Filmmaker reacts to Deliverance (1972) for the FIRST TIME!

Hope you enjoy my filmmaker reaction to Deliverance. :D
Full length reactions & Patreon only polls: / jamesvscinema
Original Movie: Deliverance (1972)
Ending Song: / charleycoin
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*Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. All rights belong to their respective owners.

[@JamesVSCinema]

Tell me your thoughts! You love it? Dislike it? Confused? Lemme know! The Boys S3 & Fargo S3 on the patreon! Click here for early access: www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema Have a great day everyone!

[@leeconway1000]

Yeee-haw!

[@CousinCreepy]

You may have misunderstood, these guys aren't planning to destroy the river, land developers are and these guys just want to enjoy it before its gone and soak it all in one last time. None of them harbor any ill intentions towards this beautiful environment.

[@jrobwoo688]

I’m sorry. So, so sorry. Please, just watch a neat little comedy, Clerks(1994). Again, so sorry you had to endure…….that.

[@Lethgar_Smith]

"What the hail you wanna fvck around on that river for?"

[@evisceratednation]

I think you'll really enjoy Midnight Express 1978 great movie!!

[@christiandivine3807]

James Dickey is a famous poet who wrote the book. This is art. He plays the Sheriff with the scary line.

[@JoyfulOrb]

The writing in that book is so beautiful you are just as stunned when evil happens, because you were swept along by the language. It's also why Pat Conroy's The Prince of Tides is so haunting, because every line in that book is a poem too.

[@bryanlawrence6234]

I was incredulous when I found out that Ronny Cox's dislocated shoulder was not a prosthetic or practical effect. He was really able to bend his shoulder like that. Also, the sheriff at the end is played by James Dickey, the author of the book and screenplay.

[@catfishandcoleslaw]

Exactly. I have the master dvd version and he talks about that dislocation scene.

[@MrDootDali]

I love how you said: "the Earth is watching them. The Landscape is watching them." Exactly. As a child, in the 1970s, my dream was to grow up to be a forest ranger...until I saw the television version of this film. Seriously. I live in the region where this was filmed. It still reverberates here to this very day.

[@JoshuaC0rbit]

Now imagine being 20-year-old me and taking gel cap acid and watching this for the first time. It was terrifying.

[@JamesVSCinema]

Insanity lmfaooo

[@howrued1500]

My in-laws took my husband w them to see this at the theater when he was 8🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ I do get some joy w how mortified my MiL had to be🤣😂😂

[@acehilm.]

Similar to once when I took a wee bit too much acid and thought it'd be a good idea to watch Apocalypse Now. Note to self.. not a good idea.

[@ericmiller9688]

Drop , don't say nothing , just take em right off 😊

[@azwildcats7842]

You should be so proud of yourself …you sound like a real winner.

[@scottybelle9]

Boorman's a fascinating director. He's worked in different genres with varied styles so he doesn't get a lot of recognition -- critics like it when filmmakers are easy to describe. For my money, his one stone-cold masterpiece is Point Blank (1967) with Lee Marvin. It's as cool and hip as the day it was filmed.

[@StrongStyleFiction]

Point Blank is a great movie. As far as the birth of the modern action movie, in my mind it is either Point Blank or Bullet.

[@totallytomanimation]

Boorman may not get his due among the general viewers, but I'm a film guy and my film friends all know who his is and respect the crap out of him. Deliverance - Hope and Glory - The General (1998) - Point Blank - Excaliber - The Emerald Forest - with a Zardoz cherry on top. The guy was fearless and was able to embrace all kinds of genre, very successfully. RESPECT!

[@BillyButcher90]

There's also The Emerald Forest (1985)

[@chaost4544]

"Excalibur" is also another beautifully directed film by Boorman and is probably the best version of the King Arthur story put to film.

[@scarletibis3158]

This was filmed in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. I have white water rafted in NC and my daughter was just wed in the mountains of North Carolina and it looked exactly like this.

[@chefskiss6179]

This is the era(!)... when filmmakers weren't tied to making films on the Hollywood backlot, and what an era it was. One of those gems ya press "Like" on principle alone. Thanks, James.

