Deliverance
Warner Bros. | Release Date: July 21, 1972 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
80
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Observer (UK)Philip French
Adapted from the novel by the poet James Dickey (who plays the small, significant role of a sheriff in the moral coda to the journey), it's a riveting, resonant film, the male rape sequence as shocking as it was 35 years ago. [28 Oct 2007, p.20]
100
EmpireMark Dinning
The gorgeous backdrop of the film makes the violence and darkness even more disturbing - but this is more than just a horror film. There's real substance in themes, performances and John Boorman's superb direction. Read full review
100
Slant MagazineJeremiah Kipp
Dickey taps into that stark mortal terror of abandoning control, where to become a wild man is somehow a form of connection. Read full review
100
The GuardianJohn Patterson
For all the furious excitement of its river-rafting sequences, and the harshness and humiliation of its explosive central rape scene, Deliverance is an elegiac movie, mourning the rural mountain culture soon to be inundated by a new hydro-electric dam. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Deliverance is a film about finding the place where ideas mean less than instinct. Read full review
90
TimeStaff (Not Credited)
Each of the four lead performances is exceptional, none more so than Burt Reynolds' beefy, supercilious Lewis. Read full review
90
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
A haunting, nightmarish vision. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleRaoul Hernandez
To this day, Dueling Banjoes still gives me the willies. Read full review
88
LarsenOnFilmJosh Larsen
Deliverance is a harsh film asking harsh questions, less a thrilling adventure movie than an ecological, existential nightmare. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyChris Nashawaty
With his Mephisto-phelean swagger and chewy, good ol’ boy drawl, Reynolds is a chest-beating revelation. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Morose, shockingly violent yet strangely beautiful, Deliverance is a tale of what happens to civilized values when put to the test in a hostile wilderness environment. Read full review
75
Chicago ReaderDon Druker
John Boorman's 1972 film of the James Dickey novel has a beautiful visual style that balances the film's machismo message. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds and, indeed, all the members of the cast are finely tuned and very good. What the movie totally fails at, however, is its attempt to make some kind of significant statement about its action. Read full review
60
The New York TimesVincent Canby
An action melodrama that doesn't trust its action to speak louder than words. Read full review
50
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
In the depiction of sudden, violent death, there is the rhapsodic wallowing in the deadly beauty of it all: protruding arrows, agonizing expiration, etc. 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. Read full review
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