Duel (1971) MOVIE REACTION! FIRST TIME WATCHING!!

Hello and Welcome back to Cinema Rules! I watch the famous Steven Spielberg's first ever film he directed... Duel. So interesting watching this knowing the career he would go on to have.
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[@chrisboot2468]

Brilliant film. No motive, no explanations, no complicated plot. Magnificent.

[@RansomShindawakei]

YOUNG kids TODAY--DON'T appreciate this movie because it doesn't have Star Wars like special effects.

[@jimtatro6550]

This was originally a TV movie of the week that was so good and popular it was released into cinemas. This paved the way for Spielberg.🔥👍

[@jp3813]

He mentions that in the video.

[@eaglevision993]

They even had to re-shoot some scenes to make it longer since it was too short for theatrical release.

[@unkindestcut]

Let’s not forget that “Duel” was an adaptation of a Richard Matheson story. Matheson also wrote classics like The Incredible Shrinking Man, Prey, Hell House and I Am Legend in addition to several original Twilight Zone episodes.

[@pigpiggypigbigpig681]

Noted! I didn’t know any of this.

[@van8ryan]

According to Matheson on the DUEL DVD, it was the final short story he ever wrote (whether or not that's true is anybody's guess)

[@iansmith4389]

Hell House is an all time favourite. The sound design is great.

[@whistlerwade]

His version (the original) of I Am Legend is amazing.

[@rolanddeschain6089]

Wow thanks for the info. Honestly. I actually only knew Matheson's I am Legend and the book is great. So now it's time to order books! Thanks for that again.

[@KevMcKean]

My dad saw this in the cinema back in the 70s: this was a second feature when it was released, it was shown before another film that the audience paid to see... He said he can't even remember the main feature, Duel was so thrilling it stole the show.

[@LA_HA]

Haha. That happened at a "dollar" theater that used to be around that played movies that weren't in regular theaters, doing first circulation anymore. I took my mother and sister to see Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. They thought that was okay, but it was the second feature that none of us ever heard of that stole the show. Every year, around Christmas time, we watch Die Hard as a tradition. I think I've seen MM:BT a few times after that, Die Hard is a must see every year

[@Joey7Z7Horror]

Have to wonder what the main feature was. Playing an entire hour and a half movie before the movie people came to see feels extreme but maybe that was something they just did back then. With that said, I definitely would have came to see DUEL

[@norwegianblue2017]

When I was a kid there was a handful of movies that I would pray they would play on regular TV. Logan's Run, Westworld, and Duel. In my mind, these flicks had an almost mythical status. We didn't have cable or a VCR in my home, so it was a real treat to have something like this come on. Even better if it was the late-night movie and I could watch it uninterrupted. Nothing worse than being called to dinner when you have no way to pause the movie!

[@Orange-Jumpsuit-Time]

Duel was one of those ABC movies of the week, and because of that, it never had a theatrical release.

[@juliemcdonald1245]

I wholeheartedly agree. The Car scared me pretty good.

[@eddietucker7005]

You should read my comment above. You are so ME! You are right. It wasn’t just a TV movie… it was an event!! ❤️❤️❤️

[@jimmykarlsson2567]

Jag håller med 😀 gamla goda tiden

[@kenbattor6350]

@@Orange-Jumpsuit-Time Wasn't The Night Stalker also a movie of the week?

[@coreyhendricks9490]

This movie ranked at #67 in the 100 scariest movie moments on Bravo

[@rafaelgonzalez3145]

What Was Number 1

[@Joey7Z7Horror]

It’s my favorite horror film of ‘71

[@Wolf_Dominic]

That “police officer” at 13:25 actually wasn’t a police officer, it was a pest control guy, and his car just happened to resemble a police car. I’ll also add that the reaction and review was nice to watch .

[@vladyvhv9579]

The name of the pest control service is Speilberg's name backwards.

[@duotronicnone4572]

As a kid, this was the first movie where I really consciously thought about the talent of an actor, rather than just blithely accept whatever performance was being given. I remember being really impressed that most of this movie is just Dennis Weaver, carrying the film, while being menaced by the truck. He only has a few scenes where he directly interacts with anyone. Mostly, it's just him, in his car, stressed out.

[@Divamarja_CA]

Dennis Weaver is a great actor of lovely simplicity, meaning he does much with minimal actions!

[@tubularap]

Same here, first noticing of the "hand of the director" as the most important feature of a movie.

[@Joey7Z7Horror]

Weaver is an amazing actor in this for sure. I wouldn’t say carrying though simply because the horror and action instilled in this film in the face of the giant tanker truck on the landscape will always be incredible

[@BassicswithPaul]

Duel is an amazing debut film by Steven Spielberg. One of my favourites! So tense.

