Rating: 
Summary: A classic forever, Timeless
Review: I love this movie, As a Polish American and a movie lover.Robert Deniro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, John Savage, all give performances which stand the test of time. As far as a Vietnam movie, there weren't many films that talked about the Vietnam expeience at home,the scenes with the steel mills, to the wedding to the hunting trips show life carrying on as Vietnam erupts. The scene where Walken takes the bullet in the final scene defeinitley puts a chill down your spine. If I had to compile a list of the 100 greatest movies ever, this film would be on it. Two thumbs way up!!
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: A friend of mine asked me a while back whether I could recommend a good film to watch.Making an earlier note that Deer Hunter was on TV that evening, I made sure to stress that on no account he should miss that film.I was very surprised to find out that not only he has not seen it yet, but he knew little about it. So I volunteered to explain why I consider the Deer Hunter one of the most beautiful films ever made.
Firstly, it is not a war film a la Saving Private Ryan, Platoon or Thin Red Line, yet it is all about war. The effect of war on the human soul, though the film is set in Vietnam, it can really be any war,anywhere,at any point in time. Only the strongest will survive the cruelty,savagery and uncertainty of war,and the weaker ones will succumb to its evil grasp which will destroy them forever. This is the story of the Deer Hunter.It is also about friendship, the bond of which is continiously tested, yet survives the most 'testing' hardships.
Friends from a small steel town in Pennsylvania, live a normal peaceful life, they marry, hunt deers together, and basically get on with their lives, then Vietnam happens, and they are drafted, and their whole lives irreversibaly change forever. The before and after of war/Vietnam is what the Deer Hunter is all about.The scenes in the actual war are only a very small part of the whole story, the highlight of which is probably the most legendary scene in movie history, The Russian Roulette, a nerve racking and very violent scene that cleverly reflects the insanity of war.
There are so many other memorable scenes,(the wedding scene is the best wedding put on celluloid!) but there is one scene that affected me as much:
Coming back from a hunting trip on the eve of their departure to Vietnam, the six friends finish their day in an empty bar, still on a high, until John (George Dzundza)plays a beautiful ballad on the piano, and suddenly they become silent, and when the last note fades, they all look at each other without saying a word, realizing the fate that awaits them, a change so perfectly captured on camera!
This is all the work of a genuis of a director, Michael Cimino, whose self indulgence in his underrated masterpiece Heaven's Gate that bankrupted Universal Studios, and an unforgiving Hollywood, curtailed a true talent.But on The Deer Hunter he was the 'King of the World' and helped create an original cinematic masterpiece. All the actors give their best for him, Deniro, Walken, Savage, a still unknown Meryl Streep, and a dying John Cazale (With his untimely death, American cinema lost one of its treasures!).
So..my friend was convinced and he promised to watch it, most probably because he wanted to avoid listening again to my diatribe about the film!!
But he did and he called me the following day with only one word: WOW!
Not only that, but he went straight and bought the film on DVD.
The Deer Hunter is what the term 'my movie library' was made for!! If you have not bought it yet, you should immediately do so, and it is guaranteed you will be in awe, totally captivated by sheer genuis! WOW indeed!
Rating:
Summary: 5 star.....easily
Review: This movie is awesome. You can complain all you want about the drag openings of the first hour including that boring wedding scene, but it was all necessary to make this great movie what it is. The purpose of all that was to who what a normal life these guys had before this war totally [messed] up their lives. De Niro, my favorite actor, plays the leader of the pack of friends and does a great job of portraying his role. Chris Walken was outstanding in his transformation from a regular type guy into a walking zombie who lives off of russian roulette. I bought this movie on DVD before even watching and I definately wasn't dissapointed.
Rating:
Summary: This is the best movie in the world
Review: I cannot say how great the deer hunter is- it is an ineffably tragic and bittersweet account of the Vietnam War and its effect upon the men we sent over. Christopher Walken plays a wonderful Nicky, and portrays him with vulnerability and a certain frailty that makes the movie hypnotizing. The man is a genius. Robert De Niro isn't the same- he's not some rare and beautiful butterfly, but he has a warrior's spirit, and is a natural leader, and is a great actor. And the deer hunter's themes about fate and free will (in my opinion, at least) and the price of innocence are great, graphic and lucid. WATCH THIS MOVIE NOW! Please!
Rating: 
Summary: I was Forced to Watch it
Review: I was forced to watch Deer Hunter because of a paper I had to write in history recently. The first time I saw it, I had a hard time hearing it because of the audio (Production of audio must of been that good in 1978), and also because it was soooo s-l-o-w.
