Tweekums Four men from Atlanta, Lewis, Ed, Bobby, and Drew, have decided to canoe along one of the last unspoilt rivers in the state before the entire valley is flooded as part of a hydroelectric scheme. When they get to the place they want to enter the river they pay a couple of locals to drive their cars to the town they are heading to. Once they are on the water in their two canoes they enjoy the wilderness but not for long. The two parties are separated and Ed and Bobby wait on the riverbank; here they encounter a pair of less than friendly mountain men. Ed is tied to a tree and Bobby is brutally raped. As they prepare to assault Ed, Lewis arrives and dispatches one of the assailants with an arrow. The other one escapes. The four friends discuss what to do with the body; Drew things they must inform the authorities but Lewis is convinced that it would be far better just to bury him as they probably wouldn't be believed. When they continue they must pass through some particularly dangerous rapids. One canoe is destroyed and Drew disappears; Ed, who now has a broken leg, is convinced that Drew was shot. Believing that the shooter will pick them off when they move Drew climbs the wall of the gorge and in the morning encounters a man with a rifle. He kills the man but isn't absolutely certain that he had actually being shooting at them. As they approach the end of the journey they must concoct a believable story.This is a famously disturbing story; largely due to the infamous rape scene… even after forty five years that is a memorably shocking moment. It isn't the only disturbing moment; when they get on the river everything looks beautiful, totally unspoilt, but soon there are things that are just a little off. After the encounter with the rapist and his friend the tension is much higher; it isn't just the fear of more unfriendly locals. The rapids become more dangerous making it seem as though nature itself doesn't want them on the river. The scenes of the men going through these dangerous situations feels very real; I was not surprised to learn that the cast did their own stunts. The four leads; Burt Reynolds, John Voight, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox, as Lewis, Ed, Bobby, and Drew respectively, do an impressive job making the viewer believe in them and their situation. As things happen to them their characters develop nicely. The supporting cast are impressive too. Overall I'd definitely recommend this classic film but understand that it won't be for everybody.

frankwiener At the risk of triggering the possible removal of my own reviews, which are far from perfect, I wish the editors of IMDb would be more selective about the "user reviews" that they pass for publication here. More selectivity would upgrade the website immensely, especially the elimination of the nonsense that sometimes accompanies films that have achieved commercial success. While most of the user reviews here are seriously written and therefore worthwhile, even when I don't agree with them, a minority of writers, many of whom can't even properly put two full, English sentences together, ruin it for everyone, as has become all too common on the Internet in general. There. I finally got that off my chest.The much discussed confrontation between the local mountain men and the characters of Ed (John Voight) and Bobby (Ned Beatty) was not merely placed in the original book for gratuitous or sensationalist purposes. Although it is a very graphic and disturbing scene, it exists to illustrate one of the book's most important themes. While the group of adventurers seeks "deliverance" from what might be overly restrictive and even oppressive rules and conventions of modern civilization, they are totally unprepared for the absence of such restrictions in a world that they obviously do not know. Instead of being liberated from the confining norms of urban existence, they suddenly find themselves as endangered victims of a world where such social rules and regulations no longer exist. To me, there are some similarities of the "horror" the men find here to the theme of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", which was adapted to the screen as "Apocalypse Now".Similarly, the writer does not exploit physical deformities for purely sensationalist purposes. These are conditions that are plainly visible in the rural world of the remote mountains rather than being kept hidden as they are in the "civilized", middle class world to which the urban adventurers are accustomed. The disfigured locals therefore serve as a forewarning to the visitors that the world they are about to enter is one that is very different from the one that they know. Accordingly, they need to apply, with much humility, the caution that they never exercise before it is too late for them. This film beautifully captures not only the natural sights of the river but the sounds as well. In general, I thought that the direction by John Boorman and the performances were excellent, including those of the lesser known actors who play the two menacing mountain men, Bill McKinney and Herbert "Cowboy" Coward. I am very impressed by the fact that the four leads risked doing their own stunts, including the swift water sequences. Accolades especially go to John Voight for scaling the gorge and to Burt Reynolds for quickly learning how to use a bow and arrow on short notice.My only problem was with the often hokey and hackneyed dialogue, especially at the beginning, but that seems minor in comparison to the highly suspenseful and thought provoking action that follows.

Mike_Yike I first saw Deliverance when it was in the theaters what seems like a million years ago. Burt Reynolds became a big start and Jon Voight received another big boost in his career thanks to the film. The only real problem I had with the movie was when I stopped and thought about the general plot line afterwards. It isn't exactly airtight.The boys killed a mountain man, justifiably. One of two mountain men roaming the woods together. The other ran off. They decided to bury the corpse and forever after remain mum about it. Then Drew, played by Ronny Cox, was killed though no one knows whether the death came at the hand of the river, or a gunshot presumably by the second mountain man. Injuries were inconclusive on the dead body. The fear was that it was a gunshot by the second mountain man stationed high on the cliffs overhead. Voight ends up climbing the cliff, finding the mountain man and killing him. As far as anyone knows, the second mountain man, now dead and hidden at the bottom of the river, never disclosed the fate of the first mountain man. Yet the boys felt compelled to make-up a story even though there was no evidence connecting them to anything. But probably more odd was the local sheriff suspected the boys of wrongdoing without any evidence suggesting they even saw the mountain men. It would seem more plausible that the sheriff would have taken a report on the death of Drew and then asked the three remaining boys if during their travels they had happened to see the two mountain men. "No, can't say that we did," would have been a reply and that would have been that. I guess that would make for a short, boring movie.

brian-1151 A critically-acclaimed drama from 1972 that was ahead of its time, Deliverance shows the tragic results of trying to reason with Donald Trump supporters. Stars Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight as sane people from civilization, who have to make difficult decisions about their own survival; decisions that are much tougher and more dangerous than the ones we will all have to make during the 2016 family holidays. The film doesn't hold back - there are some truly shocking scenes in Deliverance, perhaps more shocking even than watching a 2016 presidential debate or campaign speech. This film is well worth watching, and will provide a welcome escape from the drama engulfing all our lives. Sort of. Well, at least the scenery is different.