Evenflow, which other Boorman films do you recommend? Deliverance is the only one I've seen.

^Point Blank. and Zardoz.

A few of his I liked:

Point Blank (1967): Was controversial in its day. A fantastic performance from Lee Marvin. Was later loosely re-made as the Mel Gibson starring Payback.

Hope And Glory (1987): An autobiographical look back at his childhood during the Blitz in World War II. More lighthearted than Steven Spielberg's Empire Of The Sun which covered similar subject matter.

Excalibur (1981): A lot of critics ripped on this one. But I liked it.

The General (1998): One of his more underrated ones.

Not too sure how I feel about The Tailor Of Panama. WIll have to watch that one again at some point.

The Exorcist II falls firmly in the to avoid category.

Now back to Evenflow.

I thought Beoynd Rangoon and The Emerald Forest were overlooked myself.

Excalibur is uneven, but extremely visceral. It has a brute strength which makes the viewing compelling even though some of it is borderline incoherent. It's worth watch if you have a taste for medieval flicks, but it falls well below the standards of Boorman's best work.

Point Blank is fine genre film, which at times escapes genre restraints and moves you. The characters aren't necessarily noble, but Boorman's unique sensibilities make the film morally ambiguous and often very thrilling. It's a recognized classic, and deservedly so.

Hope and Glory would be the one film that might challenge Deliverance for the title of this best film (I feel it falls a few notches short), as it is stunningly well-made and executed. Whether or not you enjoy the central conceit of a boy living a life of luxury during wartime (which, nevertheless, feels like an honest evocation of what World War II mist have felt like to Boorman in his childhood), it is a very compelling, albeit quite nostalgic, work of a director who feels a keen, even intuitive, connection with his material.

The rest of his films vary from 'good' to 'who cares?', except for The General, which is consistently quite good but never great.

I can't help but agree with that. However, I don't equate greatness with perfection, but more like significant levels higher than average. Nothing in this world is perfect. Even if you answer all questions on a test correctly you still are unlikely to know all there is to know about the subject. In that regard, greatness is not completely elusive. Some directors, authors, musicians, chefs, carpenters, ... etc. consistently perform at a much higher level than others and clearly have a grasp of some quality that allows them to approach the pinnacle with much greater frequency than most. Still, there's no pleasing everyone. I hardly enjoy anything by Kubrick, but the body of opinion suggests that many of his works are indeed great whether or not I am capable of appreciating them.