Genre

Duel was the first “ made for television” movie directed by Steven Spielberg. This thriller could best be described as a cross between the Rutger Hauer classic, “ The Hitcher,” and the Steven King inspired “Maximum Overdrive.” Dennis Weaver plays David Mann, a salesman on his way home from a cross state trip. During his return, he passes a rusted out old gasoline truck on the highway without giving it much thought. As the film unfolds, the truck begins to pursue him and initially just appears to annoy him on the r...ad, however, by the end of the first thirty minutes of the film, the truck driver has made an attempt on Mann’s life.

The pace and intensity of the film increases as it moves on with a total of 3 serious attempts on Mann’s life. Dennis Weaver does a fantastic job portraying a normal guy who comes to the startling realization that his survival can only come at the cost of his pursuer’s life. The anxiety and paranoia are visceral in his performance, particularly the scene in the lounge where he tries to identify his pursuer. Spielberg does a masterful job of increasing the intensity using very basic techniques – lots of first person perspective and quick cuts during the chase scenes. The most effective tool used in the film was the fact that he never reveals the identity of the truck driver – the truck itself is the bad guy (very reminiscent of “Maximum Overdrive” without the cool Green Goblin face on the front).