Rent Deliverance (1972)

Survivalist Thriller - A Must Watch - Deliverance review by GI

A harrowing survivalist film with real suspense at its core. A key film of the 70s and one of director John Boorman's best films, it's also the break-out film for Burt Reynolds who went onto star status following this. It tells the story of four city men who go on a canoe trip down a South Georgia river that is soon to be flooded and turned into a gigantic lake. Led by outdoor enthusiast and alpha male Lewis (Reynolds) the other three Ed (Jon Voight), Bobby (Ned Beatty) and Drew (Ronny Cox) are a mixed bunch of optimists and pessimists who are drawn to the trip by Lewis' obvious enthusiasm. Along the journey they have to contend with and form a bond with the wilderness but danger comes from a most unlikely source. Often deemed a horror film this is really a nuanced thriller that has character as it's main theme and it looks at a hidden and perhaps forgotten side of America. There's a constant edginess to the film setting an atmosphere of dread often bought on by Lewis in particular, a man possibly on the edge of sanity. In the end it's the meek character of Ed, who has a psychological issue that will affect their survival chances, who has to step up. This is a film that all film lovers should ensure they see, it's shocking and at times pushes boundaries but always stays just the right side of stretching the limits of credibility. Based on novel by James Dickey, who wrote the screenplay and has a cameo role this also has the great screen character villain Bill McKinney. A superb film and worthy of rediscovery.

An at-times shocking but also muddled film with some good performances & locations - Deliverance review by Timmy B

For many people, Deliverance is an iconic slice of American cinematic history. Made on a moderate budget but deliberately sabotaged by the studio to try & shut it down, it then became an enormous success both financially & critically, nominated for both Oscars and Golden Globes. It also launched the careers of John Boorman & Ned Beatty. The main reason I had rented it was because of it's iconic status as well as hearing Charley Boorman (the director's son,) talking about his cameo at the end. But the actual film itself was for me a very mixed beast.

Four friends decide to go on a canoeing trip down a river which will soon be closed off by the state. Lewis (Reynolds) is an adventurer & outdoor enthusiast, who has been on trips with Ed in the past. Bobby & Drew have been persuaded by Lewis's bombastic personality and promises of adventure to come along for the ride, both of whom have no experience in these surroundings. Whilst at first the quartet have a good time, they are then attacked & a horrific assault is committed on one of them, leading to revenge & a desperate fight to survive.

For many, the best part of this film, as well as one of the most well-known, is the opening "Duelling banjos" scene between one of the men & the severely inbred son of one of the locals. This is both unexpected & also highly entertaining, making the later events all the more shocking. There is some good chemistry between the actors, especially in the establishing scenes between them.

However, this film is incredibly uneven in many ways. For example, the cinematography, whilst beautifully composed by Vilmos Zsigmond, also at times looks absolutely horrendous. There are scenes which were clearly meant to be set at night-time which are instead shot during the day then darkened artificially post-production in the film lab. These look so bad, so terrible & so garish that for me it genuinely affected my opinion on the film, even when factoring in when it was made.

There are other moments which again are really badly staged, such as one character managing to shoot not only someone else, but also himself, at the same time, with two separate arrows... which is physically impossible.

But this film manages to impact you in many profound ways as well. The infamous sexual assault is unbelievably nasty & brutal, as well as the stark religious imagery & the uncompromising hell which these men go through as they fight to survive. There also needs to be massive respect given to the 4 actors, who did most of their own stunts, including Jon Voight, who actually climbed the sheer cliff face on his own with no assistance.

But despite all I have said, this was for me absolutely not the masterpiece which many others hold it up as. It is a shocking & well-acted film, but also an extremely uneven one.