Duel, and Jurassic Park 4

My Duel (Special Edition) DVD, released this year, arrived today. I remember about 10 years ago, sitting at home with my sister on a lazy afternoon, flicking channels and finally settling on this psychological thriller, which turned out to be one of the most suprisingly simple, original and classic movies I'd ever seen. We both loved it.

The synopsis? A diabolical diesel truck terrorises a salesman driving along an isolated desert highway.

A 1971 TV-movie, it was made in under three weeks on a budget of less than $375,000. Effectively a silent film with fewer than 50 lines of dialogue, it was extended by 15 minutes with three additional scenes and voice over commentary by the star, Dennis Weaver, to be later theatrically released - a testament to it's effectiveness. Directed by Steven Spielberg at the age of 23, Duel is credited as being his first full-length movie.

Another Spielberg all-time favourite of mine is Jurassic Park (1993). I hated the sequel and completely avoid the third installment. Today I discovered, late to the party I'll add, that it's definately no longer going to be a trilogy.

Trilogy actor Sam Neill on JP4 (via CountingDown.com):

Ross: Actually I read a report on the internet, when I was researching for this interview with you, that said Jurassic Park IV was going to feature dinosaurs being trained to, uh, carry military weapons, like rocket launchers or something?

Sam: (chuckling) Wow, that's the first time I've heard that one!

Ross: It's not true? Phew! Looks like Hollywood isn't as desperate as I thought! (laughs)

We'll see. How to kill a good thing...