Rating: 
Summary: You want to see this movie
Review: This is a great movie and most certainly deserved the oscar for best picture in 1978. Not to mention it is Michael Cimino's second and he makes it his best directorial entry. A group of Pennsylvania Deer Hunters who are also industrial workers in a factory enlist and go fight in the Vietnam conflict. If you are a fan of great cinematography you will love this picture because it offers the gallery of beautiful countryside landscapes and and excellent score to go along with them. Robert De Niro is great(in his favorite role as an actor) That was a qoute made by himself in his biography The Untouchable. The Vietnam scenes are remotley disturbing when they introduce the "Russian Roliet" to the soldiers. It is also an opprotunity to see Christopher Walken in his oscar winning performance. Please at least rent this or even better! next time it is on AMC take a look at it. You won't regret it or feel cheated
Directed by Michael Cimino
Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, and John Savage.
Rating:
Summary: Robert de Niro is amazing, as always.
Review: Casino is truly a masterpiece with a wonderful theme and a great cast.
Full of suspense and action with a very human side to it. Robert de Niro is outstanding, and demonstrates, again, that he is one of the best actors of all time. Martin Scorsese alsop shines with this wonderful direction. A must see and must HAVE.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie...Bad Film Transfer
Review: I really , really like this movie. The movie itself gets 5 stars, but I have to say this DVD version, is extremely inferior. The picture quality is used VHS caliber, and the sound is as shabby. A film of this magnitude, one which won a
couple of Academy Awards and was nominated for a few more. (It
won for Best Picture) should have been done a lot better. I would hold out for a remastered version and express those feelings to the studio.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great film
Review: This movie is worth the viewing, actually worth several viewings. Although I cant say I totally relate, as a veteran of our most recent war, I can empathize with many of the emotions DeNiros character feels upon his homecoming (although I wont even pretend that I experienced anything even remotely close to what he did). Although not a big Meryl Streep fan, her performance was outstanding to such a level, that it didnt really seem like acting. It seemed like life, recorded, which is what makes a movie believable. Walkins performance was also very good, although I must admit, I wish his character could have had a happier ending, but that was part of the point. This movie has an important distinction from most war movies. Usually a few side characters die, but in the end the hero meets up with his love and everything is happy. There is SOME of that in the filme, but it also shows what life is like after the war for those who were left behind, and those who made it through, but just barely. All in all just an outstanding, very believable movie. My only criticism would probably be the wedding scene but that is mostly due to my short attention span, it seemed very long. But I know many reviewers would argue that that was where we gain insight into the community and its people etc etc. All in all, highly recommended. If you are not into older films, you may want to rent it first before purchasing, cause chances are you will either really like it, or not like it at all.
Rating:
Summary: "THIS IS THIS"!
Review: I'm not going to go off on a long diatribe on the metits of this film, or get into any philosophical debate of it or war. I just have to wonder if you HAD TO BE BORN IN THE 50's to REALIZE
WHAT THIS FILM IS ALL ABOUT? The people that even mention it's length negitively or try & pull it apart emotionally or have any problem with this film at ALL have MATCHSTICK SIZED BRAINs & THE EMOTIONS OF A COCKROACH. Come on folks, this is one of the greatest films ever directed/acted/produced/edited/filmed, whatever. Don't even give me the "Russian Roulette" crapola, every GREAT movie has a 'trigger' and if you are not emotionally effected by
the performancs of DeNiro/Walken/Savage/Cazale/Strep/DeZunda then you must be absolutely brain dead & have the attention span of a flea! Don't you get it? "THIS IS THIS"!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best films ever made
Review: When I first started the movie I was expecting lots of combat and time in Viet Nam. The movie was almost 1/3 into it and they still had not gone to war but I was so compelled. I was compelled by the characters and the friendship. When they finally get to Nam there was not really much combat in the movie. It all centered around a game of Russian Roulette in a remote part of the jungle. One of my favorite scenes is when De Niro ends the game. The movie then continues to compel me to watch. I was surprised and sad by the end of the movie. Probably one of the most intense scenes ever in film. Highly recommend to those who want to see a very well made movie that focuses on the characters and not for those who just want a lot of combat.
