Rating: 
Summary: Heart Wrenching Tale of Friends Dealing with Vietnam War
Review: I saw this film in a film theory class that I was taking and was completely blown away by it. This tragi-realist movie rings truer than almost any Vietnam War movie that I've ever seen. It tells the story of 3 friends, Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage, who take one last deer hunt before entering Vietnam.Many people might complain that the film is too slow and if you consider the superficial MTV-culture that we live in that might be the case, but the deliberateness of the first third only heightens the poinancy of what happens to these friends in Vietnam. This isn't your typical "American is bad" Vietnam movie. It shows a realistic portrait of what the war was like and what the cost of it was in real human lives. Plus the films takes twists that you won't see coming. The performances are incredible and credible across the board. De Niro and Walken quickly make us lose sight of their star personas and view them as characters. This is a true "must see" and should serve as an antidote to big budget emotionless war movies like Pearl Harbor. Completely worth the search to find.
Rating:
Summary: One Shot
Review: We've seen alot of Veitnam war movies since Deer Hunter. Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Oliver Stone's trilogy & various others. All have great moments,especially Kubrick's version,but Cimino's "Deer Hunter" is the Grand Daddy,in my opinion. De Niro's incredible acting is only equalled by Walken,Streep,Cazale & Savage. It's Streep's first film appearance & Cazale's last~(They were a couple at the time, Cazale died of cancer before the film's release)~. I have never taken the Academy Awards seriously since they awarded Jon Voigt & Jane Fonda oscars for "Coming Home"~(another Vietnam film)~ instead of De Niro & Streep for "Deer Hunter". Walken walked away with best supporting actor,& deservedly so. It is an incredibly powerful movie. The DVD,although a little dark looking,is great to watch. To be able to access any scene...I still marvel. This is a film you HAVE to see if you have any kind of love for the movies.
Rating: 
Summary: Possibly one of the most boring movies I've ever seen.
Review: Wow. After hearing all the praise this movie has gotten and it's great cast, I figured this would definitely be a good watch. After just a half hour of the movie, I became so bored I really wanted to turn it off. I didn't however, and kept the movie running. During the next 2 1/2 hours I was baffled at what people saw in this snooze-fest. It's a horrible movie. Beyond horrible! This couldn't keep you interested no matter what happened. It just drags and drags and drags. A couple war scenes are slightly entertaining, but besides that it totally sucks. In closing, do not judge a book by it's cover. Just because De Niro is in this do not think it will be good. This is probably the most overrated and boring movie I've ever seen. Steer clear of this unless you like wasting your time.
Rating:
Summary: ignore the negative reviewer
Review: The one-star reviewer from New Jersey calls this a boring film,it is not boring.I get tired of these one-star reviewers,and I can tell you that the majority of them are young,hyper,and easily bored.The only movies that satisfy such individuals are movies crammed with exaggerated special effects but no substance.These reviewers need to stick with reviewing films more befitting their lack of patience and taste.People that are easily bored and unable or unwilling to sit through the entire film are not qualified to comment on the film.This film is well directed and well acted.Robert Deniro,John Savage,John Cazale,and Christopher Walken all turn in great performances.The foreign sequences are authentic looking although they were shot in Thailand.
Rating:
Summary: A stunning accomplishment in modern American cinema
Review: The Deer Hunter is a poignant, stunning achievement. It contains some of the most memorable performances in recent history. The story centers around a group of working class steelworkers and their girlfriends during the time of the Vietnam War. Three of the men leave for Vietnam, while their tightly knit group of friends stay home. The first act of the film chronicles the events leading up to the departure of De Niro (Michael), Nicky (Christopher Walken) and Steve (John Savage). There is a scene in the local bar where the pals gleefully sing Frankie Valli's Can't take my Eyes off you" in their excited anticipation of combat and their friend's wedding. The actual Vietnam scenes are brief, yet there is one harrowing, controversial scene where a group of Viet-Cong supporters use captive American and South Vietnamese soldiers as sacrificial lambs in a game of Russian Roulette. This scene exhibits perhaps the best acting of De Niro's career. He and Walken are at the bring of death. This scene is so intense, so calculated you actually feel you are sitting in the ramshackle hut on the Mekong Delta. The film also exhibits the beauty of Meryl Streep, who at the time of the film was a relatively new name in Hollywood. Her acting is subtle and brilliant. The supporting cast including the portly George Dzundza is perfect in this film. Unfortunately, Camino made the dreadful Heaven's Gate after The Deer Hunter, and the former's reputation damaged the acclaim of the latter. The Deer Hunter is a great movie, perhaps one of the best in recent history.
Rating:
Summary: Modern Shakespeare
Review: This is my all time favorite movie. I have actually convinced people that this was the best movie they had ever seen, after they had told me otherwise. I won't try that here. ;) On the surface this movie is about war. But the real subject of the movie is love. Isn't this a far more tragic love story than even Romeo and Juliet? The hope, the fine line between life and death, the despair, the self-sacrifice, all come to a maddening climax in a scene that will be etched in your mind for the rest of your life. Did I mention the acting?
Rating:
Summary: The Scars Of War
Review: The Deer Hunter was one of the first movies directly about the Vietnam War. The film focuses on five guys from nowheresville Pennsylvania with three of them heading off to Vietnam. Before they go, one of them gets married and the group goes on a deer hunting trip. They start off as the hunters, but in the end they become the hunted. The film shows that not only does war leave physical wounds, but mental ones that cut deeper. In one of the most disturbing scenes ever filmed, the three men are prisoners of war and are forced to play the deadly game of Russian Roulette. After they escape, they are split up. One of them becomes an amputee, another heads home seemingly unscathed and the third stays behind and plays Russian Roulette for high stakes. Michael Cimino guides us through the ravaging effects of war on not only the men who experience it, but the people who stay behind at home. Christopher Walken is superb as Nick the one who stays behind in Vietnam. He starts off a confident young man who then is slowly broken down by what has happened to him. He deservedly won the 1978 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this role. Robert De Niro is sublime and understated as Michael the defacto leader of the group. Meryl Streep, in her first big role, plays the girl Nick leaves behind with alternating strength and fragility. The film won the 1978 Best Picture Oscar and remains one of the most disturbing and tragic films in history.
Rating:
Summary: One Shot
Review: We've seen alot of Veitnam war movies since Deer Hunter. Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Oliver Stone's trilogy & various others. All have great moments,especially Kubrick's version,but Cimino's "Deer Hunter" is the Grand Daddy,in my opinion. De Niro's incredible acting is only equalled by Walken,Streep,Cazale & Savage. It's Streep's first film appearance & Cazale's last~(They were a couple at the time, Cazale died of cancer before the film's release)~. I have never taken the Academy Awards seriously since they awarded Jon Voigt & Jane Fonda oscars for "Coming Home"~(another Vietnam film)~ instead of De Niro & Streep for "Deer Hunter". Walken walked away with best supporting actor,& deservedly so. It is an incredibly powerful movie. The DVD,although a little dark looking,is great to watch. To be able to access any scene...I still marvel. This is a film you HAVE to see if you have any kind of love for the movies.
Rating:
Summary: A CONSERVATIVE HOLLYWOOD REFLECTION
Review: "The Deer Hunter" (1978) starred Robert DeNiro. The film breaks numerous rules in terms of length of time and attention to detail. It can truly be called art. Small town values of American patriotism, loyalty and religious faith hold a sad story of native sons ruined in the 'Nam. The Communists are shown for what they were, savage beasts with no redeeming value. The film is an enduring monument in film history and made huge coin, but its "failure" to hue to the liberal line, especially on the nasty subject of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, made enemies for its director, Michael Cimino. When Cimino made another bid for artistic greatness, falling short with "Heaven's Gate", Hollywood turned on him in a way they never would have if his failures were liberal failures. Directors like Woody Allen are allowed to make boner after boner because they all are peppered with potshots at conservatism, Republicans, McCarthy and Christianity. How charming he is.
Rating:
Summary: The movie that sparked the downfall of The Academy Awards
Review: This movie is very boring and downright silly. I have seen many movies based on the war in Vietnam and this was absolutely the worst one, not to mention the most stereotyoical potrayal of the Vietnamese people I've EVER seen. I wouldn't go so far as to call this movie racist, however, the portrayal of Vietnamase soldiers in this movie would seem to suggest that they were all savages, and I have read a lot about the Vietnam war and have never read about any "Russian Roulette." Also the first hour of this movie is so lifeless and almost completely unbearable, I almost turned it off and gave up on it. I felt, at the end of the movie, like a fool for not going with my original instinct, it really stinks that bad! The wedding just drags on and on, and DeNiro's running through the town naked was about as entertaining as watching one of George W. Bush's speeches. I would NEVER think to recommend this horrible movie to anyone! Anyone who ended up reading this review in search of a good movie based on the Vietnam war...LOOK ELSEWHERE. I will offer a couple of suggestions. "Platoon" "Apocalypse Now" "Born on the Fourth of July"
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