[@baronvg]

I’ve always believed that when Spielberg REALLY cares about a project, the results can be seen on the screen. This is an example of that. Such a simple premise but turned into an amazing thriller by an all time director. As for the pacing…yeah, it does get a little repetitive and you want it to conclude. But, I wonder if that’s just a modern audience’s (and I’m over 40) attention span. Plus, just keep in my mind that a TV movie would have commercial to break up the pacing for anyone who does get restless lol

[@robertjewell9727]

Good point.

[@Joey7Z7Horror]

You can say it’s repetitive but I wouldn’t change a single thing about the climax. You just gotta really get into the feel of how great and climatic it is. The climax should make you anticipate the end in a climatic fashion and not one that drags and the former is what I went with

[@tmrezzek5728]

Great review! Dennis Weaver is so good in this: no histrionics or Method acting junk--he perfectly conveys a normal, everyday urban man (named 'Mann' in the film) who gradually loses his grip and reverts to a stone-throwing 'savage' at the end. And props to Weaver for insisting that he do his own stunt when he jumps out of the car and rolls to the camera!

[@RansomShindawakei]

One of the GREATEST movies EVER MADE! I've seen it OVER 200 times in my life, and it NEVER gets old.

[@JamesASharp]

Wow! Congratulations! 🎊You're the 4th KZbin reactor that has reacted to Duel. But, you're the first big and/or popular channel that has reacted to Steven Spielberg's first Hollywood film (though a TV movie). Great reaction! 👍🏿 Here's another great suggestion: A Steven Spielberg film called Munich (2005). It's another Spielberg gem. 💎

[@Kap00rwith2os]

Wow I completely forgot about this film 😮 Props for watching it, it's a real classic for Spielberg. .

[@scooby5242]

Breakdown with Kurt Russell is a good similar kind of film.

[@maximillianosaben]

Was about to comment the same. I love the atmosphere of that movie.

[@lisadarcelwicks]

I remember being a little kid seeing this movie for the first time on TV… years later I found out it was directed by Steven Spielberg and the same year he directed an excellent, and one of my favorite episodes of Colombo called Murder By The Book❤️

[@softshallow7435]

Yes! Yessss! Waiting for this from reactors in here. Not many reacted to it. It’s a classic! Thanks guys!

[@psychoween]

As someone already mentioned, the sound of the truck crashing was overlaid with the same sound effect over the shark in Jaws, sinking after being blown up. What they didn't say was the sound that was used in both films was a dinosaur from another film, giving the truck and the shark a monsterous sound, and coincidentally, hints at a future film, Jurassic Park.

[@pdbordelon]

So excited for this review! One of my favorite movies of all time!

[@DougRayPhillips]

A couple of folks have already mentioned that in 1971 Spielberg also directed "Murder By the Book," which is S1E1 of "Columbo." Worth a watch. You could say you're doing it as a Spielberg special, without committing to doing TV episodes in general. Back to "Duel." Dennis Weaver was known to us old fogeys as Chester Goode for the first half of the 20-year run of "Gunsmoke." Then he branched into other starring roles. He did Duel during a break from shooting his TV series "McCloud." Very respected man. Was once President of the Screen Actors Guild.

[@ericjanssen394]

Spielberg also directed the pilot TV-movie to Rod Serling’s “Night Gallery” series, where the film-school kid had to direct Joan Crawford, no less.

[@samanthanickson6478]

oh wow, the columbo ep with jack cassidy? i didn’t know this!

[@DougRayPhillips]

@@samanthanickson6478 Yes. The first of three episodes with Jack Cassidy, but the best-known one. The one where he lures Martin Milner to the cabin and... you know the rest.

[@leechmiller1072]

One reason the destruction of the truck made you think of a monster is Spielberg re-used those sounds in Jaws when the shark died and we got to see it's body as it sank.

[@AdamtheGrey02]

Man I love this movie. I probably watched it 3 times in the past 2 years alone. Spielberg also does a homage to a scene in this in his other movie Jaws near the end. Also at 13:25, that wasn't a cop. He was some pest control worker. His car was just painted like a cop car.

[@lewisner]

The actual truck still exists and theres a video of the owner driving it. It's amazing.

[@mikeduplessis8069]

I saw this on TV as a child when it first came out and this film GENUINELY freaked me out. Remember this is 1971, they didn't make movies like this back then.

