Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In the 1971 thriller “Duel,” a made-for-TV movie that became Steven Spielberg’s feature-length debut, the director had an early go at building an intricately suspenseful sequence. He has been showing audiences how suspense is done in the 55 years since.
“Duel” involved a menacing trucker who was none too happy with the driver of a red car. In one tense moment, the truck begins to push the car into a moving freight train.
Spielberg’s latest film, “Disclosure Day” (in theaters), is a layered sci-fi thriller that has very little in common with the sparse “Duel.” But in one sequence, the two films are in sync, and the new scene is a continuation, of sorts, of the old.
In “Disclosure Day,” Margaret (Emily Blunt) and Daniel (Josh O’Connor) are on the run with an archive that could prove the existence of other intelligent life on the planet. As they wait at train tracks, a car rams them from behind and begins to push them into the train.
Reflecting on “Duel” in this Anatomy of a Scene video, Spielberg noted, “I had always said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if the truck had actually pushed the car into the train?’ So I thought, I’m going to do that in ‘Disclosure Day.’ I’m going to take that scene to its full realization.”
Watch the full video to hear Spielberg reveal more of his techniques in a scene like this, and explain how to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
Read the review here: https://nyti.ms/4gz9f86
Subscribe: bit.ly/U8Ys7n
More from The New York Times Video: nytimes.com/video
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Whether it's reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, New York Times video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. It's all the news that's fit to watch.
In the 1971 thriller “Duel,” a made-for-TV movie that became Steven Spielberg’s feature-length debut, the director had an early go at building an intricately suspenseful sequence. He has been showing audiences how suspense is done in the 55 years since.
“Duel” involved a menacing trucker who was none too happy with the driver of a red car. In one tense moment, the truck begins to push the car into a moving freight train.
Spielberg’s latest film, “Disclosure Day” (in theaters), is a layered sci-fi thriller that has very little in common with the sparse “Duel.” But in one sequence, the two films are in sync, and the new scene is a continuation, of sorts, of the old.
In “Disclosure Day,” Margaret (Emily Blunt) and Daniel (Josh O’Connor) are on the run with an archive that could prove the existence of other intelligent life on the planet. As they wait at train tracks, a car rams them from behind and begins to push them into the train.
Reflecting on “Duel” in this Anatomy of a Scene video, Spielberg noted, “I had always said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if the truck had actually pushed the car into the train?’ So I thought, I’m going to do that in ‘Disclosure Day.’ I’m going to take that scene to its full realization.”
Watch the full video to hear Spielberg reveal more of his techniques in a scene like this, and explain how to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
Read the review here: https://nyti.ms/4gz9f86
Subscribe: bit.ly/U8Ys7n
More from The New York Times Video: nytimes.com/video
----------
Whether it's reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, New York Times video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. It's all the news that's fit to watch.
