Duel (1971) - The Hybrid Cut (Version 2) (Released)

Duel was originally released on TV with a 70-minute runtime. For its European theatrical premiere, Spielberg added more footage to get it to a required 90 minute runtime. Some of this is new car scenes and some of it is more obvious padding (the opening credits and the conversation with Mann’s wife.) In addition to the new footage, additional directorial changes were made, including a new, dynamic mono sound mix and the removal of much of David Mann’s redundant inner monologue to great effect.
This fan edit mostly follows the original, tighter TV edit of the film, while also using the theatrical sound mix and removing the inner monologues. It also includes the further edits made to the film for the DVD and Bluray release (which removes more inner thoughts). I also created some new opening and closing title cards to match the TV edit.
I used a 4:3 HDTV copy as the base because the Blu ray is unfortunately only available in cropped 1.85:1. Special thanks to DrDre’s ColorMatch tool which was incredibly useful to help match the different sources and make the older scan look a little nicer.

Sources used:
Duel 4:3 HDTV (primary video)
Duel Blu ray (primary mono audio and color reference)
Duel NSTC DVD (used to patch out logos in the HDTV)
Duel 16:9 Cropped French Digital SD TV airing (two brief shots)
Duel TV VHS Recording (some audio)
Duel SD extras documentary (partial opening shot which was blended with the French Digital source and the Bluray)
Columbo Blu ray (pilot episodes) (opening and closing Universal logo)

Sample Images: https://imgur.com/a/lwopT

Video: 7.05 GB 1080p HD MKV
Audio: 2.0 Mono FLAC
01:13:08

Version 2 changes:

• No more VHS footage (Footage from the TV cut is now sourced from a cropped French digital airing, with a custom matte to “uncrop” the opening shot.)
• A different, more balanced color grade.
• patched out the HDNet logos with DVD footage.
• English Subtitles

Available via the 'spleen or PM.

No. Because they removed it from the DVD, so I would have to have used VHS footage.

This is now available on the 'spleen.

ElectricTriangle said:

I used a 4:3 HDTV copy as the base because the Blu ray is unfortunately only available in cropped 1.85:1.

The Blu-ray master is also the default version for UK TV airings. There is a loss of vertical information but a gain with horizontal detail.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_reviews_63/duel_blu-ray.htm

Yeah, all the footage shot in 1971 is pretty severely cropped, which is unfortunate, because otherwise it’s a really nice transfer. (It is actuate to the European theatrical presentation, but that still means the majority of the film is framed wrong). And in my fan edit, all of the footage I use would be framed wrong.

The 4:3 HDTV is lacking in detail, but I was able to color grade it to look somewhat more like the bluray master.

I just finished version two of this edit which adds some polish and gets rid of the remaining VHS footage with the help of a new source (thanks to Beber for the French TV capture). I also gave it a new color grade, patched out the HDNet logos with DVD footage, and added subtitles

Available via the 'spleen or PM.

I thought I could retire (or make a new version) this project given that the new UHD advertises the TV cut in 4:3 HD as an extra. What they have put on that disc, however, is an old SD TV master with horrific machine learning upscaling (now often termed AI upscaling). Like it’s baaaaaad. Some of the worst video quality I’ve ever seen. All the NSTC artifacts like rainbowing, haloing and aliasing are being warped into atrocious “fake detail” by whatever tool they rammed it though. I also think they might have deinterlaced it poorly to start, but it’s been damaged so much by this process it’s hard to tell. It’s probably the worst looking blu-ray I’ve ever seen. The audio will probably be nicer than the existing rips I have, but this is so terribly disappointing considering I’d have been happy for them to just put the TV cut in SD on disc.