Deliverance [Blu-ray]

Lewis: "Sometimes you have to lose yourself before you can find anything...A couple more months, she'll all be gone...from Aintry on up. One big dead lake." I saw "Deliverance" when it was released in 1972 and have seen it many times since then...always with a sense of anticipation for the opening scene with the dueling guitar and banjo duet between Ronny Cox and Billy Redden; and a sense of satisfaction after the last frame fades into the closing credits. Adapted from James Dickey's novel of the same name, this is one of the best suspense thrillers ever made...my opinion of course; and as the opening quote indicates, it also had environmental overtones. The superlatives don't end there...the film also features Burt Reynold's best dramatic performance (my opinion) and arguably the best by Jon Voight. It also features the film debuts for Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox; and they both hit the ground running...Cox never did better than in this film. British director, John Boorman, also delivered his best performance behind the camera...he teams up Dickey on the screenplay, so he gets double credit for the excellence of this film. Dickey, in addition to writing the novel and co-writing the screenplay, plays the sheriff of Aintry County. The tune played by Cox (who was and is an accomplished musician) and Redden (who does not actually play the banjo) is of course, "Dueling Banjos", and I thought for many years it originated with this movie; but it was actually written in 1955 by Arthur Smith. The music score is another superlative, perfectly setting the mood for the film. The R-rating is well earned for violence, including the famous male-on-male rape scene...be mindful of that if you decide to watch it. My highest recommendation

I first saw this film, many years ago, when my consuming hobby was running white water rivers. The old Stan, American, the Rouge, middle fork of the Salmon, capped by 19 days through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. Great times all. Now I am 89 years old and this film brings back the thrills, joys, and terrors of what is around the bend.

Outstanding film all the way through. It is super dark and gritty descent into the abyss on a wild George river. In real live, the film crew and actors risked life and limb to make this film surviving dangerous stunts and climbs. Even the process getting the equipment down to the river seems almost impossible. Burt Reynolds does his famous front flip off one of the falls and Jon Voight climbs a vertical cliff- all for real because they couldn't afford stunt doubles. I suggest going to Clayton, GA to the filming location and you'll have a deep respect for this masterful work of art. It's not just about the pig.

The film is a visual celebration of Appalachian majesty, even when its heroes are rolling around in mud and grime. I can't imagine how difficult it was capturing some of the rapid scenes, as you see the actual actors struggling against the very real river. It's a pity the movie will mostly be remembered for its "Squeal like a pig!" scene, when the entire movie is a testament to fine cinematography, like a documentary capturing murderous hillbillies in their natural habitat.The movie's message seems a little confused, but mostly about civilized masculinity and putting it into raw nature. The most macho of the four men Lewis gets knocked down a bajillion pegs. Meanwhile Bobby demonstrates a remarkable resilience, handling the sequence of tragedies without cracking. All four of the men live lives of control, and make the dumb choice of willingly surrendering that control to a violent river...And for what? When Lewis is pressed for a reason to go down the river, all he can manage is "Because it's there." That sounds cool and macho, until you have a compound leg fracture and a mad hillbilly on your tail.

I could never watch this until i got old. Watch with someone who takes movies lightly if you have a hard time doing so yourself. Yes this movie is dated and insulting, but it is also extremely entertaining. Cover your eyes and ears during the gross parts, not for kids under 16, and this movie is not for the easily horrified or naive, of any age. Really be careful with your young people. Although they have probably already watched as bad, in our violent society. But can be used to talk with older young people about prejudice (the movie has a portrayal that is unaccurate and predjudiced) and certain types of violence.

I first saw "Deliverance" in the theater after it was first released in the summer of 1972. I was 17. Well, I'm 64 now and I got it on DVD and it's as powerful as ever. It was nominated for the "Oscar" for Best Picture,( "The Godfather" won,) and is on The American Film Institute's list of The Greatest American Thrillers of All Time. It is also on The Library of Congress National Film Registry for movies with," historic, cultural and aesthetic significance." There are 725 movies on the list since it was started back in 1988. They add to the list every few years. Quite an honor. This made Burt Reynolds a big box-office draw. Jon Voight ,Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox as his friends are excellent too. Well known movie reviewer Leonard Maltin,( who has put out an annual movie review guide since the '70's,) said the two mountain men were two of the most frightening villans in movie history. Many agree,including me. James Dickey who wrote the novel and the screenplay played the sheriff. British director John Boorman ,("Point Blank" from 1967, "Excalibur" from 1981,) does a great job and features excellent cinematography from Hungarian Vilmos Zsigmond who won an "Oscar" for Best Cinematography for Stephen Spielberg's "Close Encounters of The Third Kind" from 1977. It was a big hit at the box-office, and,"Dueling Banjo's " became a big hit record. The taglines for two movie posters read, "Where does the camping trip end and the nightmare begin?" and "This is the weekend they didn't play golf."

Deliverance is a 1972 American thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman and starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox, and Ned Beatty, with both Cox and Beatty making their feature film debuts. The film is based on a 1970 novel of the same name by American author James Dickey, who has a small role in the film as the Sheriff. The screenplay was written by Dickey and an uncredited Boorman.Widely acclaimed as a landmark picture, the film is noted both for the memorable music scene near the beginning that sets the tone for what lies ahead - a trip into unknown and potentially dangerous territory - and for its notorious "squeal like a pig" male rape scene. In 2008, Deliverance was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".I bought Deliverance on DVD as a Christmas present for my dad who already has the film on VHS, and he was really pleased to have received the DVD at Christmas. I previously saw this film on video a few years ago, and so I watched it again very recently but on DVD this time. I really enjoyed this film the first time I saw it on video, and when watching it again but on DVD it was just as entertaining. A couple of days later I watched the 1981 film Southern Comfort which has similar premises to Deliverance, and is equally good.Going back to Deliverance, it is a classic film that is not to be missed. Very highly recommended.

Probably one of the best films of all time . . . ok, maybe not, but you will definitely be drawn into the film.The acting is first class, and as for Burt Reynolds, wow. Believe this was a life changing film for him if you search on the internet.Probably not one for the children, as some of the scenes are very graphic, certainly doesn't leave a lot to the imagination.One of the best scenes for me is when they are all sat around the table at the end, a truly emotional scene.If you haven't watched it yet, please do, you will definitely want this in your collection.

There is far more to this than the still remembered Dueling Banjos theme tune, but even that famous scene is still worth revisiting. As someone thrilled by white water who has visited this part of the mountains a couple of times I always feel this movie captured something similar to D-Fens in Falling Down, the world changes and yet we stumble on, often making things worse by refusing to back off when we really know we should. So there is still an interesting exploration of the human condition within this classic, which I remember fondly as it is one of the few stories where I read the book before I had ever heard of the movie. Whether Blu-Ray really makes a difference is probably a personal matter, but I enjoyed a cleaner copy that I mostly see on television.

Great film, works fine on UK region players. Bought from Dodax through Amazon.Ignore criticism about picture quality. The quality is fine. Can look a little grainy when you're too close to the screen, but you must remember that it's been digitally re-mastered from a 41 year old tape reel....If you sit at the correct viewing distance, the picture will look crisp & clear. Far superior to it's DVD counterpart and well worth the extra few pounds.

It's a great movie for its time though a bit dated. But some of the script, acting and sequence could be better. A remake waiting to happen?