The film which marked Steven Spielberg's rise to universal dominance as a director is an extremely exciting, tension packed thriller which sees poor Dennis Weaver being chased around in the middle of nowhere by an unstoppable supertruck. Tapping into something that we all do and all a little frightened of, driving, it makes it all the more scary when you realise that not only is the truck bigger and stronger than Weaver's puny saloon, it's faster too. He has nowhere to go, no means to outrun his pursuer and no-one to turn to. It comments intelligently on a number of levels; class warfare, with middle-class Weaver in his saloon and the working-class trucker in his dirty, rough vehicle; bullying, most notably highlighted when Weaver gets out of his car to challenge the truck driver and he 'runs' away.
It also shows how safe we all feel in our steel boxes and just how terrifying it can be when that illusion is stripped away. Spielberg sensibly allows Weaver the complete film and his increasingly crazed narration and actions sit wonderfully alongside the truckers utter lack of a speaking role or indeed any motivation, which increases the fear in the viewer tenfold. A simple premise, this fantastically suspenseful film deserves to sit right up there with Jaws and Saving Private Ryan as Spielberg's best. |
