The Deer Hunter

Rating:
Summary: Excellent anti-war film, timeless...
Review: This is an excellent film directed by Michael Cimino, his first film. This film expresses close friendship, love, and the loss of innocence due to the horrors of the Vietnam conflict. This movie does not focus too much on the battle sequences that other anti-war films use, there are brief sequences of combat, but this film focuses upon the effect of the war at home. Christopher Walken received an academy award for his supporting role in this film, and it is well deserved, also Robert DeNiro shows skill in the art as well. The theme of 'one-shot' is constantly apparent, and the effects of the war, especially at the end of the film when the crew (minus one) is singing "God Bless America" in a mourning tone. Excellent film, but be sure to buy the non-"bootleg" version.

Rating:
Summary: BEST WAR FILM.... EVER!!!
Review: The Deer Hunter is a film of extreme prestige, it is in no way overrated as so many seem to think. It is a beautiful masterpiece show the values of friendship through turbulent times. It is long but I think that does't matter it still grips from start to finish in so many ways. Basically it is about a normal group of friends Mike (Robert DeNiro), Nick (Christopher Walken), and Steven (John Savage), they are displayed as a bunch of fun-loving, soulful guys who like to live life to its fullest, they are shown as ordinary through maybe long-winded but significant scenes such as the marriage between Steven and Angela, there are scenes of close social bonding, such as the deer hunting bits and then we are thrust into mayhem. The film grabs even closer to our throats and drags us in, we are given an in depth look at the pains of being POW and the horrors of the dreaded Russian Roulette in which they were forced to play, then after that 20 minute extravaganza we are taken back to Pennsylvania, the gang broken up, Steven in a disabled persons hospital, Mike at home and Nick in Vietnam collecting on the Russian Roulette rewards. The climax is phenomenal, and the final demise of Nick is spectacular, Walken deservedly won the oscar for supporting oscar his searing performance was without a doubt, outstanding.
So to you critics who say The Deer Hunter, is overrated and too long to thrill, and contains too insignificant a part such as the marriage, well I think you'd better revise your statement and realise that this film is meant to be what it is and in terms of acting and the silky smooth directing of Mr Cimino then I think you can probably agree that it is not only the best war film ever but definitely the best film of 1978, check with the Academy if you don't believe me...

Rating:
Summary: Ridiculously Overrated and Depressing
Review: When I finally decided to catch this supposed classic war flick I was severely let down. There goes three hours of my life I'll never get back.

The first hour consists largely of a tedious, never-ending wedding scene. The last hour involves scene after scene of people blowing their brains out in Russian roulette gambling games in Vietnam.

Sandwiched inbetween is the the grueling Vietnam torture sequence of POW's De Niro, Savage and Walkan. These scenes are well done and utterly unforgettable -- so much so that I never want to see them again.

The overall impact is completely depressing. I have no idea how such a joyless, nihilistic work heralded so much praise. Director Michael Cimino's talents were so overrated at the time that he was unwisely given a blank check for his godawful "Heaven's Gate." It's no surprise that all his other films are bombs.

Only see this film if you want to be bored and see scene after scene of people blowing their brains out. See "Apocalypse Now" if you REALLY want to catch a great 70's Vietnam War flick.

Rating:
Summary: A BRILLIANT STUDY OF FRIENDSHIP AND HARDSHIP!
Review: What is there to say about The Deer Hunter? I think for starters I can start by saying WOW! This movie deeply touched me! And being 21 years old I did not think it would. I have read numerous negative comments regarding The Deer Hunter, most of them being: 1.) The film is too slow. 2.) The russian roulette scene were not accurate and never happened in vietnam. 3.) There are not enough war scenes etc. I will try my best to justify the inaccuracy of the negative comments that I just listed. First off, if you can't handle sitting through a slow moving movie then this is probably not your cup of tea. The movie is slow for a reason and that reason is called "character development". Michael Cimino wanted you to really beleive that these characters existed before dramatically turning the film in a 180 direction. And what is slow to one person may not be slow to another. The russian roulette scenes were used to show the horrors of war metaphorically. Maybe it happened, maybe it didn't, but Michael Cimino intended on it being used as a metaphor. Basically this film is not about war but about friendship, and what can happen to friendship under the hardships of war. If you're expecting Platoon, then forget about it. This film is nothing like Platoon or any other war movie I have ever seen. That's because it's not a war movie. This is a great film! But the DVD on the otherhand is not so great. I will admit that. The picture quality and sound are pretty horrible. But the movie makes up for it. I have owned both DVD versions of this movie and they are both pretty bad. I guess that i'm going to be stuck waiting for an updated edition to come out which is inevitable. Thank you for reading and I hope that I shined a little bit of light on this beautiful film.

Rating:
Summary: A Definite Classic
Review: I watched this movie when I was 6 years old. I didn't know much about the world then & I didn't understand why people were pointing a pistol towards their temples. There were patches of memorable scenes that I could remember but couldn't put them together in a cohesive manner. Now that DVD gives us the restored version and even better, wide screen, it's only logical to jog down the memory lane. Isn't it amazing that what happened during Vietnam War is still relevant to these days as American is fighting a futile war in Iraq? This movie examines the consequences of wars and how that affected the victims directly & indirectly. Whilst some veterans of war returned home, their spirits were actually long gone. Perhaps, Deer Hunter is a tad long winded these days (editing might help) but perhaps, it's necessary for the development of the characters. This movie showed us the blue collar background of the characters (most possibly, Republican supporters) and how they perceived representing their country in war was an honourable thing to do. However, when they saw war with their own eyes, they realised that there's no glory & honour in it. Rather, it's all a matter of own survival & livelihood. Just like Christopher Walken's character, he survived playing the Russian roulette with the pistol in the beginning but towards the end, he started to question why he survived whilst the others perished. He was no longer afraid tempting fate & with that, his sanity was gone forever. From that, we caught a glimpse of downright honour, loyalty, and friendship where Michael (played brilliantly by the very young Robert de Niro) once again went to the valleys of death trying to salvage little of what's left of NIck. As war itself, the end result is futile. The movie ended appropriately with all mates sat together sang God Bless America, toasting to their lost comrade as their eyes stared blankly at the innocence lost and what would have been should Nick didn't go to war but continuing on with their weekend romp in the forest hunting for deer. Gripping, heart-wrenching anti war movie. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: The Deer Hunter (1978)
Review: A Vietnam movie that isn't about Vietnam. Confusing? Yes, if you don't see the big picture. (no pun) The Director of the film, Michael Cimino, self-stated that he did not want this movie to be about Vietnam and I believe he succeeded. The film, rather, tells the trials and tribulations of friendship and how certain life events can bring friends closer and also tear them apart. With brilliant acting, directing, screenplay and an all-star cast I put The Deer Hunter as one of the greatest films of all time. A must see.