Lists
- ranked 15 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills
- ranked 45 in The Guardian Top 100 Films
- ranked 84 in BBC 100 Greatest American Films
- ranked 269 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (August 2005)
- ranked 282 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (March 2006)
- ranked 293 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (December 2006)
- one of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies Nominees
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills Nominees
- one of Guardian 1,000 films to see before you die
- one of The New York Times Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made
It's curious to watch Deliverance 40 years on, when its influence on the cinematic lexicon is primarily felt through hicksploitation horror. It is difficult to take its introductory sequence seriously after Cabin in the Woods, but those tropes are not leading to the same sensationalist violence.
The film's notorious scenes of backwoods crime aren't even about murderous hillbillies, not really; it's clear that James Dickey's screenplay, based on his novel, is trying to make some kind of Hobbesian point about civilization and savagery.
Most notable now is how sedate it is by modern standards -- refreshing to have no fast cuts and shakycams to highlight the violence of the river rapids -- and how well that naturalistic style works when the rape sequence is observed with the same cold, unflinching distance. What was previously taken to be calm silence now conceals hidden threats; the menace is palpable.