[@JamesVSCinema]

Yeah this film is a damn rarity for being released in theaters. I love that.

[@openfor45]

Deliverance is one of those films that comes along once every decade or so. It seams most people like or dis-like. So very glad you took the time to react to this very unique film. In 2008, Deliverance was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." FUN FACT: Following the film's release, Governor Jimmy Carter{later President} established a state film commission to encourage television and movie production in Georgia. The state has "become one of the top five production destinations in the U.S".

[@LordVolkov]

Carter did that? Good for him!

[@David-vt3hn]

Deliverance. Only people who have been diseased, abused, and forced to live a rotten life can connect with this.

[@jeffreybaker4399]

There are a number of stories around the filming of Deliverance. In one, James Dickey and Burt Reynolds got along well and went for some friendly drinks. Burt, made the mistake of trying to keep up drink for drink with Dickey. Dickey was a big man (fitting for his role as the sheriff) and, sadly, an alcoholic. Burt ended up passed out, under the table. For the scene where Lewis is launched out of the canoe the crew wanted to use a dummy for the part where he was swept down the rapids. Reynolds said, no, he'd do the stunt. After he was filmed and dragged out of the river, he asked, "how did it look?" He was told, "like a dummy going down the rapids". Edit: In a literature class, long ago, we both read the book and watched the movie. They are close, but there are some subtle differences between the two. Both are excellent works.

[@leonardshevlin7260]

I keep a mental list of books/movies that are both of some quality.

[@thesoulburger1041]

If you like this directing style then you should check out The French Connection by William Friedkin which came out the year before. Different backdrop but some similar aspects in the directing choices and would be interested if you could spot some of the similarities. Friedkin used some very creative techniques to develop his style for that film.

[@blondieandthefatman]

one of the greatest films ever made. and French connection 2

[@kinghadbar]

Nah, he should check out Zardoz by the same filmmaker. Very similar, not odd or strange in any other way.

[@i_love_rescue_animals]

Even though this film came out when I was very young (11), I remember clearly what a HUGE hit "Dueling Banjos" was after this movie came out. An unexpected hit from the Appalachian kid playing his banjo with the character who played the guitar. I think it also was one of the best roles Burt Reynolds ever had. Of course Jon Voight and the other actors were also excellent. I haven't seen this movie in so long, I should watch it again. Thanks for seeing this and commenting on it. ❤

[@CrocodilePile]

I paused the video just before the 7 minute mark, 'cause the remark that "This would be a great trip for the homies" made me fall out of my chair laughing. Now I'm going to wait for you to take it back... pressing play.

[@JamesVSCinema]

LMFAOOOOOOOO. Instant regret.

[@anorthosite]

The actor who played Drew (Ronny Cox) had had a bout with Polio as a kid. As a result, he was later able to (painlessly) hyper-extend his shoulder, flopping his arm over and down to the other side (something he sometimes would do as a party trick). He mentioned it to director John Boorman, and so wound up doing it for the scene where they find Drew's body in the riverbed. NOT a practical/special effect.

[@bigneon_glitter]

_"I'm going in blind..."_ - oh man, can't even imagine. A masterpiece, the movie scars souls - as it should, being analogous to the Vietnam experience. John Boorman is a director to dive into. His greats: • _Excalibur_ (1981) - the definitive King Arthur movie • _Point Blank_ (1967) - stylish Revenge/Crime classic • _Zardoz_ (1973) - notoriously baffling but fascinating Sean Connery sci-fi flick

[@richardwatson5835]

Another great Boorman pic is Hope And Glory (1987) about a boy and his family living through the London Blitz in 1940

[@wompa70]

Notoriously baffling, indeed. But the costumes, just damn. lol

[@LordVolkov]

Everyone needs to experience Zardoz.

[@tom222boy]

Excalibur........YES !!!

[@goldenager59]

And let's not forget *Hell in the Pacific,* Boorman's 1969 WWII drama of a duel of wills between two warriors from opposite sides. (Likely a source of inspiration for the story of *Enemy Mine* from 1985.) 😎

[@axx6435]

“Southern Comfort “ is another movie with similar themes.

