By Lee Pfeiffer
Warner Brothers has released director John Boorman's 1972 classic Deliverance as a Blu-ray special edition to celebrate the film's 40th anniversary. Unless you've been living on a remote mountain top in the back woods of Georgia, you probably know the premise of the film. Four city slickers decide to take a weekend bachelor holiday and canoe down a Georgia river. A dam is being constructed that will not only kill off the magnificent river, but also bury historical old towns at the same time. The men are Ed (Jon Voight), Lewis (Burt Reynolds), Drew (Ronny Cox) and Bobby (Ned Beatty). As with any mingling of men, there's plenty of coarse humor and insults tossed around, with Lewis, who prides himself on his survivalist abilities, dispensing much of it at the group's newcomer, Bobby-a rather timid and overweight man who is intimidated at the prospect of white water rafting in such a remote area. The trip starts off as a fun-filled jaunt, with the men amused by the local population of hillbillies, some of whom clearly resent their presence. Nevertheless, the initial hours of rafting are exciting and invigorating. Things go horribly awry when Ed and Bobby become lost and encounter two creepy mountain men (Bill McKinney and "Cowboy" Coward), who terrorize them and subject Bobby to a humiliating rape. Before they can do the same to Ed, Lewis arrives and kills one of the mountain men with an arrow, but the other culprit escapes into the deep woods. The men now face a moral and legal dilemma as they debate what to do next. Deciding that the clannish local authorities would never buy their claim of self-defense, they dispose of the body and hope to cover up the life-altering incident. Complications arise, however, when they discover that the escaped mountain man is stalking them with murder on his mind.
Deliverance was based on the best-selling novel by legendary Southern poet James Dickey (who makes his acting debut in the film, giving a fine performance as a local sheriff). Britain's John Boorman may have seemed an odd choice to direct a film set in the American wilderness, but it's now inconceivable that anyone could have handled this difficult material more skillfully. Boorman had already shown his skill at directing macho-themed movies such as Point Blank and Hell in the Pacific. Deliverance would be the great triumph of his long career. There's plenty of praise to go around for everyone else involved. The only legitimate "star" at the time was Jon Voight, who was riding high from his recent success in Midnight Cowboy. Burt Reynolds had been around for many years, toiling in TV series and B movies. This film would elevate him to superstar status. Perhaps most impress are the performances of Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty, both of whom made their screen debuts in this film. Watching the movie today, it seems inconceivable that Beatty did not receive an Oscar nomination, considering his remarkable performance as a man coping with the ordeal of having been raped. All four actors give superb performances and there is also special praise due for the largely unknown actors and people from the local population who add immeasurably to the atmosphere of the film. Particularly impressive are the actors who played sinister mountain men. "Cowboy" Coward, the toothless hillbilly, was actually an unknown stuntman who worked with Burt Reynolds fifteen years earlier in a children's theme park based on a town in the Old West. Bill McKinney, who would go on to a long career playing cads, is even more remarkable- and during his death sequence, he set a cinematic record for keeping his eyes open for over six minutes without blinking! Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond does yeoman work, capturing both the beauty and the sinister aspects of rural Georgia.
The film's impact has not diminished one iota over the years. Deliverance, like many artistic triumphs, is an often painful but thought-provoking experience that ranks among the great adventure films of all time.
Warner Brother's Blu-ray edition resurrects the special features from the 2007 collector's edition DVD:
- a multi-part series of "behind the scenes" featurettes with all of the principals including Boorman and Zsigmond
- commentary track by John Boorman
- a vintage "making of" production short that centers on James Dickey's involvement with the film
- a theatrical trailer that is suitably ominous but gives away too many key scenes
- a wonderful brand new featurette that reunites the four actors at the Burt Reynolds Museum in Jupiter, Florida where Reynolds has an entire room dedicated to props from the film. The four men, who have remained friends over the decades, seem to truly relish reliving the trials and tribulations of making the film and its great to watch them reminisce.
The Blu-ray is attractively packaged in a hardback, 42 page book featuring interviews and rare behind the scenes production stills.
This release is a suitably impressive tribute to a very impressive cinematic achievement.
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