Duel (1971)

Directed by

Steven Spielberg

Genre

action film, road movie, thriller film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 30m

Rated

PG

Rating

7.4 of 10 from 2,100 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A traveling salesman driving through rural California becomes the target of a relentless and unseen truck driver. He struggles to escape the truck's pursuit across highways and desert roads.

tensesuspensefulclaustrophobicrelentlessanxiousvisceralleanunpredictable

What happens

Duel is a 1971 American road action thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg in his feature film debut. It centers on a traveling salesman David Mann (Dennis Weaver) driving his car through rural California to meet a client. However, he finds himself chased and terrorized by the mostly unseen driver of a semi-truck. The screenplay by Richard Matheson adapts his own short story of the same name, published in the April 1971 issue of Playboy, and based on an encounter on November 22, 1963, when a trucker dangerously cut him off on a California freeway. Produced by Universal Television as a television film, Duel originally aired as a part of the ABC Movie of the Week series on November 13, 1971. It later received an international theatrical release by Universal Pictures (through Cinema International Corporation) in an extended version featuring scenes shot after the film's original TV broadcast. The film received positive reviews from critics, with Spielberg's direction being singled out for praise. It has since been recognized as an influential cult classic and one of the greatest television films ever made. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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