Duel (1983)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Good movie but grossly overrated

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is a 2 hr movie carrying no more information or message than you'd find on a 30 sec news footage about road rage.

A well crafted and masterfully edited film about a reluctant man on a journey who is drawn into a fight to the death. Initially made for TV, Duel was released for foreign audiences the same year as a feature film with extra scenes filmed afterwards to take it up to the 90 mins mark. Internationally, it attracted the interest of Fellini, who recognised and embraced young Spielberg as a great new talent.

Television Review: "Duel" (1971)Naming 54 directing credits to his name since 1961; including shorts films, television content and theatrical feature presentations; director Steven Spielberg, at age 24, gets the chance by producer George Eckstein (1928-2009) to direct an original thriller script by screenwriter Richard Matheson (1926-2013) on salesman David Mann, portrayed with beat work and convictions by actor Dennis Weaver (1926-2006) in a casual red car driving U.S. nid-western roads before a small-time roadhouse misunderstanding transforms an unless relaxing sales representative ride into a nightmare of paranoia; while getting chased to the edges of a deserted highway by an old, rusty truck vehicle, which surprisingly stays a 85-Minute suspense entertainment ride produced for primetime NBC Universal television content, airing November 13th 1971 to success with living room audiences, marking first steps towards the name by "Steven Spielberg" as a director's trademark for quality motion picture content, following into further engagements with Hollywood producers Dan Brown and Richard D. Zanuck, when the final breakthorugh hits four years after "Duel" with shark-water-thriller "Jaws" to even more gripping tension points and indentifiable character studies in an open sea adventure story.Copyright 2018 Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC

Fortunately I saw this film at the cinema and was unaware of its TV origin. It was the support movie but impressed me so much that I can't even remember what the main feature was. The only other B movie to have that effect on me is Beach Red. In the UK Dennis Weaver was only known to us as Chester from Gunsmoke, and in Duel he plays a similar meek character. His wife does not appreciate him and his boss is demanding. However, like a lot of us; in his car, he is king. Thus, when he is held up by a filthy smoke-belching truck, he is quite happy to indulge in a little alpha male posturing with the other driver and quickly overtakes. His victory is short lived since the truck driver retakes the road aggressively. From then on the situation gets out of hand rapidly. Although our man gets in front again, the truck begins to tailgate him at high speed, eventually forcing him off the road near a diner. But it's not over. After a brief rest and a mistaken confrontation with the wrong trucker, the chase is on again and the situation gets more and more terrifying. The eventual resolution should be a letdown, but it isn't. In the final showdown on the clifftop I was expecting the trucker to confound our frantic hero by saying something like he was a hit-man hired by the wife. But we never get an explanation or see the driver's face. The mighty truck simply plunges over a cliff roaring and groaning with primeval fury. And you're so breathless by this time it doesn't matter. And you've enjoyed a cracking movie!