Duel
- Thread starter Geffers
- Start date
My dh and really like Dennis Weaver. We've watched the McCloud series a number of times. We haven't seen this movie. It really looks action packed. It's on the "to watch" list and if we can find it, I'm sure we will be watching it today. Thanks for sharing, Geffers!
And for those who've never heard of McCloud, this is the program we're talking about:
There were 7 seasons, but surprisingly only 46 episodes total. That's only 6 or 7 episodes per season. Unfortunately, it's only available on a DVD boxset for £120 on Amazon, which is too expensive. On top of that, it's region 1 only.
There were 7 seasons, but surprisingly only 46 episodes total. That's only 6 or 7 episodes per season. Unfortunately, it's only available on a DVD boxset for £120 on Amazon, which is too expensive. On top of that, it's region 1 only.
Right ppl, I've now gotten round to watching it - yes in the middle of the night in full Night Owl mode! 
I'm glad to say that this iconic road rage movie is even better than I remembered it. Indeed an edge of your seat thriller as Geffers says, where I could really feel the anxiety, fear and panic of the poor terrorised victim, David Mann (Dennis Weaver). The fact that I remembered the ending didn't detract from the movie at all (not gonna spoil it) and actually had me looking forward to it for the whole movie. Oh and wasn't that a crap car that David drove?! The Plymouth Valiant lacked both power and handling, but was probably an average car for the time. Cars have come a long way since then.
Thinking about it, the plot isn't that far fetched. In my experience, I've encountered drivers who just didn't like me overtaking and being in front of them and got into a fit of road rage, even though they were initially going slower and had a stinky exhaust. Perhaps that was the point, to make some random driver suffer it, I dunno.
Heck, I even had the driver of an articulated milk lorry deliberately drive me off the motorway when there were roadworks with a 50mph limit with average speed check and I sounded my horn as he was boxing me in with the other traffic. Frigging psycho. I ended up on the hard shoulder, which was separated by cones as it was out of use, and I had to brake sharply to avoid crashing into some heavy equipment parked there. He accelerated away, but I managed to chase after him and get his number plate. He was doing around 70 in that 50 and when I pulled up alongside the cab (safely separated by one lane) when he just laughed at me, so it was deliberate for sure. I then reported him to the police and insurance which led to him losing his job as there was matching damage on my car and his lorry to prove the hit and run collision. Unfortunately, due to the lack of CCTV, it wasn't possible to prove that this was a deliberate attack on me. He should have gone to prison for what he did.
I can therefore believe that someone in a big, articulated rig like that in the movie could be unhinged, totally losing the plot at that moment and try to murder another driver over something so daft if "provoked" enough.
Amazing how good this film still is after 53 years, time not having dented it at all - quality doesn't fade. Because of this, I ended up renting it from Sky for £5.99 for the UHD version since the picture quality is significantly better, although not actually UHD, and my TV does the proper motion smoothing on it, which didn't work for some reason when viewed from the Sky Q box YouTube app.
For trucking enthusiasts, the articulated lorry used was a brown Peterbilt 281 from 1957 with the long bonnet and split windscreen. Apparently this old banger was used since it had a more menacing look than the flat faced modern lorries of the time. They still look like that today, in fact.
Pedant's Point
The IMDB entry for it shows a 1971 release date, as does the Wikipedia entry for it, however, it was actually 1972 (MCMLXXII), as can be seen from the credits at the start of the movie. I've linked to the YouTube video at the correct point to prove that it's actually 1972. It may have been filmed in 1971 though.
en.wikipedia.org
I'm glad to say that this iconic road rage movie is even better than I remembered it. Indeed an edge of your seat thriller as Geffers says, where I could really feel the anxiety, fear and panic of the poor terrorised victim, David Mann (Dennis Weaver). The fact that I remembered the ending didn't detract from the movie at all (not gonna spoil it) and actually had me looking forward to it for the whole movie. Oh and wasn't that a crap car that David drove?! The Plymouth Valiant lacked both power and handling, but was probably an average car for the time. Cars have come a long way since then.
Thinking about it, the plot isn't that far fetched. In my experience, I've encountered drivers who just didn't like me overtaking and being in front of them and got into a fit of road rage, even though they were initially going slower and had a stinky exhaust. Perhaps that was the point, to make some random driver suffer it, I dunno.
Heck, I even had the driver of an articulated milk lorry deliberately drive me off the motorway when there were roadworks with a 50mph limit with average speed check and I sounded my horn as he was boxing me in with the other traffic. Frigging psycho. I ended up on the hard shoulder, which was separated by cones as it was out of use, and I had to brake sharply to avoid crashing into some heavy equipment parked there. He accelerated away, but I managed to chase after him and get his number plate. He was doing around 70 in that 50 and when I pulled up alongside the cab (safely separated by one lane) when he just laughed at me, so it was deliberate for sure. I then reported him to the police and insurance which led to him losing his job as there was matching damage on my car and his lorry to prove the hit and run collision. Unfortunately, due to the lack of CCTV, it wasn't possible to prove that this was a deliberate attack on me. He should have gone to prison for what he did.
I can therefore believe that someone in a big, articulated rig like that in the movie could be unhinged, totally losing the plot at that moment and try to murder another driver over something so daft if "provoked" enough.
Amazing how good this film still is after 53 years, time not having dented it at all - quality doesn't fade. Because of this, I ended up renting it from Sky for £5.99 for the UHD version since the picture quality is significantly better, although not actually UHD, and my TV does the proper motion smoothing on it, which didn't work for some reason when viewed from the Sky Q box YouTube app.
For trucking enthusiasts, the articulated lorry used was a brown Peterbilt 281 from 1957 with the long bonnet and split windscreen. Apparently this old banger was used since it had a more menacing look than the flat faced modern lorries of the time. They still look like that today, in fact.
Pedant's Point
The IMDB entry for it shows a 1971 release date, as does the Wikipedia entry for it, however, it was actually 1972 (MCMLXXII), as can be seen from the credits at the start of the movie. I've linked to the YouTube video at the correct point to prove that it's actually 1972. It may have been filmed in 1971 though.
Duel (1971 film) - Wikipedia
Thanks, I'll check that out.
There's also Maximum Overdrive, which is similar to Duel, but involves a demonically possessed lorry! I've seen that years ago too and would like to see it again. Unfortunately, it only seems to be available on DVD, or pirate...
There's also Maximum Overdrive, which is similar to Duel, but involves a demonically possessed lorry! I've seen that years ago too and would like to see it again. Unfortunately, it only seems to be available on DVD, or pirate...
