Movie 🎥 Review: “The Deer Hunter”

Critics gave it a 93% the users an 92%.

Rated: R with a 3 hrs and 03 min run time and an IMDb of 8.1/10.

Cast: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, John Cazale, Meryl Streep, and George Dzundza just to name a few.

In 1968, Michael (Robert De Niro), Nick (Christopher Walken) and Steven (John Savage), lifelong friends from a working-class Pennsylvania steel town, prepare to ship out overseas following Steven's elaborate wedding and one final group hunting trip. In Vietnam, their dreams of military honor are quickly shattered by the inhumanities of war.

The Deer Hunter is a 1978 American epic war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of steelworkers whose lives were changed forever after fighting in the Vietnam War. The story takes place in Clairton, Pennsylvania, a working-class town on the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh, and in Vietnam.

The film was based in part on an unproduced screenplay called The Man Who Came to Play by Louis A. Garfinkle and Quinn K. Redeker, about Las Vegas and Russian roulette. Producer Michael Deeley, who bought the script, hired writer/director Michael Cimino who, with Deric Washburn, rewrote the script, taking the Russian roulette element and placing it in the Vietnam War. The scenes depicting Russian roulette were highly controversial after the film's release. EMI Films, who produced the film, released the film internationally while Universal Pictures handled its distribution in North America.

The film received acclaim from critics and audiences, with praise for Cimino's direction, the performances of its cast (particularly from De Niro, Walken, and Streep), and its screenplay, realistic themes and tones, and cinematography. It was also successful at the box office, grossing $49 million. At the 51st Academy Awards, it was nominated for nine Academy Awards, and won five: Best Picture, Best Director for Cimino, Best Supporting Actor for Walken, Best Sound, and Best Film Editing. The film marked Meryl Streep's first Academy Award nomination (for Best Supporting Actress).

It has been featured on lists of the best films ever made, such as being named the 53rd-greatest American film of all time by the American Film Institute in 2007 in their 10th Anniversary Edition of the AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list. It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1996, as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

So with this being a 42 year old film I’m taking the opportunity to do this review and posting for the many who may not be aware of this film. I’m sure that a lot of you out there have seen this film in the past. For those of you that haven’t I truly believe you should take the time to watch and see a real American Classic first hand….given this film was made in 1978 there is no CGI/special effects, just straight forward cinematography & sound.

The film is no doubt an epic war drama film about a trio of steelworkers whose lives are changed forever after they fight in the Vietnam War. The story takes place in a little working class town south of Pittsburgh, and in Vietnam. The film's initial reviews were mostly positive and hailed as the best American epic since The Godfather. Even Roger Ebert gave the film four stars and called it "one of the most emotionally shattering films ever made."

This film is one of my all time favorites and I make the effort to watch it every 5-10 years and it still holds up 42 years later. I’m a firm believer in the the older American Classics for the simple reason that they never disappoint. Cimino's great directing and the cast's awesome acting provide for a touching and honest drama about the friendship of a group of young men, that is destroyed by the Vietnam war.