Recently we watched two of Spielberg's earlier masterpieces,
Duel and
Jaws. Duel essentially made Steven Spielberg famous and paved the road for
Jaws, which is the unofficial sequel to
Duel. Jaws has also been described as "
Duel on the water." There are a number of similarities between the films from plot to imagery to the respective monsters and even a sound effect at the end of each film.
Your assignment: In a well crafted paragraph or two, compare
Jaws to
Duel. This is due by the end of class Monday, 3/23! In what ways are they the same? Do you think Spielberg's work on
Duel better prepared him for an undertaking such as
Jaws? If you were not in class for
Duel, there is a link to the full film below. Yes, there are commercials.
(I wrote my entry and then when it gave me the option to log into my account when I published it, it deleted the entry.... so if you get this twice that's why.) >:(
ReplyDeleteAnyway...
The two films, Jaws and Duel, are both similar but have their own differences. To get the most obvious fact out of the way, they were both directed by the one and only Steven Spielberg. To add onto the list, the four letter titles and plots based around a giant-like creature chasing mankind are evident. Even Spielberg himself looked at Jaws as a sequel to Duel. With only a four-year difference in release dates, Spielberg had to be careful. If he were to make the films too noticeably similar, critics would have gone wild with statements saying Mr. Director had lost his ability to be creative. All in all, Spielberg balanced the sameness(and diversities) and audiences came to not put a lot of thought and judgement into it since Jaws was such a phenomenal and breathtaking film.
Besides the obvious, that both Duel and Jaws are directed by Spielberg, the two films actually share some surprisingly similar characteristics. For instance, the plot line is relatively, if not almost exactly, the same. In Jaws, you have a sole shark that brings terror upon the townspeople, but centers around Chief Brody, and in Duel you have this tractor-trailer that seems as if its' life goal is to destroy Weaver. Additionally, both films revolve around life or death situations where the protagonist and antagonist refuse to quit until one or the other dies. Some minor similarities are also that the main character is a husband and a father and that he’s left his family and children at home while he embarks on this dangerous journey. Having created Duel definitely helped Spielberg in creating Jaws. Spielberg is able to draw tension and fear from the audience throughout the whole movie and essentially make the audience feel as if they’re right there with the actors. Jaws definitely required more effort than Duel but, nonetheless, both films were impeccable. Spielberg understood that sometimes it’s not about aliens or monsters that scare others, but real life world situations.
ReplyDeleteJaws, a movie about a man in pursuit and being pursued by a lifeless killing machine. Duel, a movie about a man being pursued by a lifeless machine apparently out for This man's blood. Peel back the skin of these two movies and it becomes very easy to see what makes them so similar. Both involve nervous protagonists who are out of their elements though Chief Brody from Jaws if far cooler than the guy from Duel. Both of these movies also share monsters with very similar characteristics. The shark from Jaws is a seemingly unstable killing machine with "lifeless" eyes and no remorse. The truck from Duel if a lifeless machine that never stops its pursuit of the protagonist and seems to have no limits to its engines power. Both monster want one thing, the shark wants food and the Truck wants Duel's protagonist.
ReplyDeleteBoth movies also create a sense of isolation for the protagonists. In Jaws the open sea is the barrier that isolates the Protagonists from the rest of the world. In Duel the open lonely road creates the divide for the protagonists but also, his own paranoia creates another layer of isolation making him distrustful and impatient.
Making Duel definitely helped Spielberg when he was making Jaws. No matter how boring my classmates, and even I, say Duel was at times. It is hard to deny the fact that the movie did a great job at building suspense. We wanted it to end, but we were also wondering what was going to come of this pathetic guy being chased by the big bully of a truck. This excellent practice in suspenseful story telling is really reflected in Jaws. From not showing the shark until halfway through to using objects other than the shark to represent it in scenes, Spielberg showed that you didn't have to see the monster in a movie to get people scared and worried. Even better, he proved that if a scene doesn't need to have the monster show itself, it is much more suspenseful to not show it than to have it appear.
