Directed by:
Steven SpielbergScreenplay:
Richard MathesonCinematography:
Jack A. MartaComposer:
Billy GoldenbergCast:
Dennis Weaver, Jacqueline Scott, Eddie Firestone, Lou Frizzell, Gene Dynarski, Lucille Benson, Tim Herbert, Carey Loftin, Dale Van Sickel, Charles Seel (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
On a deserted stretch of California highway, businessman David Mann (Dennis Weaver) settles into his red Valiant for the long drive to an urgent meeting. Ahead of him on the road is a slow-moving diesel truck, which David innocently decides to pass. So begins the long duel between David and the Goliath-like rig in this nerve-wracking TV movie. Menacing David at every twist and turn of the highway, the truck tries to push the Valiant onto a train track, run David down in a phone booth, engage him in a high-speed chase, and tailgate him into oblivion. Hoping to lose the rig, David stops at a roadside café only to realize that the driver of the truck is also in the restaurant. The driver is never seen, except one shot of his beefy arm waving the Valiant ahead into oncoming traffic. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (4)
Spielberg clearly has it under control for the entire 90 minutes. The atmosphere of the car chase in some moments crosses the boundaries of a standard thriller and flirts with an almost horror feeling. It’s helped by the master's simple camera work, good editing of both the image and sound effects, and last but not least by the minimalistic set design in the form of a remote highway in endless desert scenery and a demonic truck chasing the protagonist. Unfortunately, Dennis Weaver in the lead role lacks charisma, so he can't even earn a drop of audience empathy, which is furthermore destroyed by his terribly whiny inner monologues. This shortcoming, along with the questionable lack of plot (which Spielberg skillfully masks with form), keeps me from giving it the best possible rating.
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The direction is perfect, you have to hand it to Steven, but somehow he forgot that a film should also entertain for the whole duration and not repeat itself like a stuck record over and over again after half an hour.
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Can you drive? A car? Then this is a movie for you. For a couple of bucks in a couple of weeks Seňor Spielbergo filmed this road thriller for a couple of bucks in just a couple of weeks and people are trying to this day to recreate its atmosphere. The anonymous truck terrorizing the little red car contain so much directing skill that its almost unbelievable. A camera peers from beneath the wheels of the monstrous machine and desperate expression on the face of our driver looks utterly convincing. The wonderful and old-school style ending is the icing on this dusty cake. Paul Dougerty can play a tune on a bicycle pump, tap dance with a fork on the kitchen table and also plays a mean vacuum cleaner hose. Can you beat that?
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Is it possible to make a great movie with absolutely no story, one actor, and an endless Arizona highway? Yes, if you are Steven Spielberg. A great road movie that thanks to its carefully built atmosphere, excellent cinematography and minimalist production design, combined with an inhospitable desert setting, is on par with even some of Spielberg's more famous films. The low budget is certainly a bit noticeable, but everything is cleverly disguised by a briskly conceived plot with an intensity that hardly lets up from the beginning and in the tense moments, in the face of the ominous-looking truck, takes on an almost horror-like air. Thanks to that, I'll gladly forgive the film for Dennis Weaver's terrible monologues, and the fact that the huge tanker cuts corners at 150 like Schumacher in his prime... It would be a shame to spoil the impression of a good film like this with such small details.
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