engrossing drama four men canoing weekend remote river pacifist ed jon voight adventurous violent lewis burt reynolds obnoxious bobby ned beatty nice guy drew ronny cox first  minute greattheres incredible dueling banjos sequence interesting interplay among characters stunning widescreen cinematography vilmos zsigmond two hillbillies attack ed bobby one rapes bobbyand trip becomes nightmarebr br just unbelievable scenery incredibly beautiful yet horrific violence taking place truthful beattys rape never bothered meim aware faked despite good acting movie also shows characters changeed pacifism tested lewis becomes weak bobby violated one people mocked earlier drew tries keep sane direction john boorman also assured sounds forest river help mood immenselybr br the acting mostly good voight ok leadhes better beatty also okbut debut film guts taking risky role cox good especially things start falling apart reynolds superbone best acting jobs ever even nominated academy award escapes me also bill mckinney herbert coward way believable hillbilliesbr br a powerful filmnot children try see uncut versionthe tv version butchered also letterboxed viewing essential capture breathtaking images