Boy, am I in the minority about this particular film. You see, I thought this movie was a lot of good, silly, rousing fun. Sure, it's a cheesy B-picture, but it does the trick and delivers the stirring goods, which makes it a solid film in my book. Okay, with that obligatory explanation stuff out of the way let's get on with this here review.
After they accidentally cut off an ominous giant black pick-up truck on the highway, both dashing limousine driver Jim Travis (firmly played by perennial straight-to-cable TV feature topliner Casper Van Dien) and his fetching female passenger Sonia Walker (the very cute Danielle Brett) end up being relentlessly terrorized on an isolated patch of sticksville mountainside backroads by the pick-up's dangerously unbalanced and irritable wombat driver. Veteran director Sidney J. Furie tackles the admittedly trite "Duel" rehash material with commendable flair and aptitude, keeping the pace sprightly and unwavering throughout, creating a reasonable amount of tension, and staging several truly spectacular bash 'em, crash 'em and smash 'em up car chases and automobile stunts with smack dead on-target exciting results. Moreover, both leads turn in personable performances, the dialogue possesses real snap and wit, there are a few genuinely startling plot twists, the blaring rock score totally smokes, and, most importantly, we've got no pretense whatsoever to be found in a single fleet frame of this amazingly vigorous and galvanizing little beaut.
After they accidentally cut off an ominous giant black pick-up truck on the highway, both dashing limousine driver Jim Travis (firmly played by perennial straight-to-cable TV feature topliner Casper Van Dien) and his fetching female passenger Sonia Walker (the very cute Danielle Brett) end up being relentlessly terrorized on an isolated patch of sticksville mountainside backroads by the pick-up's dangerously unbalanced and irritable wombat driver. Veteran director Sidney J. Furie tackles the admittedly trite "Duel" rehash material with commendable flair and aptitude, keeping the pace sprightly and unwavering throughout, creating a reasonable amount of tension, and staging several truly spectacular bash 'em, crash 'em and smash 'em up car chases and automobile stunts with smack dead on-target exciting results. Moreover, both leads turn in personable performances, the dialogue possesses real snap and wit, there are a few genuinely startling plot twists, the blaring rock score totally smokes, and, most importantly, we've got no pretense whatsoever to be found in a single fleet frame of this amazingly vigorous and galvanizing little beaut.