A woman attempts to reunite her family by helping her husband escape prison and together kidnapping their son. But things don't go as planned when they are forced to take a police hostage on the road.
While traveling through the desert for an appointment with a client, the businessman David Mann from California passes a slow and old tanker truck. The psychotic truck driver feels offended and chases David along the empty highway trying to kill him.Written by
Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The license plate of David Mann's Plymouth Valiant in Duel, 149 PCE, is the same as the cop car in the movie Cop Car. See more »
Goofs
When Mann arrives at the train crossing, he has clearly stopped his car directly in front of the gate, which has lowered due to the approaching train. After the truck starts pushing Mann's car toward the train, in both a shot from the far side of the train (when we see Mann's car in the spaces between the train's wheels) and in a wide shot from the near side of the train, we can clearly see that Mann's car is to the left of the train gate. If the car had still been in front of the train gate when the truck pushed the car past the gate, the gate would have broken off. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
[radio playing, driving down the road, approaches the truck]
[David coughs, coughs again]
David Mann:
Talk about pollution.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The man with the sandwich is referred to as "Hoagy Man". See more »
Alternate Versions
Another new scene, where Weaver stops at a gas station and phones his wife, was written by producer George Eckstein to inflate the running time to the requested 90 minutes. This was reportedly done against Spielberg's wishes. See more »
I remember seeing this movie when I was younger with my mom and it terrified me. A little older now, almost 20, I found this film for cheap at Borders and just had to pick it up. It is still very terrifying to this day. Steven Spielberg directs and Richard Matheson writes, that is honestly as good as it gets. If you want terror, see this movie as soon as possible.
It truly is a shame that the majority of horror/suspense films use so much CGI to rely on scares these days. This is one of the most terrifying films ever made and it only relies on a car, an old truck and the open road. I wish movies today would at least for this kind of suspense. Duel truly mastered it.
The story is simple but amazing. A man traveling for a business meeting is terrorized by a truck driver who intentions are to kill him. Dennis Weaver's performance is spot on and his character is brilliant. The cinematography is breath taking. Everything about this movie will keep you on the edge of your seat until the credits begin to roll.
I think this is Spielberg's best film and fans of his films will definitely enjoy this piece of horror/suspense. Don't go too much longer without seeing it.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.
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I remember seeing this movie when I was younger with my mom and it terrified me. A little older now, almost 20, I found this film for cheap at Borders and just had to pick it up. It is still very terrifying to this day. Steven Spielberg directs and Richard Matheson writes, that is honestly as good as it gets. If you want terror, see this movie as soon as possible.
It truly is a shame that the majority of horror/suspense films use so much CGI to rely on scares these days. This is one of the most terrifying films ever made and it only relies on a car, an old truck and the open road. I wish movies today would at least for this kind of suspense. Duel truly mastered it.
The story is simple but amazing. A man traveling for a business meeting is terrorized by a truck driver who intentions are to kill him. Dennis Weaver's performance is spot on and his character is brilliant. The cinematography is breath taking. Everything about this movie will keep you on the edge of your seat until the credits begin to roll.
I think this is Spielberg's best film and fans of his films will definitely enjoy this piece of horror/suspense. Don't go too much longer without seeing it.