[@wwk68tig]

...gotta say this about Deliverance: you'll never forget it. .........thanks so much for posting. appreciate your perspective........

[@JamesVSCinema]

Anytime Wayne! Gotta love stories!

[@anthonyzarate9807]

P.S. I believe the scene where they play the banjos is called the "dueling banjos" scene. Ed, Lewis, Drew, and Bobby are definitely condescending and mean towards the locals in the beginning. That to me is a foreshadow of what is to come and how things will eventually change. Then how the boy ignores them from the bridge is another clue that they are foreigners in a hostile area. As the rapids start to get rougher, they become in less and less control...and it all eventually comes to a climax.

[@JamesVSCinema]

I love this thought. This sounds like a true horror!

[@taylorcoley6329]

Growing up in North Carolina, this movie is pretty much a sort of right of passage. "I hear Banjos" which everyone has heard at least once. This film and O Brother Where Art Thou are staples of southern cinema.

[@jimnewl]

Smokey and the Bandit

[@shainewhite2781]

Nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture! The scene where they make him "Squeal like a piggy" was on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. This also serves as a cautionary tale: Never trespass on someone else's property. If someone begins to bother you, ignore them. If you're lost, ask for directions.

[@JamesVSCinema]

Nailed it.

[@krono5el]

especially in psycho lunatic country : P

[@yvonnesanders4308]

Great film. Solid cast. Showed Burt Reynolds could act and not just play a cheeky chap. Rape this whole landscape. That's some foreshadowing

[@JamesVSCinema]

Yup. Had a mind blown moment as soon as I started editing.

[@richard_n]

James now you see why I was adamant about you watching this. As a film guy, I knew you'd appreciate all the non traditional tracks they took with this film. From the different camera angles to the story arc. It's a very unique movie in that sense and more filmmakers should incorporate these techniques into their films.

[@jannasomewhere2889]

I think it also demonstrates that ONE storyline can carry an entire film, when the storytelling is as powerful as this. There were no A and B sets of characters being cut away to outside of our 4 protagonists. Not needed, not wanted. Very few films not based on stage plays are this intimate. Or this confident (challenging?) in making you look & prohibiting you from looking away.

[@ams914]

James in the beginning, "This is a great trip for the homies." James later, "This is a horrible guys' trip." LOL

[@jamesalexander5623]

Homies are smart enough to not go into the woods at night!

[@B1GG1N]

I went on a river rafting trip down the Chattooga River during my senior year of high school, and our guide made a point of mentioning where the infamous "squeal like a pig" scene was shot. 😅

[@coachacola3755]

Which section?

[@mar10rod38]

These guys WERE on a personal adventure trip. They were not there to pillage the land. It was the developers that were doing that.

[@batmanvsjoker7725]

The infamous rape scene is in my opinion filmmaking at its peak. The acting by everyone involved (most especially Beatty), Boorman's directing, the pure raw and disturbing feeling of it...... That shit is scarier than anything I've seen in my life because you know damn well that can happen in real life. Hell, it was even ranked 63rd on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments and rightly so!

[@JamesVSCinema]

Definitely thought of Mr Ballen while watching this because of how REAL the events in this film were

[@MoriahDreams123]

Just finished rewatching Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments the other day. Awesome list.

[@batmanvsjoker7725]

@@MoriahDreams123 Do not spoil me any of the movies in there, I've only seen a few. But I will watch all of them even if it's the last thing I'll do!

[@jimnewl]

There had never been anything like it at the time. Or at least, nothing that came anywhere near general audiences.

[@totallytomanimation]

Hey James - Nice to see you watching a 70's films, would like to see more of that. The 70's really had a lot of great gritty films based in the real world and had great feel for that world. I would highly recommend you watch "The French Connection" and just get the name Owen Roizman on your radar. Roizman is one of the 70's great cinematographers and knew how to rub the dirty of the world onto his images. A true great! Roizman did Cinematography for - The French Connection - The Exorcist - Network - Taking of Pelham One Two Three - Tootsie - Absence of Malice. All worthy of viewing at some time in your life.

