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
(15 votes)
2.
On a deserted stretch of California highway, businessman David Mann (Dennis Weaver) settles into his red Valiant for the long drive to an urgent meeting. Ahead of him on the road is a slow-moving diesel truck, which David innocently decides to pass. So begins the long duel between David and the Goliath-like rig in this nerve-wracking TV movie directed by Steven Spielberg. Menacing David at every twist and turn of the highway, the truck tries to push the Valiant onto a train track, run David down in a phone booth, engage him in a high-speed chase, and tailgate him into oblivion. Hoping to lose the rig, David stops at a roadside café only to realize that the driver of the truck is also in the restaurant. The driver is never seen, except one shot of his beefy arm waving the Valiant ahead into oncoming traffic. Instead, Spielberg uses the monstrous truck itself, much like the way he used the shark in JAWS, to harass and taunt. After its broadcast on television, DUEL was released theatrically with extra footage added.
(15 votes)
3.
The Film That Started It All.
The classic film from Director Steven Spielberg and Writer Richard Matheson is finally coming to DVD in this special collector's edition. More details will be announced as they are available
(15 votes)
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