DVD Review HTF Review: Duel - Collector's Edition (Highly Recommended!) (1 Viewer)

[BrettB]

The layer change was noticable (always is, old Sony S360) but not a problem.

 

[Felix Martinez]

My disc plays fine. I did notice the MIA dinosaur "roar" while watching the film with the DTS track. Spielberg does mention in the doc that he felt it was a bit obvious (paraphrasing here). Could he have asked for its removal for the 5.1 remixes?

Can anyone confirm if the pressing that went out last year has the roar on the DD and DTS tracks?

Cheers,

 

[GuruAskew]

I don't have a DTS decoder but the roar is missing from the DD 5.1 track on my disc, which is one of the old ones from last year. There probably is some change on the newly-released discs. I believe the VOB files have a June '04 date on them, so Universal must have changed something.

 

[JeffMc]

quote:There probably is some change on the newly-released discs. I believe the VOB files have a June '04 date on them, so Universal must have changed something.



Interesting. Most of the reviews seem to have just assumed that these are the exact same discs as the earlier ones. Has anyone gone through both discs side-by-side to see if any little snippet (possibly from the extras) has been removed or something else changed on the new disc? There could be a very minute change that no one has noticed. It would be interesting to find any slight difference in content to shed some light on why the disc was pulled in the first place (IF it was due to content).

 

[Kevin M]

Wasn't there supposed to be some sort of participation from Weaver before the death of his daughter in law last year?

 

[GeorgePaul]

quote:I disagree to a degree. Ala Jaws, I suspect that a lot of the effects in the 5.1 mixes were redone and don't come from the original sources - they sounded way too good to be from a 1971 TV movie. I've heard lots of mono-to-5.1 soundtracks, and they almost never sound this good - the audio of Duel is excellent.



Sorry, Colin, but I have to disagree with your, er, disagreement.

I just saw this last night, and IMHO the DD 5.1 track--while it did have some nice pans and surrounds--COMPLETELY draws you out of the movie, ESPECIALLY if you've ever seen the original on VHS more than once. ALL the driving noises sound 'off' now, with both Weaver's Valiant and Cary Loftin's Peterbilt sounding entirely too modern. (And yes, perhaps this can't be helped, I realize, but I guess I'm just too accustomed to Spielberg's wonderful use of natural sound in the original tracks, taken largely from on-location shooting. Trucks and cars just don't sound the same as they did 30 years ago.)

In fact, after 30 seconds, I had to go back to the menu and switch to the original 2.0 track (which sounds WONDERFULLY FLAWLESS by the way--why couldn't this just have been remixed in 5.1?). This is really weird...I've never had this happen to me before, actually. I mean, the "re-created" 5.1 mixes for Jaws and Superman were a revelation to me. And I grew up very enthralled with the original stereo tracks. But with Duel, what I heard of the new mix lacks much of the atmosphere of the original, not just the "death roar" of the truck.

What was even MORE surprising, however, was just how much of Weaver's inner monologue in the second half of the film was missing from this release entirely. Please let me know if this requires spoiler tags...I don't think I'm giving anything away, though.

MISSING AUDIO ALERT: Does anyone have any information as to why the following dialogue and score could not be included in ANY of the mixes?

1. At the beginning of the final extended chase, Weaver looks up twice in the rearview mirror, and there are two reveals of the truck. Originally, before Weaver finally says out loud, "Okay, let's see you catch me now," an inner monologue was heard: "OK, I passed him. Probably just what he wanted. Now he can keep me RIGHT IN HIS SIGHTS until it's time for the kill." Then he blurts out, "Just what I thought!"

2. Notice how the camera seems fixed on Weaver for an unusually long time right before Weaver yells, "Can't beat me on the grade, YOU CAN'T BEAT ME ON THE GRADE!"? That is because originally he had an inner monologue, "OK, we're on our way to Frenchman's Pass to make some headway," or words to that effect. That line is now gone. What happened to it?

