Deliverance – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

Available atAvailable Amazon.com.

Directed by
John Boorman

Cast
Jon Voight ………. Ed Gentry
Burt Reynolds ………. Lewis Medlock
Ned Beatty ………. Bobby Trippe
Ronny Cox ………. Drew Ballinger

Run Time: 109 minutes
Rated R
DVD Release date: September 18, 2007

Prior to Deliverance, John Voight had grown jaded with acting and strongly considered quitting the business.

Prior to Deliverance, Burt Reynolds was considered washed out, having starred in a series of failed TV shows, and appeared destined to spend the rest of his days as that guy that used to be Quint on Gunsmoke.

Ned Beatty was once declared by Daily Variety as the “busiest actor in Hollywood.” Prior to Deliverance he was an unknown, having never appeared in a film or on television.

Prior to Deliverance, people wandering in the woods had no song to hum in order to express their fear of anal rape by hillbillies.

Deliverance is one of those movies which has become a part of American culture; it has permeated the collective unconscious. Even those who don’t know of the film know of “Dueling Banjos” and its implications. They know of “Squeal like a pig.” Within the context of the film world, Deliverance is one of the “often imitated, never duplicated” classics, be it I Spit on Your Grave being described as a feminist version of John Boorman’s film, or Brian DePalma’s homage to the film’s final reel in his final reel of Carrie.

It’s Deliverance, and it’s one of the most important and influential films in color.

But beyond all these pop-culture accolades and accomplishments, it should be said that this is a great movie. It’s a testament to everything that was right about ’70s film-making. The casting is perfect, the acting spot on, the cinematography beautiful, the pacing reasonable, and the camera movements are used to aid the story-telling and not to “look cool”.

Where Deliverance is most strong is in its thematic richness. There is just so much going on in terms of meaning. The film is a meditation on masculinity, violence, and justice. It’s about the consequences of our actions. It’s about the siren song of nature and the beneficial trade offs of society.

Burt Reynolds stars as Lewis the egotistical alpha male who is overly eager to escape societal regulations; Jon Voight is Ed the everyman, Ned Beatty is poor Bobby the aggressive coward, and the under-appreciated Ronny Cox as Drew that sensitive ’70s guy. John Boorman directs a James Dickey script, based on Dickey’s own novel.

The DVD

Audio and Visual
The movie looks and sounds great.

The Extras
There is a Four Part 35th Anniversary Retrospective. Everybody shows up, including Reynolds, Voight, Beatty, Cox, Boorman, and the son of the late James Dickey. Each featurette is around 10-15 minutes, and everything is covered that needs to be covered.

Also included is the Vintage “making of” featurette which was included in the previous DVD release of the film.

Finally, we get a Commentary Track by Boorman. He’s very mild, and British and stammering and many of his stories are redundant if you’ve watched the Retrospective. Still, it is more interesting than the average commentary track.

All in all, it is a decent amount of stuff for a single disc release.

The DVD Lounge’s Rating for Deliverance
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

9.5
THE VIDEO

8
THE AUDIO

8
THE EXTRAS

7.5
REPLAY VALUE

7
OVERALL
8.5
(NOT AN AVERAGE)