Duel (1971) · 9:18am Mar 6th, 2019
Have you ever been minding your own business when all of a sudden someone thinks you need to attend their party? Like you know this person doesn't REALLY like you but they're inviting you because you were busy getting tangled up in some coats or they called to tell you that you might be expecting some burning urination or something later on because yolo and by the way bring a dish to the party because they don't want to cook.
You might think, 'Gee thanks I'm totally not showing up,' and just ignore them. Don't be that person. Do not ignore this request. Instead bring them a nice loaf of nutrition on a nice paper plate. Chinet because it looks kind of fancy but is really easy to throw out. However, you might be asking yourself... what kind of loaf is healthy? Why nutraloaf of course! These are the ingredients you will need:
2 cups of Great Northern Beans (cooked and drained)
6 slices of finely chopped whole wheat bread
4 oz. Non-Dairy Cheese, finely grated
12 oz. Canned Spinach, drained
4 oz. Seedless Raisins
4 oz. Raw Carrots, finely grated
6 oz. Tomato Paste
4 tablespoons of Vegetable Oil
8 oz. Non-fat Powdered Skim Milk
6 oz. Dehydrated Potato Flakes
Mix all of your ingredients together thoroughly. Then place the mixture in a pan in an oven that is preheated at 325 degrees for 45 minutes and bake. When it's all done pop it on a plate and head on over.
Watch as the host and various guests enjoy what you have wrought! Admittedly you may want to avoid going into the bathroom after any of these people for a bit. Just saying.
There are plenty of terrifying things that can happen when you're sitting down. Business guy David Mann (Dennis Weaver) has some, "important papers," that he needs to, "get signed," and heads out into the desert to do just that. Along the way he passes a trucker who takes offense to being passed by a Plymouth Valiant and decides it's time to get revenge.
Of course Mr. Mann doesn't think this is cool and really doesn't appreciate all of the attempts to have him run down. Mann is a mild mannered man that wouldn't harm a fly or, if you believe his wife, wouldn't stand up to a drunk dude who was getting to handsy with her. So I mean this "duel" with the truck is basically testing what little machismo he has.
Duel started out as a made for TV movie that eventually found its way to the big screen and a twenty minute longer run time. It was directed by some dude named Steven Spielberg whose fascination with scrotal looking aliens is something I've never understood. That being said I don't understand how this movie is considered so amazing.
Don't get me wrong, the movie is okay. For a made for TV movie it's better than most. Personally I think the movie gets more love because of who is behind the camera than it deserves. I mean after some dude tries to kill you or at least run you off the road more than once wouldn't the smart play (after an immediate call to the cops) to just go home? Also, how far out does this guy Mann is trying to reach live? Mann literally drives the entire day and it's summer. I'm sorry but unless I'm getting a fat stack of cash right then and there those papers can wait. But I guess that's why I'm the goat and not the Mann.
The stats:
1 dead body
0 breasts
1 banged up Valiant
1 uneaten cheese sandwich
1 truck who doesn't like the roadside animal show
gratuitous children
car fu
crash fu
radiator hose fu
snake fu
spider fu
Shout outs:
Dennis Weaver as David Mann business guy who has a "slight complication" with a crazed petrol truck driver.
Lou Frizzell as the bus driver who believes a Plymouth Valiant can push a bus so that it can start up. Keep on believing Lou.
Shirley O'Hara as the waitress who didn't get a tip so we give her a shout out for being a very nice waitress.
First dueling pianos and now dueling vehicles. Will the insanity never end?!
Lol at one uneaten Cheese Sandwich... hah! My autocorrect capitalized that as a name. Ponies; is there anything they can’t influence?
It’s mostly enjoyed and still relevant today, not because it did anything groundbreaking for it’s time but because the face of the villian was never revealed. The representation of an antagonist is only visualized by the truck and it’s growling engine throughout the whole film.
That said, all of your points are valid. There’s ways this type of movie has been done better and cleverer. I guess it being early Spielberg is what it has going for it.
Incidentally, for a while, I was going to write a tongue-in-cheek sequel called ‘Fuel,’ about the son of the trucker trying to come after the son of David Mann, only to keep missing the mark and failing over and over again.
5023862
Oh you're right for sure. Though we do see his arm a couple of times and if you want to be cheatsy about it you do kinda sort of see him in the truck when David looks up at it while passing him one of the times. But yeah, it's all about that growling truck!
5023859
Maybe that's truly the magic of friendship at work?
I heard of it but never seen it. Ill have to check it out.
5026955
Yeah it's worth at least a watch!