The Deer Hunter: ****

[Ebert]

No,it's not a hunting movie and yes it's a good one.

The Film in my mind is one of the best looks at the Vietnam War.The film,at most of the Film,is raw and shril and controversial - political and emotional.

The story follows three Russian Americans during their service during the Vietnam War and the infamous "Russian Roulette scene" that's become it's symbol.

The Film is long but extraordinary.The acting is exceptional most of the time when the "heat" is turned up.

They are soon captured in some of the most haunting scenes from the whole Movie as they are tortured and starved by their Captors.

The film is extremely powerful and the preferences between the Vietcong and a nice Buck.

(10/10)

TWO THUMBS UP

[bmain77]

Deer Hunter is truly a masterpiece. Even with the movie running nearly three hours long there is not one single wasted scene. Every performance in here is near perfect.
Christopher Walken was simply amazing. I honestly don't have one single complaint about the whole movie. (10/10)

[Brock Landers]

Here's what I thought, and a link to some other schmoes comments... including the head cheese, JoBlo's thoughts...

/ubb/Forum13/HTML/000139.html

"The Deer Hunter" A Brock Landers Overview of A Michael Cimino Film...(10/10)

There is no doubt in my mind that "The Deer Hunter" is one of the most powerful
films ever made. Powerful not because of its cynical look at war, friendship and life
in general, but powerful because of its outstanding performances. I mean, right off
the bat you have Bobby De Niro, Chris Walken, John Cazale, John Savage and
Meryl Streep, and that is one tough cast to beat...add the vietnam war, hunting, a
wedding and some psychological torture and you have the making of an epic
movie. And epic it was, winning five Academy Awards in 1978 while being
nominated for nine. "The Deer Hunter" picked up Best Picture, Best Supporting
Actor (Walken), Best Director (Cimino), Best Film Editing and Best Sound. It was
also nominated (and should have won) for Best Actor (De Niro), Best Actress
(Streep), Best Cinematography (Vilmos Zsigmond) and Best Screenplay...

Upon a recent viewing, the film has lost some of its strength, but if you watch it in
the context of the era it portrays, it becomes something altogether
greater...greater because of the overwhelming story and the intense passion with
which the actors take on their roles. The film is divided into four sections. The first
section starts in Pennsylvania where four steelworking buddies...De Niro
(Michael), Walken (Nick), Cazale (Stan) and Savage (Steven)...prepare for
Steven's wedding day. They hang out in the bar, getting drunk and bonding like
guys do. There is an overall symbolism in the four friends that Cimino wanted to
portray as being almost like one person, who as the film progresses divides into
four separate entities, some of them good, most of them bad. The second section
features the infamous Russian roulette scene which makes me think of De Niro
with a gun against his head, everybody shouting, pulling the trigger, then the great
escape. "The Deer Hunter" doesn't pull any punches with its honest portrayal of
what life was like for the military in Vietnam, not to mention those unlucky enough
to be prisoners of war (I would bet this film inspired some of the "Rambo" films'
sequences). In the end it is only Michael and Steven who make it back to the
States, both of them injured in one way or another. The third section is all about
the hardships that inevitably confront any man returning from war, especially one
like Vietnam. Steven and Michael are both assaulted by nightmares and pangs of
guilt about their friends who are gone, as well as the whole war. In an attempt to
heal himself, Michael (after hearing that Nick may still be alive in the 'Nam) makes
the trip back to the very place that changed him for the worse. The fourth section
is about Michael's search for Nick in Vietnam, their eventual meeting and the
conclusion that all is lost for these friends, save the very future they fought to
protect...

Like I mentioned earlier, "The Deer Hunter" would not be the film it is without the
powerhouse performances of its ensemble cast. De Niro, in a subtle yet extremely
effective performance, plays the loner of the group of four. His emotions are
always just below the surface, coarsing through his veins, making him ready to
explode at a moments notice. Walken, in one of the best performances of his
illustrious career, starts out as the youngest of the fellas, always over-doing things
to catch the attention of his friends. In the end, in the Vietnam "summit" between
the two powerhouses, Walken has become an empty shell of his former self, the
champion Russian roulette player in the whole of Asia. His sole purpose in "life",
to drive himself so far over the edge that the past will disappear, or lacking that, to
kill himself. Cazale, who died of bone cancer in 1978, gives a stark performance
as a man who we love to hate. Savage (whatever happened to this guy anyway?)
turns in the best performance of his career. This would sadly be his acting peak,
and I sure wish that he would make a comeback. (I've seen him in a couple
independent films recently, but so far nothing up to par). Streep plays a woman
searching for love again very well, as usual. Rutanya Alda, who plays Steven's
bride, gets tons of emotion and feeling across without even saying much. The
direction by Cimino also plays an important role in character development and
story direction. In all departments Cimino comes through with flying colors. So far,
"The Deer Hunter" has also been the peak of his career, making him just another
70's great who never moved on much...

Here's some questions I would love to hear your thoughts on concerning this film.
No big deal...just curious...

- Why are so many of the greatest films from the 70's?
- What the f**k did happen to John Savage?
- Best Performance of the film...Walken or De Niro?
- What did you think of the "Russian roulette scene"?

[This message has been edited by Brock Landers (edited 07-24-2001).]

[Dr. Movielove]

The Deer Hunter is on my top 10 of the 70's. As bmain said It's truly a masterpiece.
10/10

[Tuukka]

The last 40 minutes or so are great, but before that the films simply drags. NOTHING interesting happened during the first 90 minutes or so. Dull characters, dull dialogue and dull drama.

Thank God the films started to flow when they went to Vietnam and it actually had some CONFLICT and DRAMA to it, instead of just showing a bunch of boring rednecks drinking and singing for 90 minutes.

For the Vietnam scenes I give 9/10. For the USA scenes I give 4/10. Overall 6,5/10.

[wyodebbie]

"Deerhunter" is such an exquisite film it's hard for me to put into words how deep emotionally this film hits my heart. I cry every time I watch it, and not necessarily because of the death at the end, but because the film touches me so. The director, Michael Cimino, takes the time at the beginning of the film to develop full, rich characters, who are at play and happy (for the most part) with their lower-middle class existence. I think the prolonged wedding reception was a wonderful way to look into the main characters. And in a smart move the director made the war scenes short, but packed with such horror, to prolong that horror would of been overkill. Every area of the film was so perfect - acting, music, cinematography, and especially the screenplay that so brilliantly looked into the lives of a few young people of Russian descent in the late 1960's in a small steel town in Pennsylvania. Robert DeNiro in another great, great performance with fantastic support by Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep. Cimino created a masterpiece with "Deerhunter"!

[e_lateralus]

Unfortunatley I can say I only saw this movie recently. I say unfortunately entirely because it took me twenty years to see it. This truly was a great movie. Great in almost all aspects of movies, direction, acting, plot, etc.. Ill give it a 9.9/10. Only a 9.9 because, as a hunter I can honestly say that I know NOONE that hunts like they did in the movie ;) !

[movieguy1021]

Just look to the left.

The movie is enthralling from it's 70 minute opening (great change of pace to the Russian Roulette scene) to its "one shot" closing.