alternatehistory.com

So, how about that Max Headroom? Y'all notice that little release date? Yeah, that's a big red flag for what went wrong here. So, basically, Jenkel and Morton got together with Steve Roberts and they said "Hey, let's make a Max Headroom movie!" and pitched it to Disney (whose child network, ABC, had aired the tv show) and given they had made a good chunk of money last year from Mario and also were riding high on Aladdin, gave the green light. The production went a bit smoother than Jenkel and Morton's run on Mario, thanks to having worked with Roberts and the main cast before, so everyone was good with each other. And having movie CG to portray Max rather than the TV budget did make for a better visual effect so it's the best possible Max you can get.

As for the plot, it's built around a series of attacks on major networks, supposedly by Max, which puts him in a lot of hot water. So, it's up to Edison, Max, Theora, Bryce, and Reg to figure out who's behind the dastardly plot. The whole thing feels like a made-for-tv movie that got a higher budget and somehow, a theatrical release. It's soon revealed that the fake Max Headroom is Hi-Jak, an AI program created to sabotage Networks competing against Network 23 and his antics throughout the film are heavily inspired by the infamous Max Headroom hijackings from 1987, something that only hardcore fans would recognize. The only other positive given by critics was Frewer working triple duty as Edison, Max, and Hi-Jak, giving all of them unique performances and essentially carrying the film. The visual effects, sets, and costume design were also given high marks as Jenkel and Morton gave their all to make sure that Max's cinematic debut looked incredible.

However, that five million gross? Yeah, there's a reason for that. See, there was this little movie that came out around that time. Some stupid movie with Jeff Goldblum and a bunch of dinosaurs...

Yeah, I don't need to say anything else, do I?