Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's dammed and turned into a lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a canoeing trip they'll never forget into the dangerous ... Read allIntent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's dammed and turned into a lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a canoeing trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's dammed and turned into a lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a canoeing trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.
- Director
- Writers
- James Dickey(screenplay)
- John Boorman(additional dialogue)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- James Dickey(screenplay)
- John Boorman(additional dialogue)
- Stars
- See more at IMDbPro
- Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 3 wins & 15 nominations total
Videos1
- Director
- Writers
- James Dickey(screenplay) (novel)
- John Boorman(additional dialogue) (uncredited)
- All cast & crew
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 dwellers, alpha male Lewis Medlock, Ed Gentry, Bobby Trippe, and 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 isolated. Their relatively peaceful trip takes a turn for the worse halfway through with river rapids and unwelcoming locals. The four need to battle their way out of the valley and are asked to do things they never thought possible within themselves. —Huggo
- Taglines
- Deliverance from evil
- Genres
- Certificate
- 18A
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaTo save costs and add to the realism, local residents were cast in the roles of the hill people.
- GoofsJust before the canoe splits in half, a line appears showing that it was already nearly cut in half.
- Crazy creditsThe 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'
- Alternate versionsThe original UK cinema version suffered minor BBFC cuts which includes the removal of two lines of dialogue said by the toothless man when threatening Ed after the rape scene, "He got a real pretty mouth, ain't he?" and "You got to do some praying for me boy, you better pray real good." And the death of the Mountain man where he is seen struggling with the arrow through his chest was reduced. All later video releases were uncut.
- ConnectionsEdited into La Classe américaine (1993)
- SoundtracksDuelling Banjos
Written by Arthur Smith (uncredited)
Arranged and played by Eric Weissberg with Steve Mandell
Top review
Very Good Movie...
Four excellent actors here, showing great skill, talent and emotion. This is back before Burt Reynolds did all his comedy roles. Four City guys take a trip to the mountains. Their Canoe adventure steadily gets worse and worse as they play cat and mouse with some Hillbillies. Theres no need to analyse it, it's just a very good movie.
helpful•322
- eskimosound
- Nov 12, 2020
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $4,534
- Runtime
- 1h 49min
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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