'Duel': A Conversation with Director Steven Spielberg

Duel: A Conversation with Director Steven Spielberg (2004)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Excellent interview with Spielberg who discusses his movie DUEL. Just about every aspect of the movie is covered here as the director starts off talking about what he was doing during this period of his career and then he goes into hearing about the story and that Richard Matheson was doing a screenplay. He then talks about how he sold the producer on the idea of hiring him and then we go into the details of the production. Spielberg talks about the ten days he was given to shoot the movie, the casting of Dennis Weaver and of course the various stunts that were done in the film. Spielberg said he always saw this story as a Hitchcock movie like PSYCHO or THE BIRDS but this here was on wheels. He goes into great details about how he was able to get so many shots in one day and also on trying to make sure that the suspense doesn't let up and that not everything is explained in the end. Fans of the film are really going to get a great kick out of this featurette because you really get a wonderful idea of everything that went into its filming. Just about every aspect of the filmmaking process is covered and Spielberg really comes across as being very energetic and excited to be talking about the movie. He shares some stories about how big of a hit the movie was, the alternate takes for the European version and the film allowing him to go overseas.