Why Steven Spielbergs Duel Is Considered The Best TV Movie Ever Made

Why Steven Spielberg’s Duel Is Considered The Best TV Movie Ever Made

Steven Spielberg’s Duel centers on an everyman being pursued by a fellow motorist for an hour, so why is it called one of the best TV movies ever?

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Why Steven Spielbergs Duel Is Considered The Best TV Movie Ever Made

Steven Spielberg’s Duel was a low-budget thriller that aired in 1971, so how did the legendary director’s film earn a reputation as the greatest TV movie ever? Nowadays, the name Steven Spielberg is synonymous with both blockbuster cinema and more mature, critically acclaimed fare. The helmer has made many beloved genre classics such as Jurassic Park and ET: the Extra-Terrestrial but is equally famous for his more somber efforts such as Schindler’s List or Saving Private Ryan.

However, back in the early ‘70s, Spielberg did not mean much of anything to either movie audiences or studio executives. A young director with few notable credits to his name, future sci-fi cinema icon Steven Spielberg was still working on small-scale projects when he directed 1971’s TV movie Duel. The action thriller would go on to be considered one of his most intense thrillers, prompting some to wonder what makes it so memorable.

The simple story of a man pursued by an unseen, unhinged truck driver after he overtakes him on a lonely stretch of highway, Duel has a disarmingly straightforward story whose influence can be seen in everything from cult horror Jeepers Creepers to Spielberg’s own Jaws. While that later blockbuster was praised for its economic storytelling, keeping its admittedly shoddy monster shark hidden for almost the entire runtime, Duel bested this feat by never revealing its villain at all. This ensured the potentially ludicrous conceit of a killer trucker stayed scary as a result. Like the later Dean Koontz adaptation Intensity, this television hit was praised for keeping its story as sparse as possible, meaning the almost real-time narrative (70 minutes for television and 90 for the theatrical cut) is never bogged down by unnecessary padding.

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From the moment audiences meet Dennis Weaver’s beleaguered everyman, it is clear they are dealing with a character already exhausted by the stress of work when he cuts off a fellow motorist. Spielberg’s moralism soon comes into play when this minor decision haunts Weaver’s protagonist, but the lesson never feels didactic. Later efforts like Changing Lanes and Unhinged turned their road-raging villains into rounded antagonists, but here, the faceless trucker is an almost ethereal presence who exists only to remind the hero that there’s a real person in every car he thoughtlessly cuts off.

Of course, none of this storytelling would matter if Duel weren’t as thrilling a chase as the likes of Mad Max: Fury Road. Spielberg’s movie is one of the first instances of the helmer balancing weighty themes with moviemaking panache. The simple setup and economic budget mean Spielberg must get inventive when building tension, and he wrings intense paranoia out of even a simple scene wherein the hero follows his tormentor into a diner—only to realize he can’t tell which patron is his faceless foe. As a marriage of theme (the pace of modern life makes enemies of potential friends and renders everyone faceless) and technique, Duel is a compelling thriller that crystallizes Spielberg’s early promise and, as a result, is often seen as one of the best TV movies the medium has ever offered.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/steven-spielberg-duel-tv-movie-cult-classic-action-thriller/

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