Deliverance? That's some old movie, sir

By JO-MARIE BROWN

When Burt Reynolds asked to buy a copy of his film Deliverance in a New Zealand video store, the assistant said: "That's an old movie. We don't have that."

"Yes, it is," Reynolds replied calmly.

"Maybe it's in the nostalgia section" he suggested, and the woman asked him what it was about.

The veteran film and television star had intended to autograph a copy of the 1972 hit for a fellow cast member in Without a Paddle, now being filmed in the central North Island.

The comedy, which also stars Seth Green, of Austin Powers fame, and Matthew Lillard, Shaggy in Scooby Doo, has a familiar plot.

A group of young city-breed males head into the wilderness and come across a bunch of crazy mountain men.

But in Taupo yesterday, 67-year-old Reynolds insists his latest movie was not a spoof.

"As far as I'm concerned, it has nothing to do with Deliverance other than the fact that there's some young men on a river and they get into a situation where they're being hunted," he said.

Deliverance, says Reynolds in his smooth, deep voice, is the best film he's ever made.

"I wouldn't do anything that was a parody of it."

Comparisons with the sex-symbol's previous roles end there - his Without a Paddle character has lived in a cave for more than 30 years and refuses to leave the woods.

"It's only sexy in that this guy is a survivor. He's a mountain man. He's got grit."

Reynolds can recognise survivors - he's starred in movies, television series and Broadway productions for an impressive 42 years.

He attributes his long career to TV reruns and the fact that many of his characters get to have a lot of fun.

Nowadays, he says, he is attracted to scripts that don't have Sean Connery's fingerprints all over them.

Having seen Lord of the Rings, he was keen to film a movie in New Zealand to experience "the enormity of being able to look at a shot and not see a car off in the distance or a telephone pole ... It's just amazing".

Winning an Oscar is still one of his ambitions - and he says Peter Jackson was "totally robbed" in not having already won an Academy Award for best director.

The Hollywood star arrived in the country last Friday and will spend three weeks here shooting his scenes.

"I really want to meet some of the film-makers and actors here. Also, I'd like to travel around a bit and see the country. It's an incredible place."