[@maggieshevelew7579]

Thank you, James, for delving into more ground-breaking classic films, and not just rehashing the same films everyone else is reacting to. This was a terrifying, landmark film. Once you’ve seen it, you never forget it.

[@vilefly]

No one forgets "Deliverance". There is no exception.

[@insanitypepper1740]

The banjo boy was a local kid they found. He liked Ronny Cox so had trouble turning away from him in contempt after the song was over, so they had Ned Beatty walk into frame who the kid didn't like in order for his reaction to ring true.

[@dukedude7460]

Great reaction James as always! One thing I always thought interesting was how Lewis, who was “tough” one of the bunch, was reduced to the most vulnerable by the thing he proclaimed his love for: nature. Always took the real meaning of this film as man vs both nature in general(the elements) and man vs his own nature (the city life the men knew vs the rural life/nature of the locals).

[@MovieVigilante]

Lewis was also the one that said, "You don't beat the river."

[@t0dd000]

I always thought of him as the one who most respected the wild. And he came out the other side changed by it.

[@Theomite]

@@t0dd000 It IS interesting that Lewis is barely heard from after he lies in the hospital. So I dunno if his change was being humbled, broken, or validated.

[@ggegeRGr]

In a similar way, I always liked how Drew was the film's moral compass, and how the only one who questioned the morality of their actions was the one who later died. It's like nature didn't care about his morals or good intentions.. it punished his innocence all the same. Such a good film that leaves you with so much to discuss.

[@macker33]

Theres a movie called Midnight express, Its a classic, and its a true story, no names have been changed to protect the survivors.

[@gabrieleghut1344]

Like in many films the screenplay alter the reality to shock but it had nothing to do with the facts. I have seen it when it first came out and we all had so many different feelings watching. I liked it.

[@macker33]

@@gabrieleghut1344 Its a great movie.

[@jamesalexander5623]

Joey -- Have You ever been in a Turkish Prison?

[@seukfuhi]

James, one interesting info: Deliverance is perhaps one of the very very few films in motion pictures history where sequences were shot in their respective chronological order in the story. Can you imagine how actors and the crew got immersed in the story as they created the film? Definitely one of the greatest films of the past 50 years.

[@torikazuki8701]

I understand why logistics can force that not to happen, but as a theater actor, I can't imagine why you wouldn't WANT to do it chronologically whenever possible. Not the least reason of which would be getting the best performance out of your actors.

[@matthalaboo6694]

Another movie that deserves more recognition is Runaway Train. Jon Voight is also in it.

[@notjustforhackers4252]

Screenplay by Akira Kurosawa, best movie made by Cannon films. I second the recommendation, it's excellent.

[@jamesalexander5623]

Great Jon Voight Film .... The Odessa File! .... It's a Christmass Movie!

[@KBH27]

Hell yeah!! One of my favs! Runaway Train is something to behold.

[@KBH27]

@@jamesalexander5623 I also like The Odessa File

[@Nikki_the_G]

THE best Kurosawa remake ever. Voight was brilliant. God what a great film.

[@peterbooth793]

Makes, city slickers look like a dream guys vacation 😍.

[@blacktower7777]

The T shirts and bumper stickers that say "I hear banjos..." is reference to this film

[@hetmanjz]

The British-born director of Deliverance, John Boorman, also directed 1967's Point Blank, one of the earliest and best films in the genre that would come to be called neo-noir ("neo" in the sense of revisiting and re-envisioning the classic '40s / '50s noir aesthetic and ethos). In Point Blank, "classic" noir is filtered through something of the art-house existentialist sensibility of '60s New Wave directors like Antonioni, so it's more cerebral and even experimental, but also more visceral and "adult," partly due to the weakening authority of the Hollywood production code. It's also a lot of fun, and it's one of legendary actor Lee Marvin's best roles.

[@colettepot7350]

I’m not sure when I saw this movie, but it was a long time ago, but I think it’s great how the Burt Reynolds character slowly changed from hero to anti-hero.

[@murrayroodbaard207]

This is one of those classics that spawned a whole subgenre. Like "Alien" spawned the subgenre of sci-fi/horror about aliens, "Deliverance" spawned the subgenre of Backwoods hillbillies threatening city people in the wilderness.

