Deliverance (1972)

Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.

Director:

John Boorman

Writers:

James Dickey (screenplay), James Dickey (novel),

Stars:

Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jon Voight	...	Ed
Burt Reynolds	...	Lewis
Ned Beatty	...	Bobby
Ronny Cox	...	Drew
Ed Ramey	...	Old Man
Billy Redden	...	Lonnie
Seamon Glass	...	First Griner
Randall Deal	...	Second Griner
Bill McKinney	...	Mountain Man
Herbert 'Cowboy' Coward	...	Toothless Man
Lewis Crone	...	First Deputy
Ken Keener	...	Second Deputy
Johnny Popwell	...	Ambulance Driver
John Fowler	...	Doctor
Kathy Rickman	...	Nurse

Storyline

The Cahulawassee River valley in Northern Georgia is one of the last natural pristine areas of the state, which will soon change with the imminent building of a dam on the river, which in turn will flood much of the surrounding land. As such, four Atlanta city slickers - alpha male Lewis Medlock, generally even-keeled Ed Gentry, slightly condescending Bobby Trippe, and wide-eyed Drew Ballinger - decide to take a multi-day canoe trip on the river, with only Lewis and Ed having experience in outdoor life. They know going in that the area is ethno-culturally homogeneous and isolated, but don't understand the full extent of such until they arrive and see what they believe is the result of generations of inbreeding. Their relatively peaceful trip takes a turn for the worse when half way through they encounter a couple of hillbilly moonshiners. That encounter not only makes the four battle their way out of the valley intact and alive, but threatens the relationships of the four as they do ...

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Plot Keywords:

river | trip | nightmare | canoeing | canoe | 

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Taglines:

What _did_ happen on the Cahulawassee River?

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 July 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amarga pesadilla

Filming Locations:

Beaufort, South Carolina, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 1,443,730 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Elmer Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Mono (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the Sundance Film Festival first kicked off in Salt Lake City (August 1978), this movie, along with A Streetcar Named Desire, Sweet Smell of Success, Midnight Cowboy and Mean Streets were among the very first selection to be screened.

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Goofs

The rope used to down the body from the cliff is thicker than that Ed wore before over one shoulder and across the chest.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Lewis: You w- you wanna... you wanna talk about the vanishing wilderness?
Bobby: Lewis, listen - what are you so anxious about this?
Lewis: Because they're buildin' a dam across the Cahulawassee River; they're gonna flood a whole valley, Bobby, that's why. Dammit, they're drownin' a river; they're drownin' a river, man.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits only show the cast and a notice of where the location of the film was shot and the special thanks, which rolls over a shot of Ed and his wife laying down trying to sleep. It also shows the shot of the lake where the hand ascended up out of the water and the final credit reads 'Distributed by WARNER BROS'

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Connections

Referenced in Halfway to Haugesund (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Duelling Banjos"
Written by Arthur Smith (uncredited)
Arranged and played by Eric Weissberg with Steve Mandel

User Reviews

Nightmarish!!

Deliverance is the fascinating, haunting and sometimes even disturbing tale by James Dickey, turned into a brilliant movie by John Boorman. It's about four businessmen, driven by manhood and macho-behavior, who're spending a canoeing weekend high up in the mountains. Up there, they're faced with every darkest side of man and every worst form of human misery...poverty, buggery and even physical harassment! These four men intended to travel down the river for adventure and excitement but their trip soon changes into an odyssey through a violent and lurking mountain-land, completely estranged from all forms of civilisation. All these elements actually make Deliverance one of the most nightmarish films I've ever seen. Just about everything that happens to these men, you pray that you'll never find yourself to be in a similar situation. Pure talking cinema, Deliverance is a very important movie as well. John Boorman's best (closely followed by Zardoz and Excalibur) was - and still is - a very influential film and it contains several memorable scenes that already featured in numberless other movies. Just think about the terrific "Duelling banjos" musical score and, of course, the unforgettable homosexual "squeal like a pig" rape scene. All the actors deliver (haha) perfect acting performances. Especially Jon Voight. A must see motion picture!!