Duel (Special Edition) [1972]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
This is the TV movie that put Steven Spielberg on the map, shortly before he made The Sugarland Express. Working from a script by Richard Matheson, the film stars Dennis Weaver as a mild-mannered traveling salesman who unintentionally angers the driver of a semi truck. Suddenly, the truck is not only riding his tail but trying to run him off the road. No matter what he does (pulling over, stopping at a diner, calling the cops), he can't get rid of it. Spielberg makes the wise decision of never showing the driver, even as he cranks the voltage on the film's suspense elements. As a result, the truck itself takes on an air of satanic menace--even a personality of sorts--as it seems to hunt its human prey. Spielberg made a lot out of a little, suggesting just how skilled a storyteller he would become. --Marshall Fine

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-09-14 rating:
Fantastic
It really is. The film is simply a car chase that maintains the suspense and adrenalin flow throughout the whole of its hour-and-a-half running time. How many films can boast that? And, come on, it's Spielberg...

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review by: date: 2008-06-13 rating:
Less is More
This is one of those films for whom the phrase "hidden gem" is very appropriate. It is very hard to find people who have heard of it, let alone seen it, which seems very strange when you consider that it was directed by Spielberg, albeit very early in his career.

It is simply a great piece of film-making. Dennis Weaver plays the role of an everyday suburban man pitch-perfectly. There isn't much in the way of other cast members, so for much of the film it is a one-man show by Weaver. The choice of car is also great - not some souped up V8, but a typical family saloon which no doubt more of the audience can identify with.

Despite being set in the wide open spaces of south-western USA, this is a very claustrophobic film. A lot of the time, Spielberg places us in the car with Weaver and we share his palpitations, his fear and his panic as the Peterbilt truck rushes towards his rear bumper.

Many aspects of the film, especially when Weaver stops at the café and subsequently helps the school bus, I feel are reminiscent of Hitchcock's films, in their psychological tricks and sleights of hand.

All in all, a riveting film that also succeeds in prompting you to ponder the age-old question "What would I do..?"

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review by: rbmcneill date: 2008-02-23 rating:
Brilliant!
I've watched this film on countless occasions and enjoy it every time I see it. Spielberg says he emulated Alfred Hitchcock's style (i.e., cinematic technique) when making it and he certainly succeeds. Duel was his first film as a movie director (though originally made for television, which was where he first made his mark), and highlights the directorial flair that later brought him international fame with Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Shindler's List and others.

I originally taped this movie in the late 1980s and, as I've said, run it time and again. I scrapped my video when I got a digital recorder last year, however, and was hoping the movie would get another airing so I could re-tape it. An independent UK broadcaster duly obliged in February this year (2008) and I sat back to watch it again. What a disappointment! Several key scenes were missing and the length of the film was reduced from 86 minutes to a little over seventy.

For this reason I bought the Special Edition from Amazon soon afterwards, which in my opinion is worth every penny of the asking price. Not only is the film the full cinema version at 86 minutes in length (though Spielberg shot additional scenes for the European release; I understand the US version ran for only one hour and sixteen minutes), but the film has been digitally remastered and is not only brilliant visually, but the sound is now in stereo!

Included is an excellent 30-minute interview with Spielberg on the making of the movie, a short piece on the work he did for US tv in the seventies, and a contribution from the writer Richard Matheson on writing the movie. This DVD is truly exceptional value (as well as being a brilliant entertainment).

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review by: date: 2008-02-21 rating:
Good DVD edition of a celebrated little movie
I don't mean 'little' in a condescending way, but just that it wasn't a massive production or a film with a complicated scenario. It was the first feature from a talented film school grad, and a rather bare, minimalist affair. You could almost see it as a training vehicle for his own craft, as it undoubtedly has a feel of the film maker finding his way a bit here. Or you could see it has an elementary lesson in filmcraft, using the bare essentials of a good plot, some conflict, which then leads to tension, which leads us into a mystery, and wanting to try and solve it. Having said all that, there's nothing about this film that looks amateurish at all. The filmic lesson he gives is a stunningly engrossing and sharply detailed lesson in fluent, continuously gripping film making, and the production is very good indeed.

In short, the young Spielberg grabs the attention of the viewer and gives us a really enthralling movie to watch, using the bare essentials with the utmost power. He has developed major faults since this first feature, as it has been well highlighted, but the man has never stopped making his movies what they should always be - entertaining - the man is a natural film maker, and this movie really shows that very well. I would have loved just a little more of the mystery solved, personally, but in the end I see his point - that it's the character played by Weaver that's become the main focus, really, and as long as he survives, or even better, wins the duel as well, then that's the payoff. Good extras here for film fanatics and students of the craft of movie making.


review by: Jinny date: 2008-02-10 rating:
Thrilling and gripping
Steven Spielberg's directorial debut is a tense and effective thriller in which a demented truck driver inexplicably decides to stalk a travelling salesman for an entire day, via the motorways of the USA.

The suspense is plentiful and this is gripping from beginning to end. Spielberg's debut is every bit as promising as would be expected.

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Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Release Date (feature_three_browse-bin) . 1970 - 1979
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