Rating:
Summary: THIS ONE STRUCK A NERVE - PURE DISGUST!
Review: "The Deer Hunter" is one of those films that, once seen, lingers in the recesses of your mind. It's a powerful, painful reminder of the Vietnam fiasco that doomed American POW's to a haunted hell of torture and torment, with ultimately, no vindication for their suffrage. This is truly an American classic and one which deserves far better than what it current has been given on DVD.
TRANSFER: PURE JUNK! Not even anamorphic, the 2:35:1 picture is marred by digital artifacts, edge enhancement, pixelization, aliasing and a terribly rendered color scale. Colors bleed and are muddy. Fine grain is way too excessive. Shadow and contrast levels both need to be bumped up a notch. There's really nothing to recommend this visual presentation. The audio is remastered but very strained in both its bass and high end levels.
EXTRAS: NONE!
BOTTOM LINE: Don't waste your money!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Vietnam Film?
Review: The Deer Hunter ("TDH") Basic Plot: 3 'best friends' steel workers go to Vietnam and come back in various states (dead, alive, maimed, etc.). This is a war movie, yet with only a small portion of combat action. This is much more of a "get inside your head" film about the effects of war. It is brutal and unforgettable. If you like the intensity of 'The Killing Fields', this film is much the same. One particular scene, the infamous Russian Roulette scene in the river hut, is arguably the most intense scene ever filmed. It is very difficult to watch, and helps explain why some people who go to war literally are never, ever the same. Having lived in Pittsburgh during the era when this film 'took place', and knowing people not unlike the steelworkers in the film, the first thing viewers need to know is that Pittsburgh scenes are accurate (although not all filmed in Pittsburgh). What first comes across as a way-too-drawn-out and overly-stylized opening scenes of the wedding and hunting, is actually quite like the robust and rough lifestyle of these All American workers, and serves well to contrast with the chaos of 'Nam. For younger people who do not quite relate to the Vietnam era, this is film is a must-see. Other goods 'Nam films are 'Coming Home' (for relationships), and 'Hamburger Hill' (for combat action). 'Platoon' is probably the most 'balanced' on the Vietnam films, although the mental and artistic side of TDH, I feel, is better. The photography and music of TDH is superb, as is the casting and the on-location filming. The one odd bit of 'license' in TDH is the hunting scenes. There is no place anywhere near Pennsylvania that has mountains like those shown in this movie (these scenes were film north of Seattle, where there are glaciers), but TDH 'mentality' is very much a 'religion' in this part of America (as well as some other areas, such as Michigan). This film is better on DVD than VHS as it has panoramic scenery, and the higher fidelity of the DVD makes the soundtrack more realistic. This is no lightweight movie, and like Titanic, leaves you numb for a while after watching it. I would rate this film as easily in the Top 10 war movies ever made, right up there with 'Patton', 'Paths of Glory' and 'Private Ryan. A final tidbit, Streep has a supporting role and does a superb job. Her lover at the time was John Cazale (Michael Corleone's 'dumb' brother, 'Fredo', in 'The Godfather') who plays one of the threesome's friends who does not go to war. Casselles died shortly after TDH was made, and TDH was among Streep's earlier roles that really got her career rolling ('Kramer vs. Kramer' and 'Out of Africa' were in the same time frame).
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Emotional War Movie About Friendship
Review: The first time I watched this extraordinary film, I didn't like it as much as I would later on. At first it seemed a little sloppy and slow, with some very intense and memorable sequences. This is definitely a film that grows on you, and come to love after a few viewings. Robert DeNiro stars as Michael, an ambitious guy who loves to shoot pool with his buddies and go hunting. Their world suddenly changes when Michael and his two friends Nick (Christopher Walken) and Steven (John Savage) go off to war in Vietnam. This film shows the brutal intensity and reality of war and what the main characters are forced to go through. When they finally get back, their social and home lives have changed...mostly for the worse. We then see how each character copes with the effects of war, and loss of friendship. One thing I've learned about some great masterpieces, is that they always seem to have a song before a huge event occurs. For example, in Pulp Fiction "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon," before Mia overdoses. In "The Deer Hunter," there is a scene early on in the film where all friends sing and dance to "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" with Christopher Walken leading. This scene sticks out in my mind as brilliant. While watching this scene, you become absorbed in the film and become close friends with the characters. It's really powerful, and a last good time before going off to war. You may start watching this film and find the picture to be too grainy, or the plot too boring, but trust me...stick with it. It will most definitely be a film that will stay in your heart for some time.