[@JosephRGrych]

I remember this from when it first played in 1971, and we kids thought it was pretty terrifying. It holds up well and still makes me feel nervous. Spielberg's TV films were always a treat. My fav was Something Evil, starring Darren McGavin and Sandy Dennis. He also directed a segment of the anthology TV movie, The Night Gallery, which starred Joan Crawford. The made-for-television movies, in general, during this time period were a very cool weekly feature.

[@gyost8147]

It was/is such an interesting movie. I watched this as a kid and the sense of fear and tension even on a little tv screen broadcast over the air with the occasional adjustment needed was so intense. Dennis Weaver had been known for more western roles on TV. The Plymouth Valiant was a ubiquitous American car...reliable and trusted to the point of being almost invisible. I was so sad when the car was killed at the end. As for your comments about pacing, remember the attention span was "longer" then and the movie was trying to build up a certain feeling of when will this ever end, how would he escape. The film did come in two different lengths for TV and movie/remastered (74 vs 90). I can't really tell in yours because I can't see the actual time elapsed.

[@pappajudas9267]

What makes this movie so legendary is the fact that basically Steven Spielberg performed an impossible task making it. He was handed an unrealistic production schedule and he used every bit of his genius to create a film that was believed to be far beyond his capabilities. While it seems repetitive today, this was incredibly suspenseful at the time and amazing for a made for TV movie. That's not an easy job to make a feature length movie that's just a car chase and not have it get boring or repetitive almost immediately. While I personally haven't found many Spielberg movies in the last 20 or so years that impressive, his early career is why he's a legend.

[@IndyCrewInNYC]

'71 was Spielberg's breakthrough year. Duel and a now classic episode of Columbo. He never looked back after this.

[@PeterEvansPeteTakesPictures]

That episode of Columbo is bloody brilliant. Watch it everyone!

[@jenniferrogers2492]

And don’t forget the “Night Gallery” pilot with Joan Crawford as a rich & selfish blind woman who asks a poor man to give up his eyes so she can restore her sight.

[@kidztruthproductions]

This is an incredibly underrated and commonly forgotten movie! It's a very simple premise, with a small budget, but executed very well. I like to call it "the best student film ever made" since that's the sort of feeling it gives me, something a college film student would make. And I know that it was Steven's insistence that the film be shot practically on location that made it so good, because if they all filmed it in a studio with a green screen (like the studio wanted) it wouldn't have had any of the tension the final film had.

[@maximillianosaben]

Never imagined I'd see a reaction to this movie. Awesome to see the earliest Spielberg.

[@Mangolite]

Best television movie ever!

[@thomasrusconi]

I've actually had the good fortune of being able to drive a lot of the roads they filmed DUEL on recently, which are located in rural north Los Angeles County. It's a lot more suburban in parts than it was 50 years ago, but the environment and the experience are very much the same still the same. No freaky diesel trucks spotted, but hope springs eternal. :)

[@vladyvhv9579]

You never know. There's one remaining truck from the pick-up shots, which is owned by a collector.

[@crose7412]

I liked how you bleeped 'shit' today but left 'fucking' audible, Shaun!

[@stevescuro8544]

Not sure if mentioned but the studio wanted to make sure when the truck crashed for there to be a huge explosion but Spielberg said no and that was a deal breaker if forced to do it. He said he wanted the aftermath of the crash to show the truck slowly dying. When you see the dirt spilling it's almost as if the truck is bleeding out.

[@scipioafricanus5871]

That's funny because I haven't seen Duel since I saw it the first time in 1994 and I remember that it ended with a huge explosion and the driver making the sound like it was a demon driving so I was surprised when I saw it again in this reaction to "Duel".

[@stevescuro8544]

@@scipioafricanus5871 kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKjVpZ-vmMhob7s that's even funnier in that the car catches fire, no big explosion and I specifically mention them wanting the truck to explode and that didn't happen either. Not sure if trolling or just...well I'll try and be nice. So that's your definition of a big explosion. Uh, ok

[@LA_HA]

@@scipioafricanus5871 haha. That's because you're thinking of The Car, not Duel. haha

[@scipioafricanus5871]

@@LA_HA Oh no the one where the car literally flew through a freakin' building lmao

[@LA_HA]

@@scipioafricanus5871 And honked its horn all the time while driving super fast as it murked people left and right. Yep. I don't wanna go into detail in case he does watch it, but that's the one with the fun fire and smoke effects

[@rabrab3]

One of the best low budget thrillers ever made.

[@vladyvhv9579]

Made in 12 or 13 days.

[@TheGoodLad89]

Very suspenseful Movie. I would definitely recommend watching The Hitcher 1986.

