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Deliverance
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Deliverance (1972) More at IMDbPro »

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Deliverance (1972) -- Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.

Overview

User Rating:
7.9/10   31,986 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 21% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
John Boorman
Writers:
James Dickey (screenplay)
James Dickey (novel)
Contact:
View company contact information for Deliverance on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
30 July 1972 (USA) more
Tagline:
Deliverance from evil more
Plot:
Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 10 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(24 articles)
We’re Live Blogging Behind The Scenes Of The MTV Movie Awards!
 (From MTV Movies Blog. 31 May 2009, 7:40 PM, PDT)

[DVD Review] Without a Paddle
 (From JustPressPlay. 18 May 2009, 7:48 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
The thin line between "civilization" and barbarism more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jon Voight ... Ed

Burt Reynolds ... Lewis

Ned Beatty ... Bobby

Ronny Cox ... Drew
Ed Ramey ... Old Man
Billy Redden ... Lonnie
Seamon Glass ... First Griner
Randall Deal ... Second Griner
Bill McKinney ... Mountain Man
Herbert 'Cowboy' Coward ... Toothless Man
Lewis Crone ... First Deputy
Ken Keener ... Second Deputy
Johnny Popwell ... Ambulance Driver
John Fowler ... Doctor
Kathy Rickman ... Nurse
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Additional Details

Runtime:
110 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Colour:
Colour (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Credited with the first recording of "Dueling Banjos" (its most common title, also known as "Feudin' Banjos" and "The Battle Of The Banjos") is 'Don Wayne Reno (II)' and Arthur Smith. Prior to "Deliverance" both parts were played with banjos, and it is the same speed all the way through. Almost all modern bluegrass bands play the "Deliverance" version in the key of G. In the movie both the guitarist and banjo players have capos on the second fret, denoting it is in the key of A. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When the men fall into the river, nobody is clinging to their paddle as instructed to. After the three survivors find the intact canoe, they still have three paddles. And the canoe is suddenly only half-filled with water. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Lewis: You w- you wanna... you wanna talk about the vanishing wilderness?
Bobby: Lewis, listen - what are you so anxious about this?
Lewis: Because they're buildin' a dam across the Cahulawassee River; they're gonna flood a whole valley, Bobby, that's why. Dammit, they're drownin' a river; they're drownin' a river, man.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Prison Break: And Then There Were 7 (#1.11)" (2005) more
Soundtrack:
Duelling Banjos more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
23 out of 35 people found the following comment useful:-
The thin line between "civilization" and barbarism, 12 July 2001
10/10
Author: virek213 from San Gabriel, Ca., USA

As Peckinpah did with STRAW DOGS, and Kubrick with A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, director John Boorman delivers an effective film about Man's violent side in DELIVERANCE, arguably a definitive horror film of the 1970s. Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox portray four Atlanta businessmen who decide to take a canoe trip down the wild Cahulawassee River in northern Georgia before it is dammed up into what Reynolds calls "one big, dead lake."

But the local mountain folk take a painfully obvious dim view of these "city boys" carousing through their woods. And the following day, continuing on down the river, Beatty and Voight are accosted and sexually assaulted (the film's infamous "SQUEAL!" sequence) by two vicious mountain men (Bill McKinney, Herbert "Cowboy" Coward). Thus, what started out as nothing more than a lark through the Appalachians has now turned into a nightmare in which our four protagonists come to see the thin line that exists between what we think of as civilization and what we think of as barbarism.

James Dickey adapted the screenplay from his own best-selling book, and the result is an often gripping and disturbing shocker. Often known for its "SQUEAL!" and "Dueling Banjos" sequences, DELIVERANCE is also quite a pulse-pounding ordeal, with the four leading men superb in their roles, and McKinney and Coward making for two of the most frightening villains of all times. A must-see film for those willing to take a chance.

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