When Deliverance was released in 1972, it was not only a hit
worldwide but it was an extremely controversial movie by Hollywood.
Directed by John Boorman (Point Blank, Excalibur & The General),
Deliverance was the also the movie that made Burt Reynolds a house
hold name, pushed the career of Jon Voight and kick started Ronny
Cox esteemed career.
Deliverance revolves around four best friends who also consider
themselves "Weekend Warriors" and decide to go on a weekend trip in
the middle of Georgia's Cahulawassee River to enjoy some white river
rafting. Located in the middle of "nowhere", something goes wrong
for our four adventurers and they are forced to fend for themselves,
only to be discovered by the country's worst group of people.
Featuring issues of the political time such as the Vietnam war and
an extremely disturbing sexual scene that was never attempted
by Hollywood before, Deliverance truly pushed the boundaries of the
films of this era. Featuring two strong genres, "Drama" and
"Thriller", Voight, Reynolds, Cox and Ned Beatty deliver some
extremely strong acting performances.
Even though the predators that chase these four close friends are
considered clichéd and stereotypes of the "Southern" yokel and
redneck template, at the time, there were many who lived this
lifestyle which makes Deliverance such as a gripping movie. The dual
of the banjo's will continue to haunt me in this extremely memorably
movie.
The secluded and outstanding visuals of the movie are complimented
by the Blu-Ray quality of the video and audio. Warner Bros have done
an outstanding job at fixing some of the video and audio problems of
the original movie and although it cannot be matched with some of
the modern Blu-Ray movies, it is still quite impressive at 16:9
enhanced widescreen (1080p HD) and the Dolby Digital soundtrack. For
a movie that is 35 years old, it is still quite impressive in this
aspect.
For lovers of Special Features, the disc features a 4-Part 35th
Anniversary Retrospective with the Film's Stars, Director John
Boorman and Others, Exploring the Winding Journey from the Original
Novel through Production & Release and Including a Look at the
Movie's Controversial Abduction Scene. The documentaries and
interviews are quite in-depth and does take the viewer beyond the
movie. Lastly, match that with audio commentary by Director John
Boorman and a Vintage Featurette entitled "The Dangerous World of
Deliverance" and this nicely rounds off the Blu-Ray Disc.
Deliverance is one of the classics such as The Deer Hunter!
