Duel (1983)

Dennis Weaver is chased by an unknown truck driver in one of Steven Spielbergs earliest movies. Relentless nail biter, I'm really glad no one has decided to remake what is essentially, a perfect movie.

Who'd of thought, that one day, a little story of a truck would end up the make for one, if not the GREATEST Director of all time? Steven Spielberg had done it all, T.V episodes and short films, then, came his big break, IN A PLAYBOY. A simple story of an everyday man, a business man, going for a long drive to save/finish an account. The open road, call of the morning, is answered by evil in it's most, AWESOME form. A tanker truck, a staple of action films. This, well Duel was the set up for mad max in a sense, just 2 warriors on the road, occasionally people, but, it was THEIR WAY on the highway. This 100% pure cult THRILLER, is, a new type ( well, classic) of a creature feature, the monster truck, driven by a serial killer, has it's sights ( the brilliant cinematography to show more of the truck like it's alive, though, sharp eye viewers will see the driver, least 5 times a clear shot) on the target, a red valiant. There's chilling moments with suiting music, light comedy, a touch of blood and, well, Duel will fuel you for more. There wasn't a sequel, but in a sense, a decent spiritual/remake, Joyride aka Roadkill. That is a decent thriller, and could be argued as a sequel. In Duel, David Mann ( the late great Dennis Weaver) has 2 sons, one old other young. In Joyride, two brothers, drive in a Valiant, and pick up one's girlfriend drive cross country and are terrorised by a truck driver. They're dad is estranged, so, in Fan theory, Joyride is Duel 2, just when the year is set, well, say the kids were 8 and 5, ad just over 20 then, it would work. Duel, a staple and a great ride, edge of your seat.

Possible only through the magic of camera angles, close ups, direction of view, etc. Very good example of being able to make the impossible seem possible through the camera lens.

Having finished my look at Johnny Depp's filmography. I have decided to focus on the work of legendary director Stephen Spielberg.Duel was conceived of, filmed for, then broadcast as a made-for-TV movie in 1971, so it's inclusion here may be questionable. Still, two years after eight American broadcast, Duel was widely seen as a feature in Europe then, finally in April 1983, it did receive a limited American theatrical release. They don't make them like this anymore.?Shot in 16 days for a cost of $425,000 Duel is a powerful story that shows Spielberg's serious potential as a director. Even here, there are things that would become trademarks and staples of his forthcoming body of work. In film after film, Spielberg's leading character would be a modern Everyman, tue ordinary guy (or girl) who rises to heroic proportions by choosing to fight back against seemingly unconquerable adversity. While the circumstances may be extraordinary they are not contrived, but the Spielberg hero usually confronts something basic and universal. It is also implied the hero David Mann is a father who is having troubles in his marriage, which could soon reach breaking point (meaning he would be the typical Spielberg absent father) We also get another trademark images seen in a side-mirror!! In this case the truck bearing down on David Mann.For me the best scene in the movie is a scene in a diner, where David is trying to work out which of the men is the would be killer. The sequence is practically wordless, but it's done with such style it's great. A few random tit bits. The phone number Dennis Weaver dials to call his wife at the gas station is not the standard "555" movie prefix!! I wonder how many people have failed that number!! Lol With its original runtime of 74 minutes, the TV movie was not long enough to be released in theaters. Universal called Steven Spielberg back to shoot additional scenes in order to make it a 90-minute film. These new scenes were the railroad crossing, the school bus, the scene where David phones his wife and the opening scene where the car backs out of the garage and drives through the city.