Duel (Special Edition) [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV

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Format: PAL
Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
Number of discs: 1
Classification: PG
Studio: Universal Pictures UK
DVD Release Date: 28 Mar 2005
Run Time: 90 minutes

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)

ASIN: B00079FGQM
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,289 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

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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

Customer Reviews

44 Reviews

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (44 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spielberg's simplest and most effective thriller?, 12 July 2005

Dean Agius - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Duel (Special Edition) [DVD] (DVD)

Spielberg directed this TV movie for ABC when he was 23 and it is the essence of 'high concept' film - man terrorised on desert highway by truck. It is testament to Duel's effectiveness that it was later theatrically released.

Duel is a relentlessly gripping game of cat-and-mouse between a terrified Dennis Weaver in his red Sedan, and the malevolent driver of a monstrous, greasy truck. That the truck has a driver at all is almost irrelevant. The cab windows of that vehicle are rarely in shot, instead Spielberg focuses on the small headlights and prominent engine grille - the truck's beady eyes and vicious snout. Those features are most threatening when shot at low-level as the truck gains speed on Weaver.

This fatalistic game begins when Weaver tries to overtake the truck in a hurry to make a meeting in California. He has already been framed as a man in a mediocre job with a loveless family life. His impotence is reinforced in one of the film's most memorable scenes when Weaver struggles to assist a stuck school bus. In the distance the lights of the truck come on. As Weaver takes off terrified, the truck smoothly, deliberately moves the bus. It's more terrifying still that the driver has shown he is capable of compassion, but has chosen to play with Weaver's life, beckoning him into oncoming traffic, running him off the road, and edging him onto a rail track.

Weaver is excellent as the hunted man - his paranoia in a roadside café with the truck looming ominously in the background is intoxicating, accentuated by his nervy voice-over. His desperation when the truck pulls out from hidden spots is palpable, and his resolution to take a stand is sincere - understandable as Weaver did many of the stunts himself. His performance, with Speilberg's excellent direction, makes Duel a seminal example of an economical premise turned into a memorable, overwhelmingly edgy thriller.

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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Looks like you could use a new radiator hose", 1 Aug 2009

oooo Candy Davis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Duel (Special Edition) [DVD] (DVD)

Originally a 74 minute 1971 US TV Movie, this DVD has the 90 minute (86 in PAL) theatrical version made for European audiences the following year. The three main additional scenes are:

* Mann telephoning his wife from a gas station
* Entire school bus scene
* Truck pushing Mann's car towards a speeding train at a level crossing

Also, this extended version has a slightly different soundtrack from the original - most noticeably the 'dinosaur roar' is (sadly) missing.

Suspenseful and memorable with a good performance from Dennis Weaver, and although there isn't very much dialogue in this film, some of it is seminal;

Radio Host: "Well, uh, what do you do, may I ask?"
Caller: "I play meat"
Radio Host: "You what?"
Caller: "I play meat"
Radio Host: "You play meat?"
Caller: "Yes, uh, meat. You know, beef and pork"
Radio Host: "That's sick, man"

DVD has a great print, Dolby 5.1 and 5.1 DTS, English subtitles and some great extras:

* A Conversation with Director Steven Spielberg on Making Duel *
35 minutes and an excellent insight, containing clips and stills from many of Spielberg's other films.

* Steven Spielberg and the Small Screen *
A 10 minute overview of his TV work as director, again excellent and with many short clips of his early efforts.

* Richard Matheson: The Writing of Duel *
A 10 minute segment with Matheson, interesting and very watchable.

* Trailer *

* Photograph and Poster Gallery *
Mainly film posters for the overseas release, with a few B/W stills from production.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple-but very effective!, 29 May 2007

jlh (london) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Duel (Special Edition) [DVD] (DVD)

The classic premise of cat and mouse,i have always loved this film.Dennis Weavers' mister average being relentlessly menaced by a devil like big black truck-for no apparent reason.Tense,gripping and very well paced-and of course,a first introduction to the great Steven Spielberg himself!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A thunderous exercise in tension mounting.
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Published 3 months ago by Spike Owen

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent example that an action packed thriller needs neither special effects, nor a convoluted story for brilliance
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Published 4 months ago by AK

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific film
I love this film, perhaps one of Spielberg's best. Amazingly it was all shot in less than 2 weeks, and, on Spielberg's insistence, all on location in the Californian desert... Read more