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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Sept 21, 2018 13:46:47 GMT
Rewatched this classic again last night, brought about because of the passing of Burt Reynolds, but really, this movie should be revisited by anyone at anytime, it's just that good. The backstory on the making of the movie is endlessly fascinating on its own!    Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox all went supernova after this. Director John Boorman discovered Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox both doing theatre and cast them both in their movie debuts. Beatty was the only actor who had any experience in a canoe prior to filming. Ronny Cox was the very first person cast in the movie due to his guitar ability and his acting too.   Bill McKinney became one of Hollywood's most popular villains in other movies and TV shows after his portrayal of the mountain man rapist. He even scared his costars with his method approach, Beatty would only film the rape scene one time and no more.   Obviously, McKinney's performance struck terror into the hearts of many men who had never considered such a thing before, and had never seen it depicted in a movie until now. Interesting trivia: Ronny Cox is double-jointed, he suggested that when Drew's body is found that his arm appear twisted around his neck. This was something Cox was able to add to his role, it looked real because it was.  Actors originally offered a part in the movie include: Lee Marvin Marlon Brando Donald Sutherland Gene Hackman Jack Nicholson Henry Fonda Charlton Heston Steve McQueen The movie went on to become an award nominated phenomenon. The cast still looked back at the experience with fondness recently.  Another way of saying goodbye to Burt.  Thanks for all the great movie memories, Burt!  |
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Post by wmcclain on Sept 21, 2018 13:58:42 GMT
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Sept 21, 2018 14:24:10 GMT
People are naturally curious about the banjo boy from the movie, played by Billy Redden. He was hand-picked at the local elementary school because of his large head, skinny body, odd-shaped eyes and moronic grin which sadly branded him a poster-child for inbreeding and mental deficiency.  He had a few other minor parts, Tim Burton cast him as a banjo playing member of the town welcome wagon in Big Fish. He says Deliverance was the best thing to happen to him, but never saw much money because of it. I'd like to have all the money I thought I'd make from this movie. I wouldn't be working at Walmart right now. And I'm struggling really hard to make ends meet.  At the time of the movie, he couldn't play the banjo, his scenes were all filmed with an actual banjo player behind him and they made it look like Billy was playing. Not sure if he ever learned or not, but he will forever be known as the Banjo Boy. |
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Post by bravomailer on Sept 21, 2018 15:43:31 GMT
Ned Beatty was remarkable in this. I also like James Dickey's cameo:
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Sept 21, 2018 16:07:09 GMT
Ned Beatty was remarkable in this. I also like James DIckey's cameo: He was a great casting choice, slightly intimidating. |
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Post by Captain Spencer on Sept 21, 2018 16:51:41 GMT
Great post! I also watched Deliverance recently in honor of Burt. One of the best films of the 1970s.
I'm sure glad the likes of Lee Marvin, Charlton Heston, and Marlon Brando weren't cast. They just wouldn't have fit the roles as well.
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Post by bravomailer on Sept 21, 2018 17:01:42 GMT
Great post! I also watched Deliverance recently in honor of Burt. One of the best films of the 1970s. I'm sure glad the likes of Lee Marvin, Charlton Heston, and Marlon Brando weren't cast. They just wouldn't have fit the roles as well. I think Marvin could have handled the role Reynolds had quite well, though he might have been a bit long in tooth. I also think Marvin could have done quite well as Quint in Jaws - a role he reportedly turned down. |
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Post by Captain Spencer on Sept 21, 2018 17:06:20 GMT
Great post! I also watched Deliverance recently in honor of Burt. One of the best films of the 1970s. I'm sure glad the likes of Lee Marvin, Charlton Heston, and Marlon Brando weren't cast. They just wouldn't have fit the roles as well. I think Marvin could have handled the role Reynolds had quite well, though he might have been a bit long in tooth. I also think Marvin could have done quite well as Quint in Jaws - a role he reportedly turned down. Yes, Marvin would have been a bit too old for the Lewis role. I agree he would have been a good Quint; turning down that role was probably the biggest mistake of his career. |
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Post by petrolino on Sept 22, 2018 2:01:06 GMT
A deserving piece on this devastating movie, I feel. It's one of John Boorman's cruelly lyrical pictures about "nature-run-amok" that's gone on to be among his most influential. Thanks.
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Sept 22, 2018 20:03:42 GMT
I much prefer RITUALS 1977 to this.
Similar kind of idea (city folk facing a rural danger, one of them homosexual--not hidden either).
Less hysterical, plus a rare starring role for Hal Holbrook.
The thing with big Hollywood movies is that the price for better cinematography was usually dumbed down theme and characterization.
Speaking of which, Quint: I am not sure either Sterling Hayden or Lee Marvin would have worked so well in JAWS. The reason is that I picture them as more stoic than Shaw. Shaw was (intentionally or not) bringing a Shakespearean and European horror tradition to Jaws. This is evident with the Indianapolis speech which Shaw was said to have mostly written the dialogue for himself (though Roy Scheider said he contributed the "black eyes like a doll's eyes" part). It works like a ghost story being told around a campfire.
There's a bit of the romantic pirate swashbuckler in Quint as portrayed by Shaw too, and this creates an interesting contrast to Americans Scheider's muted cop and Dreyfuss's nerdy scientist.
Quint the character is something of a psychopath though--so if they had wanted to make him less charming, I think Marvin would have been a more realistic choice.
But then we would miss out on one of the best parts of Shaw's performance-when they decide to head back to shore and he starts to crack, showing more fear than either Hooper or Brody (who becomes the least afraid by the end of it).