[@MillenniumJim]

There are subtle themes in this movie that I have picked up in over numerous viewings. In the beginning of the movie when he is on the first leg of his trip he calls home to his wife, they have a discussion about how she was nearly raped at a party they were at and he didn’t do anything about it, our main character is dealing with being emasculated there is also a radio broadcast in the beginning where a man talks about not feeling like a man anymore as well in so many words, the trucker can be looked at as challenging him to take back his life. The Trucker did not want to kill him necessarily but challenge him to a game of wits. The trucker want our main character to prove himself, Thats why at the end when he is beaten he gives one last honk on his horn while going over the cliff almost as a good job you won the duel

[@LA_HA]

Jamie Blair: Hmm... Interesting take. That could explain the honking horn. I just thought maybe the truck driver was holding on to it as he went over the cliff. Or, that he knew he was going to die and said, "screw it." It's not like he went over on purpose. It shows him desperately trying to reverse and get out of the situation, but it was too late, so he just hung on Thelma and Louise style until the end came for him

[@shwicaz]

LOVE this film. Used to watch it on TV regularly. My brother and I find this film both terrifying AND hilarious in equal measure. Can't wait to hear what you think. ;-) (also from this era, "THE CAR" with James Brolin is quite amazing.

[@LA_HA]

The Car is the supernatural version of Duel, and is so good. I hope he checks it out

[@adebinelli8182]

I saw this as a 15 year old in the cinema it was the support for the main picture this stayed in my mind for ages after such a simple but brilliant film...

[@anthonyhudak9363]

You and Tom have to watch The Hitcher (1986)

[@excalibur2024guy]

I saw that for the first time recently. I dug it.

[@KingOfEmptyPromises]

And make sure to get a plate of french fries while watching.

[@wkanost]

Service stations used to be just that, “service” stations. They’d check under the hood too if you asked them to. Those were the days. By the mid-nineteen eighties that had been replaced by self-service stations. It was the end of an era. Note: the guy who did most of the stunt driving the truck in “Duel” was famed film driver Cary Loftin. He also did the stunt driving in another of my favorite films from this era. “Vanishing Point.”

[@alegriadj9997]

"Why is he so mad"? Good question that'll never get answered. Thats what I love about these no motive scary movie's. Love your movie reactions. Keep em coming ❤

[@sean---the-other-one]

A great first movie from Spielberg. You can see how he used Hitchcockian ideas to create dread from implied visuals rather than explicit ones. It’s no wonder Jaws was so good; Spielberg honed his skills here and learned what worked well and what didn’t do much. The buildup in Jaws where you don’t see the shark for that first hour is famously deliberate and was birthed here in Duel. For other ‘first’ movies from well known directors, I’d suggest THX-1138 from George Lucas and Dark Star from John Carpenter.

[@ChristopherMcCullah]

Duel is one of my all-time favorites, and filmed near where I live now. Spielberg is a master.

[@tubularap]

You are watching Duel ???!!! Wow, great !! To see new attention for this quiet masterpiece. I saw this in the cinema with a friend back when it came out. We knew nothing of the movie, and the director was an unknown name. But after leaving the cinema I was intrigued by this work of an apparently very talented director. I thought to keep an eye on him in the years to come, to see what more he'd come up with. And now I'm gonna watch your reaction. [correction:] I saw it in in the cinema in 1974, so that was a couple of years after it's 1971 TV release.

[@MillenniumJim]

This was a TV movie. One of my all time favorite films, a lot of this was filmed around where I live in the deserts of Southern California 50 or so miles north of LA.

[@williamperreira5398]

Steven Spielberg first theatrical release was Sugarland express.. the rest as they say is history

[@pdbordelon]

The sounds of the truck going over the cliff were later overlaid in Jaws when the shark is blown up at the end and is sinking in the ocean. Trivia.

[@softshallow7435]

That was a good score you gave Shaun.

[@jamiehickman9468]

Great reaction to a great first movie from the master. Would definitely echo recommendations for 'The Hitcher' (1986), with a truly terrifying turn from Rutger Hauer, which has similar themes to Duel

[@ruggiebuggie3195]

Duel is based on the short story by the author of 'I Am Legend', 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' and couple of stories that were adapted into famous Twilight Zone episodes, including the one with the gremlin on the airplane. Another short he wrote was also adapted into that sequence in Trilogy of Terror with the crazy tribal man doll.

[@drewo.127]

As a car enthusiast and Spielberg fan, this really is one of my favorite movies of all time!!!

