The Deer Hunter (1979)

A SENSITIVE AND DISTRESSING PIECE ABOUT VIETNAM

The Deer Hunter
A close-knit group of American mill - workers are suddenly thrust into war, a war about which none of them knew much about till they arrived. Their awakening is a rude one. The best of director Michael Cimino's much varied out-put was clearly a hard act to follow for all - concerned. At the time, the players, were relatively unknown - Rober de Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken ( as Nick, who's subjected to Russian roulette). The yearning theme music is brilliant. November 6, 2008

YOu can never go back home

The Deer Hunter home scenes was filmed were I have worked for the last 35years,Mingo Jct, Ohio.I even tried out for an extra in the movie.I remember coming out of work,and smelling fall,and it was the begining of summer.There were leaves everywere down town Mingo,and there's not a single tree on the block. I saw Meryl Streep walking out of one of the stores,and didn't even know who she was.This was one of her first big films.My older girl cousin,Stella,who is 6 foot tall walked into De Niro's trailer and asked for an autograph.He told her to "Get the hell out"but she wouldn't back down,and told her "if it wasn't for people like us,you'd be no one."I still enjoy this film,and still think John Savage was the greatest actor in his time.You can tell this movie had alot of Metod acting,and sometimes its over done,but "The Deer Hunter" is a classic.{A guy I work with in the Steel Mill,Denny Anderson,who served in Vietnam ,still loves to watch this film } November 3, 2008

Sad To Say, It's Lacking

This is one of those movies that SHOULD have worked so well, and comes so close. The best way for me to describe it is to actually compare it to another film with Robert De Niro: "The Mission." Although a very different film, it shares the same fatal flaw as "The Deer Hunter": we really never get a chance to get to KNOW these characters very well. So instead of feeling what they're feeling, we just sort of watch what happens to them. Both films feel very impersonal. But I think "The Mission" actually has more food for thought that this one.

But hey, I'm supposed to be reviewing "The Deer Hunter," right? This movie is incredibly well-acted and well-photographed, but the story doesn't compel. The opening wedding scene, for starters, is ridiculously long and ends up serving no dramatic purpose. And the different portions of the film (wedding scenes, hunting scenes, war scenes, coming home scenes) don't gel so well. And the pace for the entire film is out-of-wack; rather than gripping, it's for the most part uninvolving.

So, what's good about the movie? Several things, actually. Like I said, the performances by all involved are absolutely superb, even if their characters are all left underdeveloped. The Vietnam scenes are stunning and disturbing (I actually had a conversation with a Vietnam vet once who said that this is the one Vietnam War films that he could never watch), and you will never be able to erase the images of the Russian Roulette from your mind. Harrowing stuff, regardless of its apparent historical inaccuracy.

It's not a bad movie by any stretch. It's just not that great. Worth seeing at least once, though. October 2, 2008

One of my wife favorites

My wife top five movies.I was not very crazy about it.Once again it tried to make fools out of us and what we did in the Vietnam war. September 6, 2008

Good But Too Long!

I just couldn't get into this because of the length. As noted dozens of times, the wedding scene was just ridiculously long. My other problem was that the movie didn't flow... it just jumped from scene to scene leaving the viewer wondering what just happened. I'm glad I finally saw this, but what a waste of time. August 23, 2008

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