[@Cannon-Fodder]

Yeah, like "Wrong turn", another great film.

[@rk-ve6jy]

Any similar(slow adventure horror) movies like this ?

[@nightbirdgames]

@@rk-ve6jy Almost similar, but I personally loved Survival Quest by Don Coscarelli!

[@theblobconsumes4859]

​@@rk-ve6jy 1 year late, but, Southern Comfort

[@goyaassfilms4551]

"It feels like the landscape is watching them." You nailed it exactly! I always found the wide shots and use of long lenses in this film unsettling and disturbing and that is the reason.

[@hamiltonburger4574]

This film is very "visceral". That's the best way I can describe it. When this was released in the theater I saw it a couple of times just for the guitar/banjo scene.

[@JamesVSCinema]

Brilliant word.

[@flibber123]

John Boorman, who directed this, brings that arthouse vibe. He also did Excalibur, which is essentially an arthouse King Arthur movie. This movie is not shy about foreshadowing things. "We're going to rape it" is guaranteed to catch the audience's attention.

[@garytiptin6479]

He also directed "Exorcist II: The Heretic". They weren't ALL winners!

[@ejtappan1802]

I've never thought to compare this film to First Blood but wow, they really are similar in so many ways.

[@carlosyamara]

“I’m interested in seeing where the direction is going to be with this film” Oh, dear Lord, you’re in for a surprise. 😳😳

[@harbinger8035]

This is an overlooked hides gem of a film. I’m glad you could react to it.

[@rk-ve6jy]

Any similar(slow adventure horror) movies like this ?

[@brianlujan7089]

"I don't think I've ever seen a setup like this for a film, other than a horror film" Nailed it!

[@notjustforhackers4252]

Akira Kurosawa covered similar themes in his excellent film "Dersu Uzala (1975)" ( highly recommended ). Both movies talking about how industrialisation destroys not only land but people, their traditions and way of life. The rising dam waters and the rape being the metaphors here, violations both. "Southern Comfort (1981)" is another notable film in this genre.

[@Theomite]

I wanted to like SOUTHERN COMFORT more than I did, but I wound up liking the production value more than the story. But, it's been over 20 years so i should probably give it another look.

[@notjustforhackers4252]

@@Theomite It's not in the same class of either Dersu Uzala or Deliverance. I agree it doesn't hold up as well as it should, if those two films are five star Southern Comfort get a three, but it remains a worthy entry if you can overlook the issues. I remember it being better than a recent re-watch proved. Worth re-watching? probably, but lower your expectations.

[@dreamcoyote]

What Jaws did to make you scared to go into the ocean, Deliverance did to going camping deep in the woods :). NOT recommended for first viewing shortly before a camping trip. Great movie. I understood when watching it back in the day that the flooding of the area meant something but thought of it mostly in terms of plot. Watching you react, it made me think of it as an allegory where the govt was raping the area by flooding it, and we know the people living there weren't "asked nicely". The flooding of the valley and all the lives/property there was like them hiding the body there. Everyone hoping no one would go look and see what happened to all the people there. Not saying they all drowned, but they had crimes committed against them because they were poor mountain folk. Flooding that valley and treating the people who had lived there so poorly has a lasting guilt (or should). Definitely a classic.

[@JamesVSCinema]

Great example!

[@Theomite]

@@JamesVSCinema Another film that does the same topic less metaphorically is Michael Cimino's HEAVEN'S GATE, which deals with the Johnson County War, an actual incident of the government displacing American landowners by slaughtering them the same way as the Native Americans. Be warned though: it's 5 hours long.

[@gutz1981]

One of the best arguments Burt's character made that won me over was the idea, being such a small community, it would have been a probable possibility that one of the jury members (hell, even the judge) could have been a relative of the person they killed. How could you ever expect a fair and partial jury? But I also liked come the end of the film, the law and the community they did find themselves in were also every day people. No different than them.

[@spddracer]

Side note: John Voight is Angelina Joile's father.