[@DanielS2001]

Fun facts about the film: Richard Matheson got the idea for the story after an encounter with a semi truck. He was playing golf with a friend and they heard about the assassination of John F. Kennedy on the radio. So, they decided to cut the golfing trip short and drive home. A semi truck started tailgating Matheson's car, and almost ran him off the road. Though the film is credited to be "based on a short story", Matheson actually written the script for the story first and shopped it around Hollywood. No one was interested in the story, so he reworked it to be a short story, which was then published in Playboy Magazine. As a result of this, it got the attention of an assistant that worked at Universal Studios, and she recommended that Steven Spielberg read the short (and was informed that it was being considered as a TV movie). Spielberg, who had only done TV show episodes at that point (including the first episode of the series Columbo), and the producer of the TV movie agreed to let Spielberg shoot it. Dennis Weaver, who plays Mann, did his own stunt driving with the exception of certain scenes (despite him wanting to do all of them). Spielberg insisted that the film be shot out on location, despite Universal wanting him to film plates and film the scenes with Weaver on a sound stage using rear-projection. With the Line Producer, he made a deal that if he could shoot plates for the first two days on time and under budget, that they'd allow him to film the rest of the film out on location with a ten day shooting schedule. Spielberg went over schedule by two days, but the Line Producer was impressed with how Spielberg was able to get a lot of the film shot in the amount of time he was given, but conceded that there was no way possible to have done the filming in ten days). A dinosaur roar from a 1930s dinosaur movie is used when the truck goes over the edge (it can be heard playing twice, once after the truck first goes over the cliff and again when the tanker trailer comes out of the dust). It was meant to make it seem like the truck was a monster and it was dying. Spielberg reused the dinosaur sound in Jaws in the scene after the shark is killed. He even placed it in the same kind of moment (when the shark's fin comes out of the pool of blood briefly, a moment similar to when the tanker truck came out of the dust). He did it as a "thank you" to Duel for starting him on his path in filmmaking. The truck's dive off the cliff was actually recorded with multiple cameras, but the shot seen was done with one camera and the camera happened to catch the tanker trailer emerging from the dust (which was not planned). Spielberg liked it so much he chose that to be the main shot for the truck's "death" scene. In the original short story, the truck's tanker was filled with fuel and explodes, but for the film, Spielberg chose to have the truck actually being ran "dry" (without the tanker filled without any liquid). Also, the truck couldn't go any faster than 30 miles an hour. Spielberg was able to cheat it to make it looking like it was going faster by using low angels and using the environment (such as cliff faces on the side of the road) to give the sense it was going way faster than it was. The Pest Control car that Mann mistaken as a police car has Spielberg's last name on it, in reverse. Stephen King is a fan of this movie and Matheson's short story. He and his son, Joe Hill, wrote a short story that was in a collection of short stories in honor of Matheson called "He Is Legend." The short story King and Hill written that is inspired by Duel is called Throttle.

[@JGlaister]

I've loved this movie since I first saw it on the Movie of the Week back in the 70s.

[@ericjanssen394]

Another bit of overlooked early pre-Jaws Spielberg is that his talent for getting good driving footage got him his first real theatrical, “The Sugarland Express”, about a mom who leads a cross-state highway police chase…Imagine a Spielberg spin on “Raising Arizona”. Also, when Spielberg caught on after Jaws and Close Encounters, and people rediscovered Duel, for years, people picked up on the unseen driver, and literally thought Dennis Weaver was pursued by a possessed driverless truck, a la “Maximum Overdrive”.

[@macklee6837]

I saw this film with my dad when I was a kid in the 80s and it stayed with me Speilberg's brilliant

[@leahsweany4726]

I remember watching when it first premiered on tv and I loved it plus I was a Dennis Weaver fan, I was 12 at the time.

[@sntxrrr]

Ah, that was such a nice pick! I've only seen the movie a couple of times on tv in my youth but I remeber it fondly. Such a simple concept and just rolling with it (heh). It feels a bit like a rehearsal for Jaws, or what appealed to him in picking up that story.

[@joerenaud8292]

You are one of the extremely few reactors who finally reacted to this made for TV movie, congratulations. Spielberg was so influenced by this movie he used the sound of the monster truck going over the cliff in the last scenes shot of the shark in Jaws as it went down to the bottom of the ocean, he just played the sound slower and a bit less obvious. I believe this film was don in less than 1 month and on a very shoe string budget, but he pulled it off and it works great. You should check out George Lucas' very first movie debut called THX 1138 as well, great movie, his best one IMO.

[@Leatherface123.]

