--- title: "Deliverance: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/deliverance/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/deliverance" critics_score: 78 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Deliverance (1972): what the critics said Critics' score 78 from 12 reviews: 10 positive, 2 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics rate Deliverance highly, and the praise settles on the same places: John Boorman’s direction, Vilmos Zsigmond’s photography of the river and its banks, and the rafting sequences themselves. The performances are praised almost everywhere. Most also read the film as an allegory, whether of masculinity under threat, of a wilderness already ruined by the civilisation that comes to visit it, or of the American middle-class male after Vietnam. The reservations gather around the script and the violence. Variety and Roger Ebert, both writing on the original release, argue the film exploits its brutality rather than examining it, and that its philosophising amounts to little. The New Yorker finds the story a simple collection of myths about manhood, a good yarn as long as nobody gets metaphysical about it. The spread is wide, from full marks to the middle, and it is largely the later reviews that are warmest. ## Radio Times — Andrew Collins Rating 5/5. Beyond its shocking scenes, the film is a suspenseful thriller charting civilisation's erosion by nature and a metaphor for masculinity under threat. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-871th2/deliverance/) ## Empire — Mark Dinning Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The film is a boy's own adventure gone bad and a nightmarish vision of a land destroyed by civilisation. It resonates with chilling power thanks to its themes, performances and John Boorman's superb direction. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/deliverance-review/) ## Slant Magazine — Jeremiah Kipp Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 27 August 2007. Deliverance is a haunting masterpiece that taps into primal fears of the wilderness and violation, transforming its city-slicker protagonists through raw instinct and moral reckoning amid the river's dangers. The review singles out the masterful wide shots capturing the alien landscape, the charged close-ups, and the film's exploration of uncivilized impulses beneath civilized facades. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/deliverance-dvd/) ## The AV Club — Keith Phipps Rating A-. 17 October 2007. The film is about finding where ideas give way to instinct, as four Atlanta men confront a primal wilderness that exposes their vulnerabilities and forces adaptation or devolution. Boorman and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond observe the men's struggle against nature and hostile locals with patient, visceral detail, underscored by iconic sequences like the banjo duet. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/deliverance-1798203199) ## The New York Times — Stephen Farber Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 20 August 1972. Farber calls it the most stunning piece of moviemaking of the year, praising Boorman's kinesthetic power, visual subtlety, and the film's uncompromising adventure quality along with strong performances, while noting some schematic plotting. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1972/08/20/archives/deliverance-how-it-delivers-how-it-delivers.html) ## Time Out — TM Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The film moves from boys' own adventure with graphic violence to a haunting vision of a land already killed by civilisation, peopled by alien creatures. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/deliverance) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 28 September 1972. The critic praises the film as a cracking good story with strong narrative drive that also functions as a finely structured allegory about America. They single out the river-rafting sequences and psychological thriller elements for praise while noting some screenplay weaknesses in deepening the parable. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/sep/28/deliverance-reviewed-finely-structured-allegory-about-america-1972) ## The New Yorker — Penelope Gilliatt Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 29 July 1972. Gilliatt describes it as strongly made with exquisite photography but finds the story a simple, banal ragbag of maleness myths and long-winded dialogue, calling it a fine yarn if not taken too metaphysically. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1972/08/05/tax-deductible-jesus) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 9 October 1972. Ebert finds the film effective as simple adventure with strong performances and unfaked rapids footage, but criticizes it for failing to make any significant statement about its action and for exploiting violence in a fantasy rather than realistic way. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/deliverance-1972) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1971. The review sees it as a stark survival showdown but argues it exploits rather than explores violent drama through nihilistic philosophizing; it criticizes the script, direction, and some performances while noting the premise's potential. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1971/film/reviews/deliverance-1200422814/) ## Eye for Film — Keith Hennessey Brown Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 9 January 2007. The critic calls the film brilliant as entertainment and as a critique of the white middle-class American male in the wake of Vietnam. It is singled out as the most shocking and disturbing mainstream American horror film of the 1970s for its refusal to provide easy answers to the moral questions it raises. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/deliverance-film-review-by-keith-hennessey-brown) ## Collider — Andre Dellamorte Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 26 July 2012. The critic describes Deliverance as a seminal 1970s film and a masterpiece of the tensions of masculinity, with its influence most evident on the horror genre. It praises the raw experience of the story and period authenticity but notes it is not a transcendent piece of art. [Read the review](https://collider.com/deliverance-blu-ray-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/deliverance.md