Alternate versions for
Duel (1971) (TV) More at IMDbPro »

• Originally a made-for-TV movie, this Spielberg film was re-edited and lengthened for theatrical release in Europe, at the request of CIC (the distributor).
  
  
• Spielberg shot an additional 16 minutes of footage (bringing the running time up to 90 minutes from the original 74 of the TV version), including a longer title sequence, and a scene showing the killer truck trying to push Dennis Weaver's car under a train at a railroad crossing.
  
  
• Another new scene, where Weaver stops at a gas station and phones his wife, was written by producer George Eckstein to inflate the running time to the requested 90 minutes. This was reportedly done against Spielberg's wishes.
  
  
• The DVD version is the 90-minute version, but it differs from earlier releases in at least three instances. The camera shadow on the truck's roof (early on, see Goofs) is gone, corrected either digitally or through cropping. Toward the end, in the VHS version, a voice-over makes it very clear what David is planning to do: go at least 70 miles per hour through "Frenchman's Pass," an incline that the truck won't be able to climb very fast; on the DVD, the voice-over is removed, and all one hears is David shouting, "You can't beat me on the grade!" Finally, another fifteen- or twenty-second shot showing David's eyes superimposed over the road as another voice-over reveals he is about to get on the incline, has been removed.
  
  

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