Carey loftin (the stunt driver and main driver for the truck) is one of the greatest cinema drivers of all time He risked his life to get that final scene Jumped out of the truck and almost went over the cliff all while making sure that he isn’t seen in the shot

[@aaronbryan5095]

Yep, that's why the truck's door was open as it flew down the cliff.

[@ms.carriage6867]

The monster noise for the truck at the end was also the same noise used in jaws when the shark sinks after getting blown up 🤓🤓😎😎

[@emeraldcity_]

I did a lot of driving in the southwest, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico. The sense of isolation and vulnerability does lend itself to a “monster” movie vibe. Those big trucks are the perfect representative of that monster.

[@Àdhamh_Fife]

Hey Sean. Great reaction video 👍 I first saw this movie when I was a kid, loved it and was so amazed that I was so swept into the perspective of Denis Weaver's character and direction of Steven Speilberg. A total cult classic 😎

[@illcryst]

I'm so glad you watched this movie, this is one of my all time favourites, movies from the 70s are the best, after I saw this movie I started a 70s movie dvd collection! Keep doing first reactions to these classics. Subbed 👊

[@eddietucker7005]

MORE TRIVIA! Before “Dual”, there was a TV movie that had three separate stories. So, a trilogy in one film. Each part had a different director. The third part was directed by Spielberg and it starred Joan Crawford! His first major directing job was to direct Joan F’ing Crawford!! Not intimidating at all! 😳 Everyone took notice and that’s how he got to direct “Dual”. I saw this on TV back in 1971 and fell in love with it. I loved Dennis Weaver and thought he was perfect in it. It has stuck with me all of these years. Even before Cable, VHS, Beta, DVD’s were created, I kept trying to find this film. One day I saw it on DVD and started crying. It was big part of my childhood. In 1975, I went to the movie theater and saw “Jaws”. All I could think about was how much the shark was so much like the truck in Dual. I think that was intentional. Isn’t it amazing? I saw it the first time when it played on TV, and after all of these years, I can still see the movie in my head. I never opened the DVD because it is special. The second time I saw it was with you.

[@techboy2002]

Took a cinema rules break as Ive been busy with life recently and have noticed the Tom-less reactions! Congrats to Tom on his child I'm sure hes preparing for tons of fun and I'll be happy on his return. Just wanted to take a sec to let both you guys know that I'm grateful for this channel; most reaction channels kind of miss the beat for me and i tended to only watch you guys (probs cos ur brits lol). Life was dark, hard and miserable when I started watching you guys and I cant tell you the amount of times watching a film with you lot helped immediately. I'm now 5 months clean, work full-time and I'm starting a degree in September. You're the saving grace to lonely movie nerds across the globe! Thank you Shaun and Tom!

[@Joey7Z7Horror]

You never see the guy at all. You only get vague glimpses of him and even then, never anything to go off of. This is my favorite horror movie of 1971 for sure

[@thunderstruck5484]

Dennis Weaver was on tv alot back then and this made for TV movie was epic even back then, we all watched it , remember back then there were only basically 3 channels so everyone watched the same network shows, thanks again! Also on KZbin Thera guy who recreated the truck and takes it out on occasion, it’s so badazz

[@UlrichUlrich]

arguably Spielberg's greatest. If you haven't already seen it, you should check out Joy Ride 2001, wonderful little thriller.

[@lisaleon432]

Interesting trivia tid bit- you can see Steven Spielberg's reflection when Dennis Weaver was in the phone booth.

[@FrancisXLord]

The 'theatrical run' for Duel was only in Europe, it didn't hit American cinemas because it had already been broadcast on TV. The theatrical cut does have minor changes from the original TV movie. Some of the chase footage was used again (without asking Spielberg) in the TV series 'The Incredible Hulk'. I remember seeing that episode, with an actor dressed like Dennis Weaver in this film in order to match the footage.

[@captainkirk4519]

I always remember as the truck goes over the cab door is open - I always thought that was intentional as of if he had got out :) great movie and reaction.

[@chuckselvage3157]

This movie scared me as a kid I had nightmares lol the driver of the truck is Cary Loftin a renowned stunt driver.

[@tears-of-stone4678]

The school bus scene was added to lengthen this movie for theatrical release, as was the scene where the truck tires to push Mann into the train, and the scene where Mann’s talking on the phone with his wife. The car that Mann pulls up on is not a cop, he thought it was, but it wasn’t, it was a pest control company. The name of the pest control company is Grebleips, which is Spielberg spelled backwards.

[@fredzeppelin3969]

Part of the suspense is that you never see the face of the truck driver (the legendary stunt driver Carey Loftin). He does have a cameo as a patron in the diner.

