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Duel Movie Review

Duel is a 1971 action thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Dennis Weaver. It’s a very strong debut for the director.

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“I’d like to report a truck driver

who’s been endangering my life“

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David, a businessman, passes by an old tanker truck in a dessert while travelling for a meeting. The driver of the truck is a psychopath who finds David’s overtaking offensive and decides to kill him. This is an ingenious premise that is simple, but perfect for an action movie, and for the most part it was executed so well.

This is one of those movies that are cheap to make. This time around, there is not one location, but there is only the road through a couple of American states, and basically one main actor. That actor is Dennis Weaver and he did a very good job for his lesser caliber. His performance is quite believable, and the actor is actually very likable, and you feel his every frustration throughout.

There are many great scenes here including the two stops at the taverns, and that scene with the snakes is also memorable. The ending is a bit obvious of a development, but it worked nonetheless and was quite cinematic. I also really liked most of its action which made use of the setting and premise stupendously. The tanker truck literally becomes an ominous villain of sorts, and it’s commendable how he made an inanimate object feel so alive and dangerous.

However, the problem with the action is that it’s simply overwhelming. It is very entertaining at first with the race of cat and mouse between the two being thrilling, but later on it became a bit boring as most action movies do after a point. Its blockbuster sensibilities helped Spielberg get some amazing gigs after this film, but to me the second half was simply too exhilarating and repetitive.

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Duel is still very well directed by Spielberg and it’s easy to see why he got those great gigs almost immediately after this film. For a TV movie, Duel is so well shot and scored, and some shots and takes here are actually rather inspired. I just wished the second half was as entertaining as the first one.

Duel gets a bit repetitive and exhausting in its second half, but still the action is so well executed and for the most part very entertaining. It has a simple, but superbly utilized premise with many memorable scenarios played out. It’s easy to see why Spielberg jumpstarted his career with this terrific debut as it’s so well acted, stupendously shot and very cinematic despite its limitations.

My Rating – 4