Rating:
Summary: Underlying theme of film not undermined by script flaws
Review: The Deer Hunter was a very important film in that it, if nothing else, served as one of the first studies of the effects of the Vietnam war on the average American citizen. While film and television had dealt with the Vietnam conflict to some degree previous to this (John Wayne's The Green Berets [1968] and Rod Serling's Twilight Zone episode entitled "In Praise of Pip" [1964] come to mind), serious efforts in depicting the war realistically, as well as the war's effects on its participants, had simply been avoided, presumably for political and social reasons. With the release of "The Deer Hunter" (as well as with "Coming Home") in 1978, the topic of Vietnam was presented to the public in the form of gritty, realistic productions from major studios. These 2 films certainly must have had an impact on an audience which may not have had a personal, non-distilled understanding of the Vietnam war prior to their release. In fact, graphic scenes such as the Russian Roulette sequence of the Deer Hunter may have (erroneously) informed many on what the everyday GI in Vietnam had to endure at the hands of the VietCong. In this respect, I can understand the distain that reviewers such as Yisrael Harris ("Fantasy Masquerading as Reality") have for this film. As one of the first dramatic studies of Vietnam ever committed to celluloid, it could be said that the narrative of The Deer Hunter had a responsibility to portray events according to historical truths. This would insure that the structure of the film would faithfully inform a public that may have been getting their first glimpse of war-time atrocities. That being said, I think it is wrong to condemn the film based upon the fact that the historical accuracy of a key sequence is unfounded in the record books. Certainly, the atrocities committed by both sides of the Vietnam conflict were unimaginably cruel (ex: My Lai). When one considers this, is it that far-fetched to ask the viewer to believe that a gang of Vietcong could ruthlessly force US POWs to engage in Russian Roulette for their sick enjoyment and financial gain? I think it is a perfectly legitimate concept and, in the midst of so much war and bloodshed, what makes it inappropriate, other than the fact that it is undocumented? (In a far more legitimate criticism, one could make the argument that the Vietnamese soldiers are unfairly depicted as one-dimensional, innately cruel, soulless dregs). Nothing portrayed in that sequence would be considered 'unfathomable' in the pantheon of war. In Harris's review, he states that "I took it for granted, without even a second thought, that these [Russian Roulette] scenes portrayed a phenomenon that was a legitimate part of the Vietnam War experience". At no point does the film suggest that this type of activity was a widespread phenomenon within Vietnam. The film treats this as an isolated incident within one remote POW camp. To take for granted that this type of behavior was widespread is simply inappropriate and is not a product of a suggestive script, but rather an uninformed viewer. It is true that the Russian Roulette scene has more than a passing influence on the rest of the film, what with Christopher Walken's character becoming a willing pawn in an underground roulette gambling ring under a drug-influenced stupor. But this is an organized arrangement entered into by two willing parties, not an act of torture, as the previous scene is. Harris goes on in his review to ask "So what is the message of this movie?" and wonders how "to treat seriously a movie which takes such pains to build up a realistic group of characters... when a central pillar of the experience of the movie is total fantasy-land". Again, I hardly think that Russian Roulette is an unfathomable event within the scope of one of the bloodiest conflicts in US history, and the analogy of suggesting the similarity of a Russian Roulette sequence to a UFO invasion is utterly ridiculous. As they say, all is fair in love and war, and the idea that man's inhumanity to man could not include a cruel game of Russian Roulette is simply naive. The fact that there are no recorded incidents of this happening is irrelevant. This is after all, a fictitious account of ordinary people devastated by war, and in that regard it works on many levels. Besides, if the ultimate goal of the picture is to show the destructive power of war, both physically or emotionally, what difference does it make which vehicle is used to illustrate the destruction?
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