DELIVERANCE

Directed by John Boorman
Written by James Dickey
Based on a novel by James Dickey
Cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond
Cast: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox

1972/109 mins/Color/Dolby Digital 5.1
2.35:1 anamorphic/English/US/NTSC Region 1

Review from Warner Bros. DVD

Four men take a canoe trip down the Cahulawassee River. What will happen to them changes them for the rest of their lives.

Director John Boorman’s film is an inarguable classic. While, not a horror film in the truest sense, the movie’s most infamous scene, that of Ned Beatty’s rape, is one of the most horrific scenes in cinema history. Its influence on the horror genre, cannot be denied either. As it would go on to influence other backwoods/ hilly-billy horror films like THE HILLS HAVE EYES and, even more so, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE.

Though, the film has a deliberate, slow pace, it manages to maintain a level of suspense and intrigue throughout it’s running time. The downbeat ending is powerful and haunting.

The acting from the four leads is excellent. They really bring their characters to life, and give the type of feelings these characters would and should have in such a horrific situation. Meanwhile, the cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond is beautiful and ads to both the beauty and the menace of their surroundings.

The DVD comes down the river and to our hands thanks to Warner Brothers. The picture has bright, rich colors, but is at times a bit soft and has some minor artifacting. The blacks are nice and rich, though. The sound has been remastered to Dolby Digital 5.1 and sounds quite exciting and clear.

Sadly, this is an early DVD release, and despite the film’s classic reputation there is no special edition available. All there is some cast and crew and behind the scene info on the screen, as well as, some really lame-ass recommendations.

“The Dangerous World of Deliverance” is a short, old documentary that is a little over ten minutes, and is, in the end, ultimately, just a studio fluff piece. I would love to see a new documentary of this film. Seriously, there is the potential of a great DVD, if they put their minds to it.

The disc comes in snap-case and the inside, front cover list the 30 chapters that the disc is broken up into. The chapters are accessible from a boring, static menu. There is no inlay card, and the disc has one side for widescreen and one for full-screen (who the hell wants to see this, or any other film, in full screen?!).

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Review by Giovanni Deldio. All Right Reserved. 2007. ©