Deliverance

7/19/2016

This was remarkable and scared the crap out of me. I read the book eons ago, probably 1988, for a first-year university class back when I was earning my first degree. Not a Burt Reynolds fan, and having only seen two other works by Boorman (the great 'Point Blank' and the not-so-great 'Exorcist II: The Heretic'), I wasn't in a huge hurry to rush out and see the film. BIG mistake on my part, to be frank. Probably the gifted 83-year-old, Surrey native and five-time Oscar nominee's best work--and easily the finest work ever done by Reynolds, shortly before he simply rested on his laurels and became nothing but a caricature. THIS at the very least was proof that he at one time actually had chops and could act. The scariest aspect of all is that this goes on all the time and we just don't

8/11/2016

Brutal, Beautiful and Brilliant. Four Atlanta friends - Lewis (Burt Reynolds), Ed (John Voight), Bobby (Ned Beatty), and Drew (Ronny Cox) – decide to canoe down the Cahulawassee River out in the Georgia wilderness. They see it as a test of manliness whilst also wanting to experience this part of nature before the whole valley is flooded over to make way for the upcoming construction of a dam and lake. But the perils of nature are not the only dangerous things in their midst, unfriendly wood folk are about to bring another dimension in terror. Deliverance is one of those films that sometimes suffers by way of reputation. Much like Straw Dogs and 70s films of that type, the hype and promise of unremitting hell often isn't delivered to an expectant modern audience. Which is a shame sinc

7/16/2018

The Banjo scene still haunts me today! Never mind the New Beaty scene. Great movie.

3/11/2024

**It would certainly have been more interesting at the time it was released.** When this film came out in 1972, there was something interesting about themes linked to nature and the environment. Not that environmentalism was in vogue, but it was the golden age of the hippie movement that advocated, among other things, a more harmonious connection between Man and Nature. And in fact, what we have here is a group of four men from the big city who seek to find fun, emotions and beauty in the natural environment, in a wild river full of rapids that will disappear in a few months due to the construction of a dam. However, as they begin their descent down the river, things begin to go terribly wrong after an encounter with two men. Fitting into that type of nature thrillers where man faces

12/4/2024

This is one of those films I remember watching as a kid and being genuinely scared! It centres around a bunch of city folks who decide to canoe down the Cahulawassee river before it is dammed to make a giant reservoir. The four men arrive at the backwater town where they are to start their journey, and meet a population that progress has largely skipped and where the gene-pool is sadly nowhere as deep as the river. "Drew" (Ronny Cox) plucks his guitar and gets a response from local lad "Lonnie" (Billy Redden) and for the next four minutes or so, "Duelling Banjos" offers quite an astonishing degree of synchronisation as the two improvise a toe-tapper that is instantly recognisable. Then off they go, and a perilous game of brutal cat-and-mouse with the locals ensues. They become the hunted,