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Post by pimpinainteasy on Sept 23, 2018 6:44:45 GMT
i like the novel too. here is a short review i wrote on goodreads:
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Sept 23, 2018 9:32:24 GMT
Outstanding picture, Burt's best and one from the top tier of the 70s. My own review added to a worthy thread >
Brutal, Beautiful and Brilliant.
Four Atlanta friends - Lewis (Burt Reynolds), Ed (John Voight), Bobby (Ned Beatty), and Drew (Ronny Cox) – decide to canoe down the Cahulawassee River out in the Georgia wilderness. They see it as a test of manliness whilst also wanting to experience this part of nature before the whole valley is flooded over to make way for the upcoming construction of a dam and lake. But the perils of nature are not the only dangerous things in their midst, unfriendly wood folk are about to bring another dimension in terror.
Deliverance is one of those films that sometimes suffers by way of reputation. Much like Straw Dogs and 70s films of that type, the hype and promise of unremitting hell often isn't delivered to an expectant modern audience. Which is a shame since Deliverance is one of the finest, glummest, brutalistic and beautiful films of the 1970s.
Adapting from James Dickey's novel (screenplay duties here also), British director John Boorman crafts a tough and powerful film of men out of their environment, thus out of their league. As each man sets off initially, it's a test of manhood, but each guy is forced to deconstruct their worth, and it soon becomes more about survival as this deadly adventure proceeds. Boorman, aided by cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, has painted a raw and treacherous landscape, unconquered by city slickers but dwelt in by inbreds who don't take kindly to the city folk showing up with their machismo attitudes. From the first point of contact with the strange locals, where Drew goes "duelling banjos" with an odd looking child, the film doesn't let up, much like the locals themselves, the film also is remorseless. Some critics over the years have proclaimed that Deliverance is too pretty, mistaking lush physicality as something detracting from the dark thematics at work. Not so, the Chattooga River sequences are electrifying, the rapids scenes (brilliantly filmed with Voight and Reynolds doing real work, and getting real injuries) are merely setting up the unmanning of our "macho" guys just around the corner. It's a fabulous and potent piece of "beauty". With the four cast leaders absolutely brilliant in their respective roles. In fact there are few better casting decisions ever than that of Reynolds as Lewis, one can only lament that he didn't have more hard edged serious roles in his career.
Minor itches exist, metaphors are heavy (Vietnam a 70s staple it seems) while ecological concerns are hinted at without being as prominent as they are in the novel. Surveying the landscape during the opening of the piece, Lewis reflects that man is going to rape this land, rape it, it's stuff like that that is not totally formed, given way to abject horror and survival, Lewis again noting that survival is the name of the game. A game of life and death, where man's primal being means violence may indeed beget violence. Boorman clearly agreed. 10/10
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Sept 23, 2018 10:40:28 GMT
Outstanding picture, Burt's best and one from the top tier of the 70s. My own review added to a worthy thread > Brutal, Beautiful and Brilliant. Four Atlanta friends - Lewis (Burt Reynolds), Ed (John Voight), Bobby (Ned Beatty), and Drew (Ronny Cox) – decide to canoe down the Cahulawassee River out in the Georgia wilderness. They see it as a test of manliness whilst also wanting to experience this part of nature before the whole valley is flooded over to make way for the upcoming construction of a dam and lake. But the perils of nature are not the only dangerous things in their midst, unfriendly wood folk are about to bring another dimension in terror. Deliverance is one of those films that sometimes suffers by way of reputation. Much like Straw Dogs and 70s films of that type, the hype and promise of unremitting hell often isn't delivered to an expectant modern audience. Which is a shame since Deliverance is one of the finest, glummest, brutalistic and beautiful films of the 1970s. Adapting from James Dickey's novel (screenplay duties here also), British director John Boorman crafts a tough and powerful film of men out of their environment, thus out of their league. As each man sets off initially, it's a test of manhood, but each guy is forced to deconstruct their worth, and it soon becomes more about survival as this deadly adventure proceeds. Boorman, aided by cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, has painted a raw and treacherous landscape, unconquered by city slickers but dwelt in by inbreds who don't take kindly to the city folk showing up with their machismo attitudes. From the first point of contact with the strange locals, where Drew goes "duelling banjos" with an odd looking child, the film doesn't let up, much like the locals themselves, the film also is remorseless. Some critics over the years have proclaimed that Deliverance is too pretty, mistaking lush physicality as something detracting from the dark thematics at work. Not so, the Chattooga River sequences are electrifying, the rapids scenes (brilliantly filmed with Voight and Reynolds doing real work, and getting real injuries) are merely setting up the unmanning of our "macho" guys just around the corner. It's a fabulous and potent piece of "beauty". With the four cast leaders absolutely brilliant in their respective roles. In fact there are few better casting decisions ever than that of Reynolds as Lewis, one can only lament that he didn't have more hard edged serious roles in his career. Minor itches exist, metaphors are heavy (Vietnam a 70s staple it seems) while ecological concerns are hinted at without being as prominent as they are in the novel. Surveying the landscape during the opening of the piece, Lewis reflects that man is going to rape this land, rape it, it's stuff like that that is not totally formed, given way to abject horror and survival, Lewis again noting that survival is the name of the game. A game of life and death, where man's primal being means violence may indeed beget violence. Boorman clearly agreed. 10/10 Excellent review, thanks for sharing hitchcockthelegendIt is one of the most brutal movies of the 70's, but shows how you never know what you can do until you have no choice but to make a choice. |
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