DUEL

DUEL - 1971

RATING - PG probably for tense scenes.

AWARDS - Golden Globe nomination plus others.

REVIEWS - 177 Amazon reviews (4.5/5), IMBD (7.7/10)

THEMES - Suspense, fun, good entertainment.

STORY - DUEL is Steven Spielberg's first full length feature movie (originally made for the CBS Movie Of The Week and then expanded for theaters) and the one that put him on the Hollywood map. If you're in the mood for a good Hitchcock-like movie, this is it. Watch it when you're home alone at night. The film stars Dennis Weaver and THE TRUCK. It starts out looking thru the lens of a camera mounted on the front bumper of a car backing out of the garage, then driving thru the suburban Los Angeles neighborhood, into the rush hour traffic of the LA freeway system. When you finally meet the middle-aged salesman on his way to meet a client somewhere outside of LA in a rural, desert area, he's turned off the freeway onto a lonely, two lane highway. That's where you also meet the co-star of the film, the Peterbilt truck with the tanker trailer. Peterbilt has the long, menacing-looking hood (the face) and the small windows (eyes) and this one looks like it went thru the Vietnam War and is dirty and greasy and has a set of various state license plates on the front bumper (which you learn in the commentary represent each state where he[it] has killed a motorist). Sick of the diesel smoke blowing in the window of his red 4 door Plymouth Valiant sedan, Dennis Weaver looks for an opening to pass THE TRUCK. Whether it was passing it that triggered the decision to terrorize the motorist or he was just waiting for the right victim to come along, we don't know but we keep waiting to see the driver and there are many suspenseful moments when you think the two men will confront each other face to face. The movie is full of suspense as THE TRUCK tries to run Weaver down in the mountains and desert of rural California on a lonely highway. The suspense is constant so that you don't want to turn away for a minute or you might miss something. There is little or no foul language, no sex, just good old fashioned suspense and a fist fight and some vehicles doing damage to property. Very climactic ending. The movie was made entirely on location in 12 days, a phenomenal accomplishment. Watch the interview with Spielberg and you will get a feel for the genius of him as a filmmaker. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 10/13/2007.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMBD