whatever the reason, they can not only engage their own engines, but apparently shift their own gears, operate their own side-view mirrors and assorted latches, turn on their own headlights, and eventually learn to talk to each other by honking their own horns. They drive around in circles in a parking lot, holding a bunch of earthlings hostage in a luncheonette in the middle of the desert. But why? And if these trucks are that intent on destroying mankind, why don't they just drive into the building and be done with it and then move on to the next place? As far as the characters go, I was rooting for the trucks to do away with a few of them right off the bat, like the redneck trucker who stood around scratching his crotch. And then there was the King standby, the bratty, rebellious kid who didn't want to be there and did nothing but spout sarcastic comments for the first 40 minutes of the movie. But most of all I would love to have seen that 50-year-old hippie under at least eight of the semi's sixteen wheels. For someone who supposedly lived his life according to the "peace, love, and music" philosophy, it seems he embraced the establishment often enough over the past thirty years to swallow more than a few Big Macs along with his brown rice.I was confused as to why it was just trucks that were affected by this evil phenomenon, whatever it was; why not regular cars and lawn mowers and RVs too? And who was it who determined that the tractor-trailer should be the "leader of the pack"? And if helicopters were involved, why did it take so long for one to show up? Why didn't "Boss Semi" -- who was some sort of four-stroke Rasputin and kept on truckin' even after being blown up and burned to a crisp -- call him in long before the end? I'll bet the actors were told this movie was going to be the next "The Birds"; all I can say is that this movie was for the birds.

Scarecrow-88 Various characters are trapped at a diner/tourist trap/gas station as semis & other commercial trucks operate on their own circling while "communicating" to each other via horn honking. Father and son, Ray(Timothy Busfield)and Logan(Brendan Fletcher)operate the desert spot with pal/cook George(Victor Cowie). Hope(Brenda Bakke, quite low-key, but offers a cool-headed chick)is a former RN who returned to the small desert town of Lunar after a rocky marriage that ended badly. Military man Thad(Roman Podhora)brought along his estranged daughter Abby(Amy Stewart), who reluctantly came along with her father at his ordered request as tourists seeking escape to Lunar while tagging along also is 50-year-old hippie Jack(Jay Brazeau). Meanwhile two truckers, Bob(Aidan Devine) and Pete(Rick Skene)resist the notion that their trucks will remain with out the drivers who occupy the vehicle seats. These truckers prove quite a problem for Ray as the situation escalates. A visiting couple, car salesman Brad(Jonathan Barrett)and displeased wife June(Sharon Bajer)are also in Lunar as tourists. One by one, the group fall victim to the homicidal trucks..cool heads will have to prevail if they have any chance of survival. Is there any hope for this group? The film provides possibilities for why the trucks are acting in such a fashion. A chemical spill. Area 51 is nearby. There was a comet shower. Hippie Jack offers lots of conspiracy theories and crazy notions..he offers the idea that the comet shower may've possibly bombarded the atmosphere with alien particles that have the radioactive power to guide mechanized machinery. Military man Thad informs Ray quietly that, while he was working as a helicopter man for the Air Force at Area 51, a scientific organization was running titled Project:Phoenix where high-powered telescopes sent out signals toward the stars calling out to alien life in space. Perhaps, the unfortunate events occurring is their way of answering? A different take on Stephen King's short story. Unlike King's only directed film, the zany "Maximum Overdrive", "Trucks" is told straight, serious in tone, tamer, and saner. "Trucks" isn't as bloodthirsty or outrageous as "Maximum Overdrive." But, "Trucks" hurts by a lack of budget and it's television confines limit what you can convey on screen. The trucks, like In King's film, do communicate and desire Ray to fill them with gasoline. "Trucks" has a neat little twist that does out duel King's version. This film probably has stronger, more likable characters, but the cast isn't as cool or interesting as King's film contains. "Trucks" really doesn't leave a lasting impression, either. Still not too bad, with some effective scenes.