[@cayminlast]

Went the opening night when this was released, enjoyed it then and now. My mom recommend it, she had read the book and thought it would be good.

[@blondieandthefatman]

The thing that amazes me is the this is a british director capturing the mood of the backwaters of the US. Where did he get his inspiration to make a film like this?

[@David-vt3hn]

Good interviewer. He was impressed as everyone is. Deliverance is The Bomb 💣 Pure horror, pure terror, pure hope and despair.

[@elsievickie]

They did their own canoeing.....Fantastic Performance by Actors, haven't seen in years, treat.

[@VIDSTORAGE]

Lewis is the boss of this adventure .. He knew the wild river was being taken apart and they all depended on that character to be saved

[@jatinderdevgun9093]

You gave a superb review of a classic movie. Still has the power to shock after all these years.

[@Buggins]

Really an incredibly striking and thought provoking film. As you say it just goes for it on every level including some really incredible committed performances. Ned Beatty particularly is amazing, even if you don't know him mostly for his comedic foil roles like bumbling sidekick to Lex Luthor.

[@Theomite]

Beatty was one of the first actors that i really got an idea of what an actor really was. Because I remembered him from SUPERMAN but when I saw DELIVERANCE and NETWORK close together, I saw that I had no idea what a real actor was before. He schooled me on what acting could really be and I was in awe of him for the rest of his life.

[@Divamarja_CA]

It’s also a testament to John Boorman, James Dickey et al that 50 years later, the power of the storytelling has not diminished one iota. More films from the 70s, if you please!

[@bennychristensen4314]

This is the first of what I call Burt Reynolds' "Sweaty Southern Gothic" films followed by White Lightning and The Longest Yard and to a lesser extent Gator. These movies are gritty and more grounded than his later films. If you notice from Smokey and the Bandit on, no one ever sweats in his movies again. Everything is polished to a shine and loses the essential "realism" of the oppressive Southern heat and dirtiness of his earlier movies.

[@mamakat114]

I've been asking some reactors to react to this, and i searched & found you had a year ago!! Subscribed, here we go!

[@norcalboy2572]

Thank you, James. Certainly one of my favorite films. Your reactions were very interesting and I can't remember enjoying a reaction to any film more than yours to Deliverance !

[@haeleth7218]

"He got a real purrrdy mouth don't he?" - nightmare material.

[@skoolbus]

Another good movie with the same sort of themes (disrespect to locals, disrespect to nature, lost in the wild, Vietnam) you might like is Walter Hill's Southern Comfort from '81. Very underrated. He helped write Alien, directed The Warriors, 48 Hrs. Edit: and hey, it's free right here on KZbin.

[@EShelby2127]

Yup, I was thinking about the movie Southern Comfort while watching this reaction video.

[@Saaz42]

In high school I had to pick a book from a list to do a book report. Some had an asterisk because they might contain objectionable content. So I chose the first book with an asterisk, Deliverance. That was a valuable experience that made me more careful in future choices.

[@gammaanteria]

The sheriff is played by the author of the novel, James Dickey...great acting job by him, that menacing smile. He was also a Poet Laureate of the U.S. Love his readings (you can see them on YT) of his poems "For the Last Wolverine" and "The Moon Ground."

[@johnanthonydorgan]

One of my Top ten favourite movies of all time. An amazing film in so many ways

[@blakemcelrath54]

This was filmed in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Georgia about an hour away from where I live

[@seukfuhi]

The scene where Ed kills the teethless man is, in my humble opinion, one of the best directed (and edited) scenes ever. In only about 30 seconds, the spectator feels fear, hopelessness, pain, relief and bewildering. John Boorman puts on a clinic as to how to maximize the use of subjective camera (i.e. putting us in Ed's shoes). Among other things, it is because we SEE things from his perspective that we don't realize until late that the antagonist has been killed.

[@bradb3248]

Janes love your Mr Ballen analogy, I was 11 when this came out, remember ads for this with the hand coming out of the water, wanted to see, but no way my parents would let me.😮

[@jamesharper3933]

A true classic. Glad you enjoyed it. Great reaction too. Would love you to delve into the William Freidkin 1971 classic The French Connection with Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider.