When comparing Jaws and Duel, you have two very similar movies. At the same time some very discrete differences. For example some differences would be, Jaws is about a huge great white shark and Duel is about a big 8 wheeler. Also a difference in Jaws then Duel is that in Jaws there were more victims and more people trying to get rid of the “monster.” As in Duel there was one victim and one hero. Some similarities would be, the shark and the truck both tease the main characters before attempting to kill them. At the end of both films the monster dies.
ReplyDeleteDuel and Jaws were very similar in many ways, but in my opinion Jaws was extremely more successful and applying to the audience Spielberg needed. Although Duels visual effects were appealing, the movie was very boring. It couldn't capture my interest because I felt as if there was no actual story behind it. Yet it did lead to his set up of making Jaws. The concept of having humans stop a monster , being the truck and Jaws, continued in both movies. The visual effects in Duel set him up for filming Jaws in such away. Both movies changed the filming industry in the way of how movies were to be directed. Although Duel was not my interest, Jaws was. Jaws was a ligament scare that instills the real life fear of a monster. Its a real life scenario that could happen anywhere at anytime and would be extremely hard to control and stop in real life such as the movie. To summarize I believe both movies were a success but Jaws much more then Duel.
ReplyDeleteThe films, Jaws and Duel, by Steven Spielberg had many similarities. The biggest theme of the two is the element of stalking. In Jaws, a shark is stalking the people of Amity Beach. In Duel, a Rusty old truck is chasing/stalking David Mann. Throughout the movies there were times where the viewer could have a glimpse of hope. In Jaws they captured a shark, but it was not the right shark. In Duel, it seemed as if David got away from the truck. Nevertheless, it always showed up ruining any false hope the viewer had built up. Both "monsters" were significantly larger than its prey, which makes it more intimidating. By making Duel, it definitely made things easier for Spielberg in the way that he could recycle a lot of the same ideas and themes. Whether it is a family to get home to, or the sheer will to survive, Spielberg incorporated those things in Jaws. Likewise, the same tactics he used to create suspense, hope, and fear in Duel is what he used in Jaws. Without the making of Duel, Jaws would not be the movie it was made to be.
ReplyDeleteJaws was almost the same as duel but jaws was much better because it was in water and had sharks which made it cooler to watch. Where duel was about a tractor trailer that was trying to run a car off the road the whole time and you could always see him coming so it didn't have much suspense but I do think it helped him with jaws because he could fix what he messed up the last time
ReplyDeleteJaws and Dual hold many of the same qualities, first they were both directed by the same man, the one and only Steven Spielberg. Though this in itself is enough of a similarity, as it makes both films feel and look the same, there are more similarities. In Jaws, there’s a shark that terrorizes the townspeople and Chief Brody, and in Duel there’s a tractor-trailer that appears to have one sole purpose, and that is to terrorize Weaver. Both films center around these huge monster like enemies. Spielberg plays off the horror of real situations, where both protagonist and antagonists fight each other for the cost of their life. Both won’t stop until the other dies. As a filmmaker, I know that any kind of movie you do is preparation for the next thing to come. Even for big shot directors like Steven Spielberg, any kind of experience will better you later. Doing Dual definitely helped Spielberg better himself before Jaws. Filmmaking is a craft. Like any other craft, more practice, more success.
ReplyDeleteThe Films "Jaws" and "Dual" we're two similar films created by Steven Spielberg. The two films are basically the same movie just one being in water and the other on road. In Jaws, a shark is killing human beings that enter the ocean. While in Dual, a truck drive who is unscene, continuously attempts to kill the drive of an orange car. The man in the orange car happens to also be the main character. The main similarity is that both films contain a monster. The shark in Jaws and the truck driver in Dual. Furthermore, in both films they have a hard time capturing the monster which leads to major anxiety for the main characters. Lastly, monster is defeated at the end of both films. Therefore, the films had much similarities and the production of Dual with its good shots helped prepare Spielberg for Jaws.
