Flawed but Powerful Masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (6 April 2007)

There is no doubting that is a great film, a monument to a tremendous amount of work and care, a showcase for some of the best actors in a generation, and stunning cinematography. And it was John Cazale's last film, a brilliant ending to a short but incredible career. It won many awards, fixed the director a place in history (and possibly enough power to never have to work in this capacity again), and has gone down in history as one of the greatest films of all time. But it is a flawed masterpiece, as much as those flaws don't ultimately matter when surrounded with such mastery, I couldn't help but notice them on my last viewing. The unconvincing and jarring mid-section surrounding the classic scene with Christopher Walken playing Russian roulette seemed stapled together, from when DeNiro returned to the States, only to return to Saigon and find Walkin's character with such ease and join him at the roulette table. Somehow this seemed forced... But, well there is not much else. The scenes in Vietnam are some of the most realistic and disturbing images ever burned to celluloid, however the Asians in the film come off stereotyped into typical enemy roles (Cimino was later criticized for stereotyping Chinese in his film 'the Year of the Dragon' - apparently he doesn't learn well!), but I suppose thats missing the point- the film is about brotherhood, war, peace, love, devotion, and patriotism. I preferred this to 'Apocalypse Now', another epic Vietnam film by a director who was in no way involved in Vietnam...