[@wendigo9114]

I see this movie as a metaphor of both working class both upper and lower of those who work physically while those who work mentally of how the upper class spit and kick dirt in the face of the lower class the hard-working versus the ones at work harder in a different way

[@mrjohn.whereyoufrom]

Richard Matheson got the inspiration for the story when he was tailgated by a trucker while on his way home from a golfing match with friend Jerry Sohl on November 22, 1963.

[@WarriorOfGhengisKhan]

People have mentioned that the sound of the truck going over at the end is also used in Jaws. That noise IS actually from Godzilla.

[@johnkennethwiseman5460]

The truck crash at the end was repeated at the end of Jaws. That roar!

[@TheOneWhoLaughs101]

The licence plates on the front of the Truck are from the vehicles of the Truck Driver's previous victims. Also Steven Spielberg picked this Truck specifically because the front is shaped like a monstrous face. Quite nice touchs I think to add some character to the Truck and its Drive 👌 Edit... Yeah lol you acknowledged that at the end of the video. Premature comment 🤷‍♂️

[@cbretschneider]

Hey Sean, I think this is a great idea! Doing first films of great directors. I recommend Ridley Scott's first film Duellists. Then you could move on to others like Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Paul Thomas Anderson, George Lucas, and so on. I don't see anyone else doing this. Cheers

[@Cau_No]

And John Carpenter's "Dark Star"

[@emsleywyatt3400]

Fundamentally speaking, "Duel" is a monster movie. The monster being an 18 Wheeler.

[@wkanost]

Another early Spielberg movie is “Sugarland Express” and no, it’s not about candy. It was his first theatrical film. Excellent movie and cast all the way around.

[@VonPunk]

Aye it was a TV movie in the USA but released in most other countries theatrically in '72. Always loved this movie as a kid (and super happy to quickly buy it on DVD when that came out). I don't find it boring at any point even after multiple watches, I'm just old enough to have grown up on movies paced slower than alot of movies nowadays. There was so many man vs machine (where you never saw the driver or their wasn't one) type movies after this, I think the ones that stuck with me most were 'Killdozer' in 1974 which was also coincidentally a TV movie (only released, finally, on DVD recently), 'The Car' from 1977 and 'Maximum Overdrive' from 1986. Films of the period, you don't see made now.

[@76063co2]

This is almost a slasher movie on the road. Great tension. You can see how this movie led Spielberg directly into Jaws. He even used the sound of the truck going off the cliff, in the ending scene in Jaws with the shark's body sinking.

[@Imagination_Station2224]

I always loved how effective this movie was at causing unease from such a simple premise. I'm a car nut, so as a kid I always dreamed of having a car fast enough to outrun the evil semi truck. 😂

[@mickesmanymovies]

This is one of my all time favourite movies, and I have seen it more times than I can remember... I know what Spielberg says he intended with it (a simple suspense story), but it is SO much more! I at one time wrote a thesis on this, because there are layers upon layers to discover, not least that the truck is a physical manifestation of David Mann's fear of conflict and confrontation... Stay with me here; The truck first shows up when a prank call playing on Mann's car radio winds up joking about a guy who feels emasculated by his wife, and he doesn't know if he's the head of the family or not. We dont know it at that point, but David Mann obviously has a pretty miserable home life, and he doesn't like confrontations and conflict. During the phone call he has with his wife, as he has stopped at that first gas station, we find out that a coworker or aquaintance of his had made passes at his wife the night before, and he didn't do anything about it. His wife scolds him for it, and their conversation ends badly, with him apologising and making concessions and promises he doesn't know if he can keep. The truck gets more aggressive after that. At the restaurant his voice over talks about the truck giving him war flashbacks, as he says he feels like he's "right back in the jungle again", (Vietnam?). War, the ultimate conflict. The truck is his own demon to face. His fears. Anyone can see it and touch it, but it only poses a threat to David. Every time he tries to avoid it, it comes faster or simply waits him out, as there is no running away from your own fears. Every time he tries to shove responsibility over onto someone else - like calling the police from a phone booth, or hailing another motorist - it forces him to deal with the situation. I'll skip ahead to my favourite scene, the most poignant in the movie; Upon seeing the truck waiting for him, David has stopped in the middle of the road. He tries walking up to the truck, but a connecting line is drawn between his car and himself, equating his car with his life. The truck slowly drives away, essentially saying "Don't think for one minute that you're going to face me down, only to later go back to the same life and being the same person. If you're gonna fight, you're gonna bring all of you!" So he gets in his car, rolls up to the truck, and it waves him on... "You want to do this? Are you ready to face your fears? Go!" The following chase is endless, and David comes dangerously close to losing control of his car/his life several times. It overheats and bangs him up... At the top of the hill he throws it in neutral, almost like a Let The Chips Fall Where They May-move. He is going to let his old life lose down that hill, a final attempt at trying to keep control and let it go at the same time. After he smashes into the rocks, he is at his final crossroads. Had he chosen to continue running away, his fears would have most likely consumed him. But instead he turns around to finally face his fears head on. He places his old self (his briefcase, clearly marked David Mann) behind the wheel of his old life, and smashes it head on into his fears, and it all goes down in flames. He is reborn on that edge, the new David watching the old David die down below. -Sorry, I tried keeping this short, but with this movie it is simply impossible!