[@ranger-1214]

The Tallulah Gorge region of northeast Georgia was the primary location, with a small segment filmed nearby in South Carolina. The terrain in North Georgia is heavily vegetated in many areas, and mountainous (the Tennessee Valley Divide). That's a major reason the Mountain Phase of the Army Ranger Training is located about 40 miles southwest near Dahlonega. Burt's character wanted to experience the wild river before it was gone and made into a lake. And kudos to the filmmakers for putting Georgia native James Dickey, the author of the book, into the film as the Sheriff and with an important part.

[@michaelbuhl4250]

The movie *Wild River* also deals with the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Rural Electrification Program.

[@graverob1910]

8:25 “This whole vibe just shifted…” Wait for it…

[@jillk368]

This movie used to be on TV every year. It was very well done. I haven't seen many people react to it. Thanks for doing it; very nice reaction. And yep, that's Jack Albertson (from Willy Wonka). All the best.

[@PinnaclePete]

Jack Albertson isn't listed in the credits for this movie. What character are you referring to?

[@jillk368]

@@PinnaclePete Whoops. Commented on the wrong page. I guess I still had a tab open with a Poseidon Adventure reaction I'd just watched. I remember I was gonna comment on it, then something came in from work, then when I got off the phone I just clicked on a tab and commented. Poseidon Adventure - - Good movie, BTW :)

[@PinnaclePete]

@@jillk368 No problem. Poseidon Adventure was always one of my favorite movies! I was eating in the Carnegie Deli in NYC with a couple friends once when they led Red Buttons past us to his table! He apparently was a regular there and enjoyed everyone recognizing him. 😊

[@dadmateryn8092]

"I would like to see this town die peaceful". Remember at the beginning Lewis said they gonna dam up the river and that town was gonna be swallowed up and sitting at the bottom of a lake. Thats why they were moving the church and digging up the graves. The Sheriff didn't want to know the truth so as to save the town from any bad reputation before it was flooded from the dam.

[@dvrmte]

The Chattooga River is on the Georgia/South Carolina border in the mountains. My inlaws are from that area. Tourism boomed in the decade following the movie. There are still a lot of people who go there to ride the rapids. The story of the coming of the impoundment also applies to Lake Jocassee, which isn't far from the Chattooga River. The Jocassee River was impounded to form the lake. There was a Summer camp, a cemetery, and a small community that had to make way for the lake. Several waterfalls are now underwater. I have a huge rock/boulder from the Jocassee River in my front yard. My father inlaw pulled it out before it was flooded.

[@rikuruohomaki3230]

This was filmed before digital film processing and John Boorman took a big risk processing the film stock, for it to have a greenish tint. He had an artistic vision and he stuck to it, despite the risk of possibly ruining the film stock, in the worst case scenario.

[@barbarasaracini1271]

There's basically been a running joke over the years from anyone who saw this movie. And that is, anytime you find yourself in an area unfamiliar to you, whether when traveling, hiking, etc., and you have an uncomfortable feeling, you start listening for banjo music. And if you're with others, you tell them to keep their ears open for it also. 😆

[@strangelyjamesly4078]

I'm not sure what you think they are doing, but they are navigating the river one time. For fun, before it is dammed and the whole valley flooded. They are just 4 guys who have nothing to do with the dam and flooding.

[@BigHugsFromHell]

I've run that river before, run right down those same rapids, and where I started they definitely announced it at the time as "the stretch of river from Deliverance." I hadn't seen it yet, though. Once I did I just thought, "shit..."

[@bergman6581]

The real banjo player is hiding behind the kid with his hands around the kid's body hidden by a special made shirt. If you wouldn't know you would never noticed, it's so well done.

[@dnish6673]

And how good was he to even be able to do it convincingly - I wonder how close he was to the real chords.

[@c-puff]

Saw this for the first time earlier this year, and fully knew about The Scene™ but somehow it was still far more disturbing than I was prepared for. And I am not faint at heart with movies.

[@tracyfrazier7440]

Weren’t they building a dam downstream? So the area they travelled would all be under the water of the lake it forms. Dams provide electricity and the potential for economic growth, which was sorely needed in the area. But we are also shown the cost of progress.

