Deliverance (1972)
85%RT Audience Score: 82%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 3 Oscars
3 wins & 15 nominations total
Given primal verve by John Boorman’s unflinching direction and Burt Reynolds’ star-making performance, Deliverance is a terrifying adventure
Deliverance is a movie that will make you want to stay far away from the wilderness. The film’s stunning visuals and haunting soundtrack will leave you feeling uneasy, but it’s the brutal violence that will make you want to stay indoors forever. The story follows four men on a canoe trip that quickly turns into a nightmare. While the film’s message about man’s uncivilized instincts is clear, it’s the disturbing scenes that will stay with you long after the credits roll. If you’re looking for a movie that will make you appreciate the comforts of modern life, Deliverance is it.
Production Company(ies)
Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion, Bayerischer Rundfunk ARTE
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Chattooga River, Georgia, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1972
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 49m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jul 30, 1972 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 18, 2007
Genre(s)
Adventure/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, Bill McKinney, Herbert “Cowboy” Coward, directed by John Boorman, written by James Dickey, Adventure, Drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Glenn Kenny, Don Druker, Variety Staff, Jeremiah Kipp, Tom Milne, Roger Ebert, Quentin Tarantino, Maureen Koch, Dick Lochte, John Hofsess, Jon Voight as Ed Gentry, Burt Reynolds as Lewis Medlock, Ned Beatty as Bobby Trippe, Ronny Cox as Drew Ballinger, Bill McKinney as Mountain Man, Herbert “Cowboy” Coward as Toothless Man, produced by John Boorman, R rating, Warner Bros Pictures, canoeing, Georgia, backwoods locals, survival, rapids, madman, fight for survival
Worldwide gross: $4,534
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $35,986
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 3,100
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 3,924
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Burt Reynolds – Lewis Medlock
Ned Beatty – Bobby Trippe
Ronny Cox – Drew Ballinger
Bill McKinney – Mountain Man
Herbert “Cowboy” Coward – Toothless Man
Director(s)
John Boorman
Writer(s)
James Dickey
Producer(s)
John Boorman
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 3 Oscars
3 wins & 15 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (62) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (55) | Rotten (7)
The movie casts a spell through images both ugly and beautiful, and other sounds, none of them really reflecting the idea of “nature in harmony.” All here is dissonance, and the best one can do is find a thread of consolation within.
April 9, 2019
Glenn Kenny
Decider
TOP CRITIC
John Boorman’s 1972 film of the James Dickey novel has a beautiful visual style that balances the film’s machismo message.
September 18, 2007
Don Druker
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
It’s the stuff of which slapdash oaters and crime programmers are made but the obvious ambitions of Deliverance are supposed to be on a higher plane.
September 18, 2007
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
This man-versus-nature story is also about man indulging his most uncivilized instincts, and in their various ways the four men on the canoe trip are transformed.
August 27, 2007 | Rating: 4/4
Jeremiah Kipp
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
It’s a haunting, nightmarish vision.
January 26, 2006
Tom Milne
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
A fantasy about violence, not a realistic consideration of it.
October 23, 2004 | Rating: 2.5/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
Not so much a cautionary tale as one of uncommon doggedness.
August 29, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
While thematically it’s rich, and structurally it’s daring to sideline Burt Reynolds’ Lewis just before the third act… in this movie, cinematically, it’s suicidal.
June 23, 2020
Quentin Tarantino
The New Beverly
Well worth seeing.
January 6, 2020
Maureen Koch
Los Angeles Free Press
It’s quietly positive moments are stomped out by the pervasive brutality and uncompromising sadism.
January 6, 2020
Dick Lochte
Los Angeles Free Press
…profoundly distasteful.
October 9, 2019
John Hofsess
Maclean’s Magazine
This gripping drama was a controversial release back in the early 70s, and its distressing intensity hasn’t really diminished in the decades since.Just remember, once you go with its powerful flow, there ain’t no turnin’ back.
September 6, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)…
Plot
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.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny or odd comments were found in the Fresh Kernels database for Deliverance.
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