Deliverance [VHS]
by John Boorman
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VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Burt Reynolds, Ed Ramey, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, Ronny CoxDirector: John Boorman
Cinematographer: Vilmos Zsigmond
Producer: John Boorman
Editor: Tom Priestley
Writer: James Dickey
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Special Edition
Running Time: 110 minutes
Release Date: 1997-09-16
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Studio: Warner Home Video
VHS Movie Reviews of Deliverance [VHS]
Movie Review: Unique filming in the outdoors, the rapids, in a canoe
Summary: 3 Stars
Deliverance (1972) is inspired from a book from James Dickey, that
is well regarded, concerning events imagined in a North Georgia
rural and isolated community.
The action occurs in particular, among outcasts of already small
rural communities, for various reasons, perhaps the main one being
the operation of stills outside the reach of the law.
Many will watch this DVD on the prospect of seeing city-slickers
caught in dire straights in the boonies, with the only help
accessible being that of impoverished, illiterate, introverted,
isolated and suffering locals, in between the aforementioned
moonshining hired hands who wreck havoc on the 5 men embarcked on a
fun weekend. Not having read the book, the movie seems light on
substance and doesn't deliver on that aspect.
At the same time, the filming is absolutely unique, at least for
the year it was filmed, in terms of crystal clear shots of a canoe
following the water currents along dangerous rocks, and cliffs,
surrounded by nothing but trees and forest. The wide-screen
presentation underlines the success of the visuals, as viewers
journey well outside their time, space and dimension into this one.
Secondly, there is a commercial aspect that isn't lost, perhaps
operating on the subconscious level, as the self-admitted big city
men feel the need to go back to the wilderness, to basic survival
comprised of hunting, and canoeing inspired from the founding
explorers of America, hiking, rock climbing, sleeping in the
outdoors, lacking a proper map or light. To this end, they need to
load up on equipment, such as an aluminum and wooden canoe,
floating vests, bow-and-arrow, rope and pulleys for climbing,
provisions for sustenance, etc.
Thirdly, the acting is well accomplished in face of the light
script, mainly from Jon Voight's character, who has to dig deep
within himself to pull his party through, both in rescuing the
wounded, and against the rogue elements bearing shotguns, and more.
However, Burt Reynolds, playing the more eager one of the gang,
sports a rubber muscle shirt, which seems out of place considering
the attire of the other individuals. Ned Beatty, as Bobby, shows
how some individuals tend to be completely underestimated, being
intimately abused in the forest, not only survives his ordeal, and
but helps maintain the lifeline of the group vs. being shellshocked
and self-pitying, for example.
The music is appropriate, with some banjo rhythms that tend to be
associated with hillbillies.
Despite a 2 hour feature length, the time passes quickly, mainly
from the soundtrack, relaxing atmosphere, and cinematography.
An intriguing aspect, (touching upon entertainment) was the need
for the Director to expend a kind of voyeurism on the most humble
in society, such as the very elderly in this imagined isolated
community, and the very young (Down's Syndrome), lack of dental
treatment and care, substandard housing in this generally abandoned
community, left to itself. This movie doesn't dispel notions about
Georgia or small towns, or even, stereotypes of anyone who is NOT
born and bred in a megacity, which was perhaps unnecessary.
Summary of Deliverance [VHS]
One of the key films of the 1970s, John Boorman's Deliverance is a nightmarish adaptation of poet-novelist James Dickey's book about various kinds of survival in modern America. The story concerns four Atlanta businessmen of various male stripe: Jon Voight's character is a reflective, civilized fellow, Burt Reynolds plays a strapping hunter-gatherer in urban clothes, Ned Beatty is a sweaty, weak-willed boy-man, and Ronny Cox essays a spirited, neighborly type. Together they decide to answer the ancient call of men testing themselves against the elements and set out on a treacherous ride on the rapids of an Appalachian river. What they don't understand until it is too late is that they have ventured into Dickey's variation on the American underbelly, a wild, lawless, dangerous (and dangerously inbred) place isolated from the gloss of the late 20th century. In short order, the four men dig deep into their own suppressed primitiveness, defending themselves against armed cretins, facing the shock of real death on their carefully planned, death-defying adventure, and then squarely facing the suspicions of authority over their concealed actions. Boorman, a master teller of stories about individuals on peculiarly mythical journeys, does a terrifying and beautiful job of revealing the complexity of private and collective character--the way one can never be the same after glimpsing the sharp-clawed survivor in one's soul. --Tom KeoghOne of the key films of the 1970s, John Boorman's Deliverance is a nightmarish adaptation of poet-novelist James Dickey's book about various kinds of survival in modern America. The story concerns four Atlanta businessmen of various male stripe: Jon Voight's character is a reflective, civilized fellow, Burt Reynolds plays a strapping hunter-gatherer in urban clothes, Ned Beatty is a sweaty, weak-willed boy-man, and Ronny Cox essays a spirited, neighborly type. Together they decide to answer the ancient call of men testing themselves against the elements and set out on a treacherous ride on the rapids of an Appalachian river. What they don't understand until it is too late is that they have ventured into Dickey's variation on the American underbelly, a wild, lawless, dangerous (and dangerously inbred) place isolated from the gloss of the late 20th century. In short order, the four men dig deep into their own suppressed primitiveness, defending themselves against armed cretins, facing the shock of real death on their carefully planned, death-defying adventure, and then squarely facing the suspicions of authority over their concealed actions. Boorman, a master teller of stories about individuals on peculiarly mythical journeys, does a terrifying and beautiful job of revealing the complexity of private and collective character--the way one can never be the same after glimpsing the sharp-clawed survivor in one's soul. --Tom Keogh
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