Deliverance

A very powerful film, intense, which not many people can make today. Maybe it was due to the time and available technology, but "Vysvobození" is simply incredibly intense and it's an experience that you don't forget. And there are actually only a few plot elements in it. Even after years, it is shown that good films simply withstand the test of time and sometimes the era is even in their favor. (06/24/2014)

Don’t expect a thrilling pace or even shocking violence, Deliverance is not as disturbing as they say. However, it can captivate both through its economical direction and the survival adventure, or fight for survival, which is presented in the most credible and rawest way, without excessive detours. I appreciate some of Boorman's tricks. For example, that key rape scene is accurately depicted, when the members of the trip encounter two wanderers, their gestures and movements beautifully indicate what is to come, especially when one of the locals touches the face and chest of one of the protagonists. The director delivers similar tension several times, and it is truly worth it. The acting is relatively even and overall quite impressive. However, essentially, it is a very simple and rather ordinary matter. (03/03/2007)

A well-written (especially the dialogues about crime and its consequences), clearly and imaginatively directed (the voyeuristic camera, the oppressive atmosphere of a "survival thriller"), and well-acted adventure for men. It lacks a faster pace in spots but overall is a strongly impressive affair, in which the absence of music (except for the guitar-banjo part) and one unbelievable rape are also noteworthy. An excellent film, after which a trip to the forest will never be the same again. (10/18/2006)

Oh yeah, it’s great to be in redneck territory. They make you feel good and welcome, they show you some picturesque nooks and crannies, play something catchy on the banjo and pour you some moonshine to wet your whistle on. But aren’t they a bit strange? Ooh, don’t come here with your prejudices... But John Boorman seems to have a different opinion. Good for him, because this result of his xenophobic paranoia is the best “river raft ride" movie ever to be seen. Despite all that’s going for this movie, the climax occurs somewhere around the seventh minute. Which doesn’t mean at all that the hell we see in the second half isn’t darn powerful. It is and all the more so because it is so chillingly believable. (05/17/2008)

Sleep tight, it's nothing.... The most realistic survival in history, with which Boorman solidified a new narrative and thematic impulse in American cinema. Not as shocking, harsh and atmospheric as the contemporary Texas Massacre (which was also based on an unexpected confrontation between civilised people and a bunch of violent rednecks), but almost equally disturbing thanks to the unrelenting psychological pressure, which in some moments culminates into realms of genuine horror and disgust. A number of oft-quoted and famous passages (the opening banjo duel; the lengthy debate about what to do with the dead hillbilly) fully speak for the ageless quality of the direction, while weaknesses are found in the hammy dialogue and a bit in the narrative's build-up, whose climax comes shortly after the halfway point, and the last twenty minutes go completely beyond the established atmosphere and agonizing mental duress. I will sleep relatively peacefully, but if I were in the shoes of one of the survivors, I would probably think twice about falling asleep without a gun under my pillow... 80% (04/18/2011)