Great Movie On Vietnam War

Rating: 9/10 (13 October 2017)

The Deer Hunter is a Drama/War movie starring Robert De Niro as Michael. Robert plays the role of Michael well and portrays his character as a friendly, polite, creative man who likes to pull people's legs, and he is also a control freak. His goal is to always kill the deer on the first shot and takes this very seriously. The Deer Hunter takes place mostly in Pennsylvania and is about how the US-Vietnam war effects a small industrial town. This is one of the most interesting and unique war movies that I have watched. The way music is used in the production, the excellent work of the cast and the amazing authentic set designs make this film stand out from other war films. The film was a bit longer than I would have liked it to be and there are not many battle scenes.
The beginning of the movie has some very light and funny moments which quickly turn into a dark and scary atmosphere, and then into a sad and dramatic mood. The music suits the atmosphere throughout and does an excellent job at taking you through the different settings and allowing you to connect to the characters and story on an emotional level. The timing of the music or lack thereof is done on purpose to add dramatic effect and to give the viewer an idea of what is to come. In the light and funny moments, there are fun love songs playing and being sung and danced along with by the cast in a very entertaining way. The dark scenes are accompanied by scary and mysterious music at the beginning of the scene before any dialogue begins.
The actors that were chosen to play each part were authentic, intriguing, and excellent performers. Robert De Niro does an excellent job as the lead of this film, commanding every scene. From the beginning of the movie, this facial expressions and tone reveal much about his personality. In the locker room, we see De Niro character interacting with the other men in the room by shaking each person's hands and grinning profusely. Later on in the film, De Niro must portray the guilt that his character Michael is feeling after falling in love with his injured best friend's partner. Words need not be spoken to convey how Michael's character was feeling inside about the entire situation.
The Deer Hunter had beautiful and intriguing set designs. It is obvious that a big chunk of the budget as well as a lot of time, research, and creativity was put into each one. My favourite setting was the church that the wedding was at. It was stunning and it looked very authentic for the time and location that the movie takes place. The church was huge and white with many candles all around