[@sandramorris893]

I agree with other comments where now in 2022 our attention span is different, we want fast-paced, get to the point, instant gratification entertainment. Watched this film years ago and although I loved every second and it is one of my favourite films, I can see how certain scenes can seem overdone and drag on a bit. A lot of older films are exactly the same, I watched Exorcist III (not the best I know) but terrifying years ago, now, I actually laughed at one scene where they spent a good 10 seconds staring at some bottles of blood before commenting on them, 10 seconds was too long!!!

[@paulboserup463]

Gas stations used to be, what was called, "full service ". You didn't even pump your own gas. They would check under the hood, and clean the windshield, standard. Changed throughout the 80s; by the 90s, it was no more.

[@traceyb9443]

Such a brilliant film! Great reaction! 😁

[@mlo3784]

I know you are to young, Shaun, but Dennis Weaver was a 'very hot ticket' at the time playing McCloud on TV :) BTW! 'Duel' got a Primetime Emmy Award for Film Sound Editing in 1972.

[@LarryFleetwood8675]

Always thought the intro to McCloud (1970-77) had the coolest sequence ever. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rn3SiY2ardyGla8

[@timeisaflatcircle]

Notice the roar of the truck. That’s what inspired Jaws.

[@montego2]

I saw the TV version as a kid and it stood out from the usual made-for-TV stuff. Not knowing why the truck was targeting poor Dennis Weaver so relentlessly only made the whole thing creepier.

[@MusikPiratCH]

IMHO Steven Spielberg is the only director that comes close to Alfred Hitchcock. Look how he shows his actors! Such great camera work! 😍 "Duel" was just the beginning of those great movies that followed! We are blessed to watch both Spielberg movies as well as Hitchcock movies! 😍 lol Your reaction put him on facebook! Boy there was no such thing as facebook back in the 1970s! There were those telephone cabines where this truck tried to kill him! He tried to call the police but failed! You need to understand what possibilities people had back in those days when the movie was released! 🤣

[@derekkannemeyer2375]

Duel got a cinematic release in France in 1973. I know, because it was the first film I saw solo with the woman who would become my wife. It was our third time at a cinema together, but we'd gone to the first two films with several other friends, and Duel was a date. Make of that choice what you will! (Fortunately, it acquired no metaphoric weight.) The big screen suited it, and we were gripped and horrified.

[@bernie472]

Was an originally a ABC movie of the week. It was only released theatrically overseas, and so they had to add scenes to make it legit for theaters.

[@a-mellila1520]

Duel, my favourite. No doubt. 💯💯👌👌

[@118stevhughes]

In the snakes scene when Dennis weaver is in the phone box, Spielberg is in the reflection.

[@jasonsumner3386]

I was lucky and originally watched this film when i was 4 or 5 and was new to the concept of "bad" people and i loved it, it will always have a special place in my heart for that reason.

[@DCFCfanatic]

In the novel David Mann calls the truck driver 'Kelller" because he has that name printed on the truck. But it's possible it's just a brand name. a chapter was supposedly Man vs Keller a pun on Man vs Killer. the roar used in the destruction of the truck was later used in JAWS when the shark is killed. According to Spielberg, the animal like roar is supposed to imply that there is something supernatural about the truck and its driver. Notice as the truck is going down the hill, you can see the driver's door is fully open. within the movie it implies that the truck driver tried to escape but we see at the end his blood showing he did die. but in reality the reason the door was open was because the stunt driver opened the door at the last minute to jump out. the machinery that was supposed to keep the truck going failed, so the stunt driver felt like he had to do it himself. Both the truck and David Mann's car show up in another movie. The truck is still chasing Mann down the road in it. The movie is 2004's Torque. The truck nearly runs over one of the bikers. Some people believe that the truck was supernatural along the lines of Christine or The Car (another movie you need to watch). but nope it's not. Spielberg was only implying it might be.