Summer has arrived once again. And keeping with tradition, I’ll be talking about the genres that have made the summer blockbuster possible. It’s no surprise that the first movie I’ll be talking about is from the one who practically invented the summer movie slate, Steven Spielberg. The man is highly decorated as a director. This will be the first time that I’ll talk about his made for tv debut.
1. Road Rage
Before he worked with a shark, Spielberg worked with a killer truck. This wasn’t the first time where Steven had worked with something that has tinges of horror. He got his start with the horror anthology series Night Gallery, specifically he directed one of the segments that was part of the pilot episode. From there, it was clear that he had the talent to tell an interesting story and make it his own.
This is where Duel comes in. One last tidbit, the film was originally made for television that was broadcasted on ABC. When you watch it, the whole movie feels like an actual film instead of something that was rushed and filmed in a closed set. Anyways, we follow a driver named David. While on the road for a business trip, he’s harassed by a truck driver. What turns out as annoyance soon turns into a life and death survival.
You would be hard pressed to be able to just watch the movie and expect a good hour and 30 minutes of just a car chase and nothing else. No, with Spielberg’s first debut he absolutely nailed just making the whole film impactful. So much so that I was on the edge because the whole film has that dread aspect to it.
Despite having the film take place on the highway, I really like the fact that we have those moments to cool off from the chase. We get to listen to David’s inner thoughts since the whole encounter has made him paranoid. The brief one takes are a special touch as well, and Spielberg staple in his movies. One scene that I like is when he goes to a café to get his bearings.
He sees the bar top and looks at 4 drivers, and I really like the camera trick where it starts blurry then slowly comes into focus. It’s never established that either of them is the driver, and we don’t have a clear look of the driver when he’s in the truck. People might complain as to why the truck driver wants to kill our main character. Just looking at the truck, with its various license plates can assume that he’s killed other drivers.
Lastly, I just love the fact that the film was shot in location. As I mentioned before, the film was originally going to be filmed in a closed set. With a rear projection and everything. I got to commend Steven for being bold to shooting on location. And having just 10 days to film everything he needed. That manages to work since we see every moment that isn’t wasted. As well as being a legitimate challenge for any up and coming director to film something and to keep the film tight.
2. Highway to Anxiety
To expand more on the anxiety aspect, I think no actor can ever sell being on the verge of paranoia than actor Dennis Weaver. He manages to sell being a calm person than veer, no pun intended to a person who’s trying to survive. Just picturing the moments when he’s telling the people he meets that he’s being stalked unnerves me. Especially in the moment when he’s trying to help a marooned school bus.
I feel like in one way, the film reminds me of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. If you haven’t heard of him, he’s considered the master of suspense. Most of his films feature a psychological angle to it, and that’s where the film shines aside from the main highlight. Even when we’re supposed to be calm, there’s moments where the truck slowly comes in, or darts to cut in front of our main guy.
3. Legacy
This film is highly regarded as one of the best made for tv movies ever made. Without this movie, we can’t imagine where any the summer slate would be like. I think having the vehicle helped inspire other works such as Stephen King’s Christine. With the way the film handled the driving stunts, it set the standard that nowadays it’s mostly computerized or just completely unrealistic. I think the Mad Max series took a page from this movie and made a franchise out of it.
4. Overall
Duel is one of the best film debuts out there. Being 50 years old, it holds up still.
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