Sleek

It says a lot when your made-for-TV debut movie ends up being revered as a cinema classic. 'Duel' deserves all the plaudits its ever received, and is Spielberg's greatest film after 'Jaws' (come on, you all love the shark pic!). Both films are textbook examples of streamlined intensity - a small number of characters, a simple high-concept storyline, and a powerful, building sense of dread as our protagonist(s) battle the beast that's been terrorising them. Dennis Weaver is fabulous as the timid everyman who locks horns with the unseen truck driver in this movie; the gradual change from paranoid wimp to teeth-baring reluctant hero is a great turn. The pared-down plot is almost gossamer-thin, and all the better for it: lone salesman upsets a trucker by overtaking him on a dusty American highway... and the trucker just won't let it go... The truck itself is a wonderful creation - all rusty fenders and grinding tyres, its engine growling menacingly as it pursues Weaver's character through the dustbowl tracks of the Midwest (check out the van in 'Jeepers Creepers' for an obvious homage). And the tension is ratcheted up via a string of confrontations and set-pieces that really do get you on the edge of your seat. 'Duel' has dated a little - its thirty years old now - but for a sheer nostalgic adrenaline ride and the joy of watching Spielberg's seemingly effortless thrills (seems a bit talented, that man...) it's hard to beat in the genre.