[@gasmonkey1000]

The drama on set was real. They were actually on that crazy ass river. At one point there was a fight on set, between the director and the guy who wrote the book the whole thing was based off if memory serves.

[@ShivasIrons22]

Burt Reynolds was the biggest movie star in the world in the 70's and this movie was his breakout. It was a big hit. I remember it playing for over a month at the single screen mall cinema in my hometown. "Dueling Banjos" was also a big hit on the musical charts.

[@SargNickFury]

I live in Appalachia. I remember at college we'd have people from north east and other parts of the county who came for college, we'd show them this film, than next day go on a hike and "lose" them...lol Was our way of hazing the new guys.

[@bradmcdorfhead2745]

Southern Comfort (1981) with Powers Booth and Keith Carradine has a similar theme.

[@maximusmfg]

This is a haunting movie. Burt's best performance in my opinion

[@kenb.1212]

Yes, I thought this was Burt's best performance as well.

[@dmbassett]

the end scene where he breaks down crying at the dinner table. really hit me. it's an epic movie. worth a few watches!

[@hbk42581]

You gotta check out Walter Hill's "Southern Comfort" next. It's a great companion film to this one.

[@Nick_CF]

The night shots were done by filming in the day time and then dropping the exposure heavily in processing. It was a very common thing to do back then since you can imagine how intense the lights would have to be...just look at the lighting for The Lighthouse, acting in front of those lights but have been miserable.

[@TTM9691]

Man, you've been killing it lately! They should put this reaction on the DVD! I had the SAME exact experience: I knew the title, didn't know what it was about and I distinctly remember just following the story, like you just did. Amazing movie. You're totally right: it IS a horror movie! Definitely the end became a horror trope ("Carrie", "Friday The 13th"). This movie definitely leaves you with a feeling you can't shake! Just another great one of the 70s, what can you say! lol. They were re-inventing the wheel every other month back then! Definitely not another movie like "Deliverance", it's a one-of-a-kind thing. THANKS, JAMES! And to your fantastic subscribers!

[@KennethSorling]

I rate this as an excellent "Daylight Horror" movie. It was tense, intense, shocking, and white-knucklingly scary. A nice detail is that Burt Reynolds, hitherto known for lightweight comedies like 'Smokey and The Bandit' and 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas', got to play a serious role, and did it with gusto and style.

[@NativeNewMexican]

So happy to see my recommendation win and you enjoy it so much. Great reaction, great movie, love it.

[@kennethduckworth7111]

They were not scouting out the land for development. They were out for a wilderness adventure to take the landscape in before it is inundated by a dam. The novel, much like William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” is a study in what happens when men are removed from civilization and confronted with survival. The movie was filmed on the Chattahoochie River in north Georgia. Billy Redden, the banjo playing boy, was a local whom John Boorman chose from a local elementary school. He still lives in the area today. CBS Sunday Morning did a profile on the legacy of Deliverance and its impact on the North Georgia community where it was filmed. They interview Redden.

[@danishhald]

This is one of those ultimate films for me. It is a gripping cinematic experience. It is far more than that one scene. I feel like that is just the beginning. His nightmare at the end is still chilling.

[@travisdial1730]

Another great movie that is very similar to this is Southern Comfort. Well worth your time.

[@mcdnea7030]

I have always thought that this film represents the archetype of what it means to be a man. You are just cruising along in your normal life and suddenly the SHTF. And how you respond to the world turning upside down describes what kind of man you are, and often it is a surprise which man finds the inner resources in the crisis. The macho one, the risk taker gets taken out of the action. The domesticated man can barely function and is victimized by friend and by for. The overly sensitive one can't cope and takes himself out of the game. It is the guy who has the proper measure of all these qualities who has the resources to rise to the occasion.

[@blitzphantom9488]

It’s always a trip to show this to someone who’s never seen it before.

[@AbsoluteApril]

I liked your comparison to First Blood as far as the style of filming, the feel, very spot on. edit to add: the style kind of reminds me of an old nature documentary