DUAL - AI REMASTERED - Cult Road Action Thriller - Directed by Steven Spielberg

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IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a restored and creatively edited remaster of the original film, it has been upscaled, tone graded, denoised and image sharpened by AFLIX using proprietary technologies and software systems, therefore AFLIX holds all intellectual property over this version. Consequently, it cannot be shared, copied or distributed without ALFIX agreement and permission.

Duel is a 1971 American road action-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg. It centers on a traveling salesman David Mann (Dennis Weaver) driving his car through rural California to meet a client. However, he finds himself chased and terrorized by the mostly unseen driver of a semi-truck. The screenplay by Richard Matheson adapts his own short story of the same name and based on an encounter on November 22, 1963, when a trucker dangerously cut him off on a California freeway.

The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with Spielberg's direction being singled out for praise. It has since been recognized as an influential cult classic.

Plot
David Mann, a middle-aged salesman from Los Angeles driving on a business trip in a Plymouth Valiant sedan, encounters a dilapidated old rusty Peterbilt 281 tanker truck driving slowly in the Mojave Desert. Mann passes the truck but it speeds up, roars past him, then resumes driving slowly. When Mann overtakes and passes it again, the truck blasts its horn. Mann pulls into a gas station and the truck parks next to him, with Mann only able to see the boots of the driver walking on the other side. Mann phones his wife, who is upset with him after an argument the previous night. The station attendant tells Mann he needs a new radiator hose, but Mann scoffs, believing that the attendant is trying to sell him an unnecessary replacement part.

Back on the road, the truck catches up and passes Mann, then blocks his path each time he attempts to pass it. After taunting Mann this way for a while, the driver waves him past, causing Mann to nearly collide head-on with an oncoming car. Mann finally passes the truck using an unpaved turnout next to the highway, then glances at his rear window and waves. The truck briefly slows, but then begins tailgating Mann's car at increasingly high speed. The underpowered Plymouth is barely able to stay ahead of the truck. Mann swerves his car off the road, loses control, and slams sideways into a fence across from a rural diner as the truck continues down the road.

Mann enters the restaurant to compose himself. Upon returning from the restroom, he sees the truck parked outside. He studies the patrons, identifies one who is wearing boots similar to the truck driver, and confronts him. The confused and offended patron attacks Mann and leaves in a different truck. The tanker truck leaves moments later, indicating that its driver never entered the diner.

After resuming his drive, Mann is flagged down by the driver of a school bus whose engine has overheated. In the process of pushing the bus with his car, the front bumper gets caught underneath the bus's rear bumper. The truck appears in a tunnel down the road, causing Mann to panic. He and the bus driver free his car, and Mann flees as the truck arrives and helps push the school bus full of children onto the road.

Mann stops at a railroad crossing and waits for a Southern Pacific freight train to pass through. The truck appears from behind and pushes Mann's car towards the oncoming train. Mann stands on the brake and shifts into reverse. As soon as the train passes, Mann floors the accelerator, crosses the tracks and runs off the road. The truck continues down the road, and Mann slowly follows.

In an attempt to create more distance between himself and the truck, Mann drives at a very leisurely pace, as other motorists pass him. Once again, he encounters the truck, which has pulled off to the side of the road, waiting for him. The truck pulls out in front of him and starts antagonizing him again.

Mann stops at a gas station with a roadside animal attraction, consisting primarily of rattlesnakes. He calls the police from a telephone booth at the station. During the call, however, the truck drives through the booth, destroying it. Mann narrowly escapes, and is chased around the animal attraction by the truck. He is able to get into his car and speed away. Around a corner, he pulls off the road, hiding behind an embankment as the truck drives past.

After a long wait, Mann heads off again, but the truck is waiting for him down the road. Mann attempts to speed past, but the truck moves across the road, blocking him. He seeks help from an elderly couple in a car, but they leave when the truck backs up towards them at high speed. Determined to fight back, Mann speeds past the truck, which once again begins pursuing him. Mann swerves towards what appears to be a police car, only to realize that the vehicle belongs to a pest control company. Mann continues up a mountain road, aware that the truck will be unable to match his speed on a grade. Suddenly, the radiator hose on Mann's car breaks, causing the strained engine to overheat and begin to fail. Losing speed, he just manages to reach the summit. He then coasts downhill in neutral, with the truck following. Mann spins out and slams sideways into a cliff wall. He is able to restart his car and barely escapes being crushed by the truck.

Mann drives up a dirt road to the edge of a canyon with the truck in pursuit. He turns his car to face the oncoming truck; jamming the accelerator down with his briefcase, Mann steers his car toward the oncoming truck, jumping free at the last moment. The truck hits the car, which bursts into flames, obscuring the truck driver's view. Pushing the burning car over the cliff, the driver blasts the horn one last time as the truck crashes into the canyon. Blood is seen dripping inside the truck's cab as Mann rejoices in his victory. Exhausted from his ordeal, Mann then sits down at the cliff's edge and tosses pebbles down on the wreckage as the sun sets on the horizon.

Cast
Dennis Weaver as David Mann
Dale Van Sickel served as Weaver's stunt driver
Carey Loftin as Truck Driver
Jacqueline Scott as Mrs. Mann
Eddie Firestone as Café Owner
Lou Frizzell as Bus Driver
Eugene Dynarski as Man in Café
Lucille Benson as Lady at Snakerama
Tim Herbert as Gas Station Attendant
Charles Seel as Old Man
Shirley O'Hara as Waitress
Amy Douglass as Old Woman in Car
Alexander Lockwood as Old Man in Car
Sweet Dick Whittington as Radio Interviewer