ReplyDeleteJaw and Dual were a like in many ways to start off. They are both about this "Monster" or "Predator" that seems to be uncontrolable. Dual was a huge stepping stone in the making of Jaws in my opinion. I think that Spielberg learned a lot from Dual and that was the reason behind Jaws being as successful as it was. What made Jaws more terrifying was because it was something more relatable and was viewed as people biggest fear. When the movie was made and til this day people second guess about getting in the water. It stuck with the viewers and is just another reason behind Spielberg's success. People tend to fear the unknown and unexpected which is why these two films relate to one another and changed the way Spielberg was viewed as a film maker.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that Jaws is the better movie, I argue that Duel plays to people's fears as well, though probably more so if you've spent time driving out west. We call it "road rage" now.
DeleteWhen comparing Duel and Jaws, I was surprised by the amount of similarities between the two considering I loved Jaws and hated Duel. Clearly the biggest similarity is that they were both directed by Spielberg, but there are many more. The plot lines were basically the same, the shark from Jaws played the same role as the tractor from Duel. In both, the animal or object seems to be coming after one individual, destroying anything in its path. Both films are full of life or death scenes. The characters are forced to make decisions that could be fatal or incredibly heroic. The most terrifying part of both films is that, to an extent, they were realistic issues. Having done Duel first definitely aided in the success of Jaws. Spielberg learned a lot from Duel and tweaked things which is what made Jaws so great.
ReplyDeleteDuel and Jaws are both directed by Spielberg, so they are pretty similar. The plot is relatively, if not almost exact. Duel you have this tractor-trailer that’s like goal is to destroy Weaver. In Jaws, you have a shark that brings terror to the townspeople. Both films revolve around life or death situations. Also the main character in both, is a husband and a father and that left his family at home. Creating the Duel first, helped making Jaws easier for Spielberg. At the end of both films, the “monster” dies. Both films were pretty interesting. Spielberg scared the audience with real life situations. -Tiffany Valiante
ReplyDeleteDuel and Jaws were both directed by Steven Spielberg. One takes place on the beach and other takes place in the middle of no where. Both films contain a monster. The monster of jaws is a enormous shark that cannot be caught. In Duel, the "monster" is a giant truck that won't stop chasing the main character. Both monsters have no reason for the killings. The two films are very similar due to the chasing scenes.
ReplyDeleteJaw and Duel were a like in many ways to start off. They deal with the topics of Monsters and both were directed by Spielberg. These two movies are two of the scariest movies ever because they both deal with realistic problems. Duel is about a truck chasing a man in his car. Many people get that paranoid feeling that someone is following them in their car and its due to his movie. Jaws gives the same paranoia but at a greater scale. the premier of Jaws had America frightened of the beach. Everyone thought they would get eaten by a shark if they went to the beach. These are two of the best films Spielberg has made and these are the two that gave him the reputation that he has today.
ReplyDeleteJaws and Duel are most certainly one in the same when it comes to comparing the two films. Yes Spielberg directed both of them only four years apart from each other, and Duel was his first TV film, Jaws however obtained more attention and praise. There really aren't to many differences between the two, it's honestly easier to talk about similarities than differences. For example, the twin films share one subtle but interesting detail; there is a noise that is one similar to a dinosaur roar, first in Duel as the truck goes over the cliff, and secondly in Jaws when Bruce's body finally falls into the water .Spielberg has said that this is because he feels there is a "kinship" between Duel and Jaws, as they are both "about these leviathans targeting everyman." Onto a different topic the cinematography in one and the other are absolutely astonishing. Two specific shots I have in mind is the one when David Mann from Duel is in front of the beautiful sunset which is almost the same shot when Quint was on the boat in front of the gorgeous sunset. All in all both movies are phenomenal despite what other students think or say regarding Duel, and Spielberg did a fantastic job with each.
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