Maybe the truck driver is a zombie.
This was 2 years after Charlie Manson, irrational, unfathomable evil was on everybody’s mind.
Now I know it’s been 18 years, but Wikipedia is wrong on this. Trucks at the time had plates for every state they drove in. Having lots of plates was the style at the time (like tying an onion on your bumper.) Having multiple plates means nothing.
I never had any trouble assuming the Driver was just a wacko. The events of the movie may be the first time he actually tried to kill someone. Maybe he’s got his own problem, like Mr Mann, and today was the day he snapped.
But the question I want to know is, does he still haul gas, or does he just drive around looking for trouble? Because I’m not sure that thing could pass a DOT inspection. I’m not sure I’d want it at my filling station either!
Fun fact: there’s a museum in Moriarty, NM, that has a lot of old trucks (it’s more like an eccentric collection than a true museum) and they have a genuine used Kenworth tanker that could be a twin to the Pete in Duel. It wasn’t some weak attempt at a replica, like some old truck turned into Tow mater. It was a real retired tanker, rusted and faded.
He overdid it on the weed, whites, and wine.
If someone remade this today it could be a self-driving truck and just another rebellious robot story.
So I hope they don’t.
SAG. [In 1971] It only would have been Equity for Duel on Broadway: The Musical.
Which I understand Julie Taymor is currently developing. /s
The fact that the truck didn’t burst into flames after it went off the cliff at the end of the movie, despite having “flammable” plastered all over it, could be a sign that that tanker was actually empty. Come to think of it the tank being empty could also explain why the truck was able to move surprisingly fast. So I’m leaning towards “he just drives around looking for trouble.”
Still, he was Willin’!
Huh, imagine this thread coming back up all these years later. It’s like a truck bearing down on m…
But I digress. Anyway, to your point about the tanker being empty: that actually makes it more dangerous because while gasoline is flammable only the vapor is explosive. And, if I recall, there is a dripping sound in addition to the wheel spinning in the final truck shot.
Over the years I’ve been inclined to the movie-as-allegory viewpoint instead of worrying about the specific motivation of the driver. Though, it must be said, in this day and age road rage is worse than ever, and for lesser transgressions than having the temerity to pass someone. The plethora of road rage dash cam videos is more than enough proof of that.
We don’t know for sure that that tanker hauled gasoline, though. IIRC I read somewhere that in real life that truck was an oil hauler before the studio bought it, that is, it hauled crude oil from the wells to the refinery. So in my mind I assume it hauled crude oil in the movie, too. There are quite a few oil wells in Southern California, a fact many people are surprised to learn.
Ok, so crude oil probably produces flammable vapors, too, but I assume it’s not as volatile as gasoline.
In the final shot there’s a close up of a dark, viscous liquid dripping from the steering wheel. It’s ambiguous whether it’s blood or oil, I’m sure on purpose.
Not only are there oil wells in Southern California, there’s a large active oil field in Los Angeles proper between the downtown area and Dodger Stadium.
To be honest, that surprised me when I found out about it, though it shouldn’t have given the La Brea tar pits, and what tipped me off was pump jacks in the background of the final scene of L.A. Confidential. I saw that and thought it couldn’t be real, but sure enough, they’re still there.
There’s a really big active oil field on the west side between Culver City and Inglewood.
I’m not quite placing where one would be between Dodger Stadium and Downtown. That’s Chinatown (forget it, Jake) and I can think of any oil rigs there, although that are a number of rigs inside fake buildings all around the LA Area.
I think the entire point of the film is: evil doesn’t need a motivation. It’s evil; it seeks to harm, steal, destroy, murder, pillage and ravage for the sake of doing. This film reduces everything to that one point, and also reinforces another: you cannot reason with evil, bargain with it or even try to escape it…
YOU HAVE TO DESTROY IT.