3. An artful Spielberg masterstroke of cinematography has been deleted entirely. Just before Weaver makes the turn onto the grade, his face is shown in an overlay over a cool front-hood shot of the speeding road below, and you can hear his voiceover: "If I can get onto that grade, he's GOT to fall behind. But can I hold that speed over a distance? I've never done it before! But then I've never gone through THIS before. OK, Okay, I'll just--I'll just keep remembering he's behind me." Was I imagining things, or is this entire sequence TOO now gone?

4. An extended Billy Goldenberg riff on Bernard Hermann's Psycho shower theme, shown in a wide shot of the truck catching up to the smoke-spewing, decelerating Valiant on a plateau of the grade (right before the "truck" theme on low strings enters), is no longer heard on any mix on the DVD--and the length of the shot itself has been cut down. Was this due to print damage issues, or simply Spielberg's directorial decision?

It sure would have been nice to know without having to go back to the original VHS copy as reference. Yes, I'm a Duel freak. I watched this incredibly awesome Spielberg debut literally hundreds of times growing up, and I LOVE the new DVD release, in spite of its flaws. Sorry for the length of this post--I just thought everyone interested in the film should realize that this version on DVD is NOT the original, uncut theatrical release. You'll still need to hang on to your original VHS to have that, sadly.

 

[AlexCosmo]

Wasn't there also a v.o. line "How can he go so fast!?". Did I miss it on the dvd? No roar, missing voiceover, and the original lean mean 74 min. version (which I thought was Spielberg's preferred version) is m.i.a., maybe forever. Weird. Picture looks great though.

 

[BrettB]

I'm pretty sure that line is there.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

quote:quote:

Wasn't there also a v.o. line "How can he go so fast!?". Did I miss it on the dvd?

I'm pretty sure that line is there.





It is - I remember it...

 

[Leon Liew]

Er fellas ! Aren't we forgetting something here? It's in

full screen and not wide screen. Any wide screen version

in the works ? What gives.

 

[Jason Perez]

Brett B,



Thanks for the kind words! Interesting supplemental information as well...



Can you believe I have gone through that area many times without really realizing it. I just drove through the area today, for the first time since reading your post, and I'll tell you, I looked at it in a whole new light! I certainly didn't cut in front of any 18-wheelers!

Happy movie watching!!!!

 

[Jason Perez]

Leon,



Duel was a made-for-TV movie...hence the fullscreen (1.33:1) aspect ratio.



Regards,



Jason

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

quote:Er fellas! Aren't we forgetting something here? It's in full screen and not wide screen. Any wide screen version in the works ? What gives.





It was a made-for-television movie, the "full screen" ratio is correct. No widescreen version is needed.

 

[Kevin M]

1.33.1 is the correct AR...of course it was shown in theaters in Europe so I suppose there may have been some matting done to it at some point...but it was composed for 1.33 so I am perfectly happy with the OAR on this disc.

 

[Felix Martinez]

quote: In fact, after 30 seconds, I had to go back to the menu and switch to the original 2.0 track (which sounds WONDERFULLY FLAWLESS by the way--why couldn't this just have been remixed in 5.1?). This is really weird...I've never had this happen to me before, actually. I mean, the "re-created" 5.1 mixes for Jaws and Superman were a revelation to me.


I thought the DTS track was stupendous, but then again, I haven't seen the film in many years. The only glaring ommission for me was the dinosaur roar because its been discussed and demonstrated so often. This is why it's great to have the orig mix included.


And the Jaws and Superman 5.1 remixes have elicited bipolar reactions from viewers, to say the least. I personally enjoy the remixes; however, the orig soundtracks are not included on those discs for those viewers that don't like the remixes.


Could the lack of some of Duel's VO be due to the fact that this version of the film is the expanded theatrical/European version?


BTW - the one scene for me that did not work was the phone call home, where we see Mann's wife and child. This may have played better for me if her voice was just heard over the phone, just to keep the entire film in Mann's POV.

Cheers,

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

I'm not nearly as well-versed in this film as many of you, having only seen it twice before I purchased the disc this week. However, overall I'm very pleased. I'm sorry to hear that there are some things possibly missing from the audio tracks, but I'm very glad Universal offered the original mono for those who prefer that. (I'll risk sacrilege by stating I watched the movie in DD5.1 last night and liked the new mix, although I can certainly understand why some would prefer the original.)

Something else: The interviews with Spielberg are simply awesome! Has this guy got an incredible memory or what? Here we are 30+ years later and he still rattles off about a gazillion interesting facts and details that I've never heard before. Fantastic!



Link Removed

 

[Keith Paynter]

There are three different versions of this film - the original television version, the expanded European theatrical version, then the 1983 US theatrical version (which would be used for all Universal Home Video releases). In the interview I believe Spielberg said he removed some of Weaver's monologues for the the European theatrical release.



Each one has its own variation of 'inner monologues'. A previous post I made on the first page noted some monologues I heard on a 20 min. 16mm 'Universal 8' home theater edit that do not appear here. Since the 16mm edit predates the 1983 US release, it has to have been from the original TV version or European edit. Now, has anyone compared monologues between all the mixes on DVD?

 

[GeorgePaul]

Felix- It was my understanding that the original European theatrical cut was a full 90 minutes and included all monologues intact (the DVD release is 89 minutes, by the way, so those cuts I mentioned amount to a minute of missing footage). I had not been aware of any addition/subtraction of monologues from different releases of Duel.



Mark- Absolutely! This DVD is worth buying JUST for the extras. Spielberg's recall is fantastic, but my personal favorite was Richard Matheson's recollections on his real-life experiences while writing the novella of Duel. These interviews answered SO many questions! I just wish Dennis Weaver could have participated too.

BTW, did anyone else notice how no one can seem to agree on WHAT locations Duel was shot in, exactly? Brett's post on the first page claims it was filmed around Agua Dulce, California, on the Soledad Canyon and Angeles Forest highways. Spielberg claimed that the movie was shot in Palmdale, Pear Blossom Canyon and Sand Canyon. The production notes on the DVD state that a location was Mint Canyon, "a then-remote area northeast of Los Angeles."



I took a road trip to Palmdale once and couldn't find any of those other locations nearby except for Soledad Canyon. But just think if Duel HAD been filmed in all those locations...in a mere 12 days. Wow.



Keith- Which interview was that? I didn't hear Spielberg say anywhere on the DVD that monologues had been removed for this version.

Concerning comparing the mixes, I can't speak for the DTS track, but neither the DD 5.1 mix nor the original mono contains any of the missing v.o. or score. A real shame, IMHO.

 

[Ryan Peddle]

Does anyone here think that maybe it was taken out of the 5.1 mixes for a reason. Maybe Speilberg didn't want it in the 5.1 mixes, maybe he was against the mixes and the studio wanted the mixes there so he told them not to include it in the end.



Or, maybe it just sounded so bad in 5.1 that they had to take it out.



Damn guys, take a chill pill. We still have it in the mono mix.



It's not like Fear and Loathing Criterion or anything.

 

[Keith Paynter]

George - sorry, the info on the monologues did not come from the documentary, but from info at the [url=http://www.spielbergfilms.com/duelnews.html]http://www.spielbergfilms.com/duelnews.html[/url] webpage, as follows:


The "Universal 8" 16mm edit used red titles and credits similar to those on the Spielberg documentary and trailer - the DVD uses yellow.

A missing piece of dialogue that was ion the 16mm edit went something like this (after the truck is ahead of Weaver):

"Well it's a nice enough day for a drive..." - He then looks at the speedometer, and notes that he's running pretty fast, and decides to coast, and the speedometer goes lower... "whoops, take it easy, let that fool get out of range"...as Weaver continues at a slow speed on a downgrade: "yup, I'll just take my time, take my own...sweet..." - suddenly the rear of the truck appears.

Since the Universal 8 cut was made before the US theatrical cut, this dialogue must have appeared in the TV movie, if the notes above on the UK cut are to be accepted.