Still, it bugged me. It was one of those movies that didn't leave your head anytime soon.
I watched it a second time, this time to find quotes I could add in my paper. There weren't any really, because I was writing an anti-Vietnam paper. I enjoyed it ALOT more once I knew exactly what was going on, and I grew to enjoy the characters more. I cried the second time, wheras the first I was bored.
This movie is a great movie, and is definetly one of my all time favorite war movies for not being based on a true story.
Rating:
Summary: definitely not an anti war movie
Review: I don`t regard this film as anti-war at all. Its the charachters that are the key here not some overiding message. I don`t buy that for a second and the people who accuse the director of lacking in vision are being unnecessarily critical in my opinion. The Deer Hunter may appear slow paced at first and one might ask why the first half of the film wasn`t condensed into 30 minutes. This is done deliberately and once the film reaches its conclusion, it becomes clear that the director was more concerned with the charachters and how their personalities were altered by their harrowing experiences. It was necessary to prolong the first half of the film to enable the viewer to fully appreciate the emotional ties, that were about to be put on the line by the war, and to create a sense of realism that would only increase the level of tension in the second half of the film.
Rating: 
Summary: what a waste of time
Review: This is one of the dumbest movies I've ever seen. I can't believe I wasted three hours watching it. This is one of those idiotic movies that gives you no set-up whatsoever, so it just launches into the story without any kind of introduction to the characters, who they are, their relationship to each other, where the story takes place, etc. The only time the pace of the movie picks up a little bit is during some of the Vietnam scenes. Other than that, the movie moves at a snails pace. And it has one of the worst endings every. Completely pointless. What was the message of this movie? Russian Roulette is bad? I don't know. I hated this movie.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Film About War & Consequences!!
Review: I saw the movie the first time it came out and I was in awe of its power and purpose. I thought DeNiro, Streep and Walken's performances were the best in their career at the time. But, it was the late John Cazale that I thought was the best thing in the movie with his performance. This is without question, one of the best films about the Vietnam War.
Rating:
Summary: See It
Review: "The Deer Hunter" has everything going for it: an amazing cast, great story, and superb drecting and cinematogrophy. It's a very intense and moving exeperience, and should not be missed by anyone who likes a enjoys a cinematic masterpiece every now and then. First and foremost, the cast brings this movie to life. Since "The Deer Hunter" is a movie of such intense emotion, anything less then an astounding cast would not be able to do it justice. Although everyone shines, Robert DeNiro and Christopher Walken really stand out. DeNiro does a great job portraying Michael, the leader and backbone of his group of friends. This may be DeNiro's best work. And then there's the Oscar winner, Christopher Walken. Walken plays this part so well, he doesn't need lines, his facial expressions say it all. I found that his character Nick to be extremely interesting. Just watching Walken play Nick is enough to see "The Deer Hunter". And then there are those Vietnam scenes, where the American prisoners are forced to play Russian Roulette. Words can't do these scenes justice. They are quite possibly some of the best movie moments.
Many people complain that this movie is either too liberal, for portraying such "anti-war" feelings, or conservative, for extreme racism. Well, it happens to be neither liberal or conservative, but simply a truthfull story. Of course, some anti-war feelings may come from viewing this movie: it does not try to glorify war or tone it down, it tries to show the horrors our boys had to go through. One of these horrors (in some cases) are the Vietmanese who tortured many American soldiers. For all those that feel "The Deer Hunter" is racist, get over it: it happened. By not accurately portrying the Vietmanese, both the good and bad, would be to dishonor the Americans soldiers in the Vietnam war. The only real flaw may be that the movie is a little lengthy. The beginning tends to drag a bit, but its setting the tone for the rest of the film. See it. See it because its an experience that will stick with you, good or bad.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Powerful
Review: Knowing nothing of this film before viewing it, I was completely surprised at most of the occurances. This was a breakthrough film for both Christopher Walken (winner of the 1978 Best Supporting Actor Academy Award) and Meryl Streep. Robert De Niro, who had already been quite established before this film delivered a moving performance as well. I found significance in the lengthy wedding reception sequence, because it helps establish a sense of reality to the characters. This movie had some of the most powerful and heavy sequences that I have ever viewed. I recommend this to any older audience prepared to be heavy-hearted and rather disturbed. Although this movie was made in 1978, it's R rating is still very appropriate, due to strong graphic violence (including several intense scenes of Russian roulette), a substantial amount of strong language, and some brief non-sexual nudity. This was an unforgettable motion picture. Definitely make time to view it at least once.
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