Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Mann Versus Machine, 17 Feb 2004
As all the reviewers have said here, this was indeed Stephen Spielberg's first movie, and a very gripping one too. David Mann is a travelling salesman on the road, he's had a row with his wife, and he's off to get a deal. There's one thing he never counted on, the brown truck - a sort of petrol carrier, and this brings nothing but fear to Mann. He overtakes the guy, but this just puts the icing on the cake, the trucker wants Mann's blood, and he's not going to stop until he drives Mann crazy, and this is what he does. Shocked, confused, isolated and annoyed, Mann tried to contact the police, even passers by, but no one takes him seriously, the whole problem escalates and the climax is amazing...This, for me is one of best films from Spielberg, it's thrilling, and yet it doesn't have thousnads of dollars of effects. The truck is quite scary when you think of it, and Mann's reactions is excellent. The music is also gripping, and is classical of the 70s thriller. This should really be on DVD by now, lets hope Spielberg gets it put on DVD with some exciting extras.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Duel, 1 Nov 2002
By A Customer
This film had me hanging on the edge of my seat. To begin with I thought the film was going to be boring and wouldn't involve much action, even though it had been recommended to me by a friend. Soon however, the action began. It wasn't exactly heart-stopping stuff, not all the time anyway, but questions were always popping into my head as to what was about to happen next.
The truck driver's pure evilness was summed up in one part for me, when David (Dennis Weaver) was trying to get around the truck at one point. Eventually the truck driver waved him on to overtake, little did David know that a car was speeding towards him, only in the view of the truck driver, not himself.
Dennis Weaver plays a very good role however you do find yourselves screaming at the TV at times due to David's idioticness!
All in all I think this film was an excellent starting point for Spielberg, you can actually see the great direction in the film. Although the storyline is fairly basic, it's defiantely gripping, and a definate must-see movie.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Duel...mmm sounds a bit like Jaws really., 25 Aug 2005
An early one from the now legendary Steven Spielberg showing many of the cinematic chracteristics he goes on to use in his better known blockbusters.Dennis Weaver plays a mild-mannered salesman battling with the driver of a huge truck after committing the lowly crime of overtaking him on the highway. The antics of the truck driver escalate from waving Weaver's car to overtake into the path of oncoming traffic to trying to barge him onto a railroad crossing in front of an oncoming train. The highlight of the film is Weaver's plan to outwit the driver by parking behind a bluff for several hours thinking the truck will be long gone by the time he resumes his journey. As Weaver rounds a corner a short distance from his hiding place the truck is still there, waiting like and enormous trapdoor spider for Weaver to try and drive past. Using a technique that he would use again in Jaws to great effect, Spielberg never shows the driver of the truck, preferring to leave it to the imagination of the viewer. This makes the truck the extension of the unseen driver, affording it a sinister personality and adding to the suspense as the film roars along. His use of an enraged dinosaur roaring as the truck is finally defeated was also used in Jaws as the shark's carcasse sinks to the ocean floor, again with great success. It's always nice to see films from what were then budding young directors, armed with the knowledge of their future successes. It's a simple story that could have easily become very boring and unrealistic but Spielberg moves the film along at a terrific pace. The most horrible part of it all is that the truck driver does all of this out of sheer boredom and is prepared to kill a total stranger for fun. The use of camera angles, sound effects and rapidly switching shots helps keep the viewer on his toes and hints of a genius within Spielberg that is now taken for granted.
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