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.
Nominated for 3 Oscars. 3 wins & 15 nominations total
Top Critics Reviews
rotten:
So many of Dickey's lumpy narrative ideas remain in his screenplay that John Boorman's screen version becomes a lot less interesting than it has any right to be.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
rotten:
A fantasy about violence, not a realistic consideration of it.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
23 Oct 2004
fresh:
It's a haunting, nightmarish vision.
– Tom Milne,
Time Out,
26 Jan 2006
rotten:
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.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
18 Sep 2007
fresh:
John Boorman's 1972 film of the James Dickey novel has a beautiful visual style that balances the film's machismo message.