The Film
Actor Ronny Cox describes his first film, Deliverance, as "a harrowing action adventure film that has become iconic because of its artistic merits and because of its morality overtones." [Read our full "10 Questions with Deliverance Star Ronny Cox."]
It's also just sort of disturbing. Based on James Dickey's novel. Deliverance is about four businessmen (Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty and Cox) embarking on manly weekend of canoeing down a soon-to-be destroyed river. However, instead of a bromantic adventure, the four are forced into survival mode, battling against the treacherous rapids and a crop of creepy mountain men.
After 40 years, you'd think that Deliverance would be dated and downright boring. Besides a few overexposed chests (no, not Beatty's), the film is as fresh as ever -- freaky, in fact. Despite its creepy, chilling overtones, Deliverance is one thrilling trip worth retaking.
The Picture
The Sound
On the flip side, Warner Bros. has given the audio a nice boost, with the inclusion of a new lossless DTS-HD Master Audio track. The dialogue sounds pretty good, even amongst all of the chaos. A lot of the effects hover around the front speakers, but there are plenty of creepy atmospheric chirps, rushes from the rapids, and sheer terror coming from the surrounds to immerse the viewer in this excellent track.
The Extras
For the 40th anniversary of Deliverance, Warner Bros. has packaged the movie up with many of the featurettes from the 2007 Blu-ray release. There's audio commentary with director John Boorman and a very interesting four-part documentary that's worth a peek.
The only new featurette is "Deliverance: The Cast Remembers." This has the four leads sitting down at the Burt Reynolds Museum (what the?) in Jupiter, Florida. It's a nifty 30 minutes, listening to Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox all reminisce. It would have been excellent if Warner Bros. had gotten these guys to record a new commentary track, but this is sufficient and a nice addition to this anniversary package.
Speaking of packaging, this is a digibook release, so fans can expect 42 pages of photos, interviews and other info from the movie wrapped around the disc.
Final Thoughts
The fact that this movie had a 2007 Blu-ray release makes the $34.99 MSRP kind of tough to swalow. Do you need the 40th anniversary edition Deliverance when a Blu-ray is readily available for less than half the price? Probably not. If you count this movie amongst your favorites, the audio, the booklet and the new featurette are just enough to make this worth the upgrade.
Product Details
Where to Buy:
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