Hot takes here everyone, Steven Spielberg rocks! He's one of the biggest and most successful directors to ever play the game and thankfully, shows no signs of slowing down. This month, the critically acclaimed's filmmaker's 34th film hits theaters everywhere — The Fabelmans. Word on the street is we've got another banger from the master on our hands. Despite Spielberg working in more dramatic territory recently, the man has thrown his hat into a multitude of other genres over the years, proving he's a chameleon among the art of cinema. He's a killer action director, maestro of suspense, champion of science-fiction — heck, he's even had his share of comedy and horror adjacent projects. But the best part of it all is that he almost never misses. The man's been directing feature films for over 50 years now, but where did it all begin? Spielberg's first feature, the auto-centric thriller Duel, was first released on TV in 1971, followed by a theatrically released extended cut in 1972. It's a movie that contains all the hallmarks of Spielberg's later films, ranging from his camerawork to his storytelling tropes, and yet told from such a talented young figure that it's like watching a caveman discover fire. Duel is a blast and an absolute banger that should be held up there with many of Spielberg's greatest works.
How He Got the Job
Before Duel, the Oscar-less Spielberg was off working as a television director wunderkind. He spent his early 20s directing episodes for a number of shows, including The Night Gallery, Marcus Welby, M.D., and Columbo. Yet, he also made a number of short films and independent feature efforts to support his filmmaking aspirations. Working in the studio system for a few years at this point, Spielberg's name was often getting thrown around to potentially helm projects. One such instance was when a secretary gave him an original short story titled Duel from Richard Matheson. Advising him to apply to direct ABC's Movie of the Week adaptation, Spielberg took her advice and directed an absolute bang up, rollicking picture that used every bit of its resources to its max potential, and then some. The film was shot over the course of 13 days on a shoestring budget, so Spielberg didn't have too much to work with, yet he didn't need much — he's Spielberg! He makes anything great. If someone handed him an orange juice and a camera, he'd know how to make it badass. Though the original TV version of Duel came out to an approximate 70 minutes, the film was so well received and successful in its efforts that Spielberg shot 20 minutes worth of extra scenes in order to pad out the run time enough for a theatrical release.
Lean and Mean
Duel has just about the simplest story one can imagine. On the way to a meeting with a client, mild-mannered David Mann (Dennis Weaver) passes a truck driver on an old desert highway, leading the truck driver to follow him and, eventually, try to kill him. We never actually see the truck driver, but you never need to because our villain is basically the shark from Jaws on wheels. Spielberg is already a master of elevating the cinematic language of his films beyond what others might shoot in a conventional manner. But with Duel having such a lean premise which other filmmakers might bring to life without much urgency, this couldn't be further from the case here for Spielberg. If you haven't seen Duel yet, just know you'll be watching one of the angriest films that the man has ever done. Every bit of Spielbergian filmmaking is told in a cut-throat, bone dry fashion. Without any flashy effects to lean into, he was given rapid fire editing and inventive camerawork to wow audiences with, and he does so like he's fighting for his life.
He's Born With It
With most directors, you see their style come in to form over the course of their filmography. It can take a while for somebody's trademarks to come into play, but not ol' Steve. In Duel, he's already working with everything that he's come to be praised for. Imagine if you combined the incredible action filmmaking of the car chase in Raiders of the Lost Ark with the predatory nature of the shark in Jaws with a dash of War of the Worlds anxiety, and make it all an hour and a half long — that is Duel. Like he does in a plethora of his other later projects, Spielberg makes the inhuman feel organic. The truck doesn't feel like a vehicle being driven by some bloodthirsty killer. Instead, Spielberg treats the vehicle like a living, breathing, beast on the prowl for its next trophy. Throughout a lot of the runtime, the truck is off-screen or obscured in one of Mann's car's mirrors, a means of working up audience nerves that he would replicate in the future. Instead of relying on the truck itself to build tension and fear, the film leans more into the sound of the truck and Mann's reactions to it. But when it is on-screen, Spielberg leans all the way into its monstrous features: a towering, rusty, roaring piece of machinery that is just as nightmarish as anything else in his filmography.
Duel also makes use of many long takes, a huge Spielberg device in the toolbox. Almost the entire movie is a car chase, so the audience is always being placed on the outside of vehicles trying to outrun or pass each other. We get locked in place for these long takes so that we can feel the tension in real time, as opposed to being taken out of the moment through a multitude of cuts. It's not necessarily a technique that Spielberg exclusively uses to create tension, but it is one he often uses in his filmography in order to let the viewer soak in a certain location, moment, or feeling.
He's a Family Man
While the original TV cut of Duel is a bare bones, white knuckled thriller that clocks in at just 70 minutes, the expanded theatrical cut brings a bit more of Spielberg's emotional touch. One of the added scenes has David Mann calling his wife as he stops to fill up on gas. It's a simple bit in which we learn that the two had an argument the night before the events of the film, one that his wife is still reeling from. This adds a simmering personal tension for Mann's character on top of the vehicular beast that fills out most of the story. It's a scene that feels a bit tacked on to pad out the runtime, yet remains indicative of his intent to involve family in almost all of his films, to some capacity.
Steven Spielberg took no time in his career to show what he was capable of. In delivering Duel, he proved to be a director that could make an action packed thrill ride basically out of sticks and stones. You don't even need to be a die hard fan of his to check this one out as it's a solid movie that even those uninterested in the deep corners of his filmography would enjoy it. Shoot, it's Spielberg y'all, it's not like I'm advocating for some underground snuff artist. Duel is killer, both in its 70 and 90-minute cuts. Check out the former for a tight, all-killer-no-filler banger, and the latter if you want a bit more depth for David Mann's character. It's the perfect breakout movie for Spielberg, one where you'll catch him coming out of the womb as a young genius, ready to show the world who the greatest filmmaker of the next 50 years will be.