Rating: 
Summary: De De Ding der Ding der Ding der Ding...
Review: Deliverance is an incredibly powerful movie. That it has lived so long in the cultural memory is testament to both its power and its beauty. While by no means a cult film, it does maintain a certain hold over people, especially city folk who are naturally mistrustful of the rural environment anyway.
The story revolves around a bunch of city boys who set out to do some white-water canoeing down a river that's about to be flooded forever, and the difficulties they encounter along the way, with the natural environment and with their fellow men.
It is easy to become swept up in the controversy surrounding certain parts of this movie, but to concentrate on the more unforgettable scenes does an injustice to the vision of the writer and director as a whole. Together they create a reality that is at once both intimately familiar and yet frighteningly alien. If you go into this movie expecting 2 hours of edge-of-your-seat thrills, you'll be sadly disappointed. The movie takes its time to build a feeling of eeriness and beauty and for long periods of time all that happens is the guys battling the river, beautiful shots of the Georgia wilderness and a wonderful reminder of how great "The Great Outdoors" can be.
The movie really begins to find its voice when the freakish mountain people are encountered. The people and the culture are so outside of the experience of an average urban, amazon.com user that it becomes gripping, terrifying and ultimately essential viewing.The movie raises some brilliant and disturbing questions about morality, trust and what it means to be a human being.
If you haven't seen Deliverance, I highly recommend you waste no time and go see it now, if you like visually stunning, challenging and thought provoking-movies. And yes, the "dueling banjos" scene is simply one of the best 5 minutes of movie history ever!
Also available is a 25th Anniversary version of this film. My complaint with this is that it includes a "The Making of" feature which, while being informative and fascinating (did you know the actors lived on the river and did all their own stunts and no-one would insure it?) on the VHS edition it is included at the start of the tape - before the film!!! I recommend you fast-forward through this and come back to it later, as it contains some spoiler you'd rather not see. Also included is the original theatrical trailer, which is of great historical interest. Watch it and you will see what I mean!
Rating:
Summary: Classic - Dueling Banjos
Review: If there is only one reason to watch this movie, you should watch it to see the dueling banjos part, primarily so that when other people refer to the "dueling banjos scene", you know what they are talking about. Other than that, the movie is attention grabbing. Not like your typical summer blockbuster, but in drama that is very realistic. It is very possible to happen on many outdoor trips, with minor variations. Not recommended for children, but others should give it a viewing.
Rating: 
Summary: dont go on a canoe trip, because if you do, they rape you
Review: filled with some great camera work, lots of grunting and groping and those damn reneck rapers. squeal piggy!!!! some great moments but it gets a little headaching but I can see why the critics liked it but I thought it was an ok movie. if you can stand the grunting, groping and the raping then your fine and the boy with the banjo is freaky. when you hear that banjo play, run the hell out
Rating: 
Summary: Not disgusting or disturbing.
Review: This movie has an undeserved reputation. It's not gross or disturbing, and you don't actually see the guy get raped, (not that I wanted to) it's all emplied. It is however a good drama, and one thing leads to another, and they get away with it. With what you say? 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 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. They get away with it, or do they? Well they have to carry around the burden of what they did for the rest of their lives. All the lies will eat away at their spirit and sanity, and they will tell more lies and more to cover up every lie. You see, lying is not something we, as human beings should do.
Rating:
Summary: A Return to Eden?
Review: I had so little fore-knowledge of what this movie was about that I took a date to see it when it first came out. It is probably NOT the movie to go to on a first date. Needless to say, it was our last date as well. On the other hand, I was totally engrossed in this movie and I was very much affected by it. After the movie we went to the parking lot and discovered that the car next to ours had been broken into while we were in the movie. The people who owned that car got there the same time we did. As I witnessed their shock and anguish, I felt, somehow, as though this was some sort of a continuation of the movie we had just seen. Innocent people out to have innocent fun and being assaulted in the process can, by itself, constitute an ample theme for a movie. When the victims strike back and strive to cover up all the crimes, it becomes even greater subject matter. When the story is brought to life as well as it is in "Deliverence", it becomes a movie that will stay with you for a long time. This is not a movie to be seen on TV unless you can get the full, uninterupted version on some cable channel. That is not to suggest that there are importent graphics that would be cut for network TV. Rather, it is the mood of the movie that becomes so intense that it should never be broken up by commercials. This movie has much going for it beyond the story. The acting is terrific. Jon Voigt was still a good actor back then and Burt Reynolds was surprisingly effective in his role. Ned Beatty is terrific all throughout the movie including a scene that most people find etched in their memories. The rest of the acting is top-notch as well. The scenery seems like something right out of the "National Geographic". It is so clean, so pure, so beautiful and yet, so tragic. There is a sort of Garden of Eden aspect to the story as man violates the beauty and destroys the garden and himself forever. We all know "Dueling Banjos" so I don't have to elaborate on the musical score. The glimpse we get of backwoods people is very intriguing. I'm not sure if their characterization is exaggerated or not, however, the total picture of the life in the Georgia woods is very well delivered. This movie will probably haunt you if you let yourself be absorbed by it as I did. It is so well done that it is hard not to be drawn in. There are so many messages on so many levels which is another sign of its' greatness. It is probably too powerful for younger audiences and it may offend some of the adults that watch it. However, this movie is not one to miss. See it, if you haven't already, and ask yourself, how would I have handled this situation. Thank goodness most of us will only have to think about it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Presentation of the Party Line
Review: This documentary examines an occasion when four ordinary guys on a canoe-trip-campout were recruited by local representatives of the Democratic Party to enlist in the movement to keep Clintonism alive in America. Like all good documentaries, there are brief departures from the main theme (beautiful scenery, a young Democrat boy playing the banjo, a boating accident during the filming etc), but the primary message is quite clear regarding the program the Democrat Party has in mind for America, sparklingly demonstrated by a mountain man and Ned Beatty (in one of the toughest onscreen performances in history). One problem with the film is the total exclusion of women and minorities, though it could be said Ronny Cox spoke on their behalf then got drowned in the river.
Rating:
Summary: Finally Saw It....
Review: Well, now I finally understand all those 'squeal like a pig' references I've heard in bad jokes. I can't say I'm better for it, though. John Boorman's directing is superb as we watch Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox partake in a canoe trip from hell. At the heart of its story is Voight's struggle within himself and nature to discovery what he is really made of when tragedy strikes. Although, some of the acting and dialogue feels a little dated, it still holds up pretty well as a film. There is plenty of beautiful scenery filmed by legendary D.P. Vilmos Zsigmond. The film's highlight is the opening scene with the now famous 'dueling banjos' performance. ***1/2 stars
Rating:
Summary: "Deliverance": Mouth of the Laconic in a Lush Green Hell
Review: "Deliverance": Man Vs. Nature...And Man gets it right in the [bum]! Nasty, brutal, and true. John Boorman's finest hour. Wanna know where the wild things are? Just ask Ned Beatty. Ouch! Let the mongoloid banjo boy play on into the Cajun night for a cinematic eternity....Sing it, you know the words....Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dah!
Rating:
Summary: Squeal boy!
Review: I still don't know what the point of this movie was, and to be honest, most of it was pretty boring. But two scenes for some reason have burnt themselves into my memory for good. The first is our genetically deficient, sister lusting inbred hick giving city slicker Ronny Cox a good spanking by way of a pre-civil war style banjo. The second is literally a spaking, and then a little bit more, unto Ned Beatty courtesy of some nameless drunken good ol' boy. Jon Voight watches helplessly as his overweight canoe partner is made to, um...squeal like a pig...amidst the hillbilly's carnal desires. Voight is about to be given a taste of southern comfort himself, until an arrow from a carpetbagger's crossbow makes acquaintence with our instigator's aorta and left lung. Beatty then, still clad in nothing but filthy Fruit of the Looms, furiously attacks the corpse before the four partners in pain bury it in a six inch grave. The rest of the movie is good, but this scene is definately the "climax", if you will. I'm just glad it wasn't me, and I know of one river I won't be canoeing down anytime soon.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing
Review: There is only one word to describe this film: "SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL"
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