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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Hard to believe Steven
Spielberg was only 23 when he made this great
thriller. "Duel" has the assured hand of a veteran
film director and while Spielberg had been
directing television programs ("The Name of the
Game," "Night Gallery" among many others), he had
yet to make his big screen debut (that would
follow in a couple of years with "The Sugarland
Express"). "Duel" made it all possible. It's
surprising this has taken so long to come to DVD.
"Duel" was supposed to be released by Universal
nearly two years ago. All I can assume is that
Spielberg wasn't pleased with the quality of the
print or that Universal wanted to add more extras
to make this more attractive for DVD.
Based on Richard Matheson's fine short story and
original screenplay, "Duel" was part of ABC's
ambitious efforts to produce original movies of
the week. Others included the Ted Post thriller
"Night Slaves"(1970) and "Killdozer"(1974) (based
on Ted Sturgeon's short story and, although not as
memorable, it was a fine TV movie and influenced a
certain Stephen King on his directorial debut, as
well, for "Maximum Overdrive").
Dennis Weaver stars as a David Mann (as generic a
name and as universal as possible with some
interesting biblical references too) returning
home after a long time on the road. He passes the
driver of a big rig truck. Road rage takes effect
and this mysterious driver (we never see his face)
like Spielberg's shark in "Jaws" irrationally
hunts the man in this game of cat and mouse,
trying to kill him.
The production values aren't high for the film
(it's set in the middle of nowhere and really
involves just a single actor for much of the
movie) but the editing by Frank Morris and the
music by Billy Goldenberg slather on additional
tension to an already tightly wound movie.
Universal has done a spectacular job on this DVD
release. The beautiful rich colors and solid
blacks are only outdone by the sharp and virtually
blemish-free print. Clearly, a lot of work went
into restoring the film for DVD release. The
soundtrack is presented in both a new 5.1 Dolby
Digital Surround mix and the original mono
soundtrack.
Like most Spielberg movies, the DVD extras are
great and exhaustive. We get a 30-minute
discussion by Spielberg about the making of the
movie, the process he went through to get the job
and the techniques he used to create the effect of
the menacing truck. Spielberg also discusses the
casting of Dennis Weaver. An underrated actor,
Dennis Weaver (of "Gunsmoke" and "McCloud" among
many other TV programs) gives a performance that
turns from thoughtful to outraged within the
course of an hour and a half. Universal has also
included a great short featurette on Spielberg's
brief career as a TV director. Spielberg discusses
the difficulty he faced getting jobs because of
his youth but also discusses the techniques he
used as a film director that made his TV episodes
of "Marcus Welby, MD," "Columbo," "Night Gallery"
(which, despite the advertising on this box was
his directorial debut) and other shows. We also
get a photo gallery including international
posters for the movie. The production notes and
cast and filmmakers bios are all in text format.
We also get the unusual international theatrical
trailer. |
