Mann was a driving menace
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Duel
allen-406-128450 — 11 years ago(December 13, 2014 09:14 PM)
He couldn't keep the car on the road and despite having mirrors kept turning his head to look behind him. He also didn't bother to inspect his radiator hose and didn't know to turn on his heater when the car began to overheat. His hearing was bad too - with the window down and radio off the truck surprised him from behind several times. I think the trucker's motive was to save others on the highway from this klutz. Alas, he failed.
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!!!deleted!!! (1688273) — 11 years ago(December 17, 2014 05:40 AM)
If the car is all out of coolant, there will be none to pump through the heater core.
The car was brand new. There should not have been anything wrong with the radiator hose. It is possible that Mann (correctly) surmised that the service station attendant was trying to sell him a bill of goods, heard Mann's snarky mutterings, and vandalized his car. -
Critomaton — 9 years ago(January 29, 2017 07:58 PM)
I'm pretty sure the 1971 Plymouth Valiant didn't win a J.D. Power award for best initial quality, but your theory about the gas station attendant is interesting. The guy certainly didn't mind spilling ethyl all over David Mann's new paint job.
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ricardo-wald — 10 years ago(May 16, 2015 11:18 PM)
I completly agree with you, the truck driver's intentions were legit, but unfortunatly he failed! Mann was a danger to everyone on the road and as natural selection hasnt take care of him, the truck driver showed he was in the road to help anyone who needed (example: the school bus) found Mann to be a walking danger to everyone and tried to take the matter into his own hands, for the good of mankind, but he was too benevolent, had several oportunities to finish him off but somehow he let him live for a litle while more.. its a shame.
However he will go down in movie history as a brave and couragous man who tried to stop that driving menace from spreading his seed around, a honourable act. -
allen-406-128450 — 10 years ago(May 17, 2015 08:18 AM)
Thanks for the ironic support. I forgot to mention that I loved the TV version of this when I first saw it on live broadcast back in the day. This theatrical version was great too. A reminder that cars back then could be unreliable. So unlike today. I once had my Dodge Dart overheat on the PA turnpike and had to turn the heater on to make it to the next exit. Points, condenser and carburetors. A thing of the past and I'm glad. Next time I am in California I'll go to the filming locations of this great movie. That tanker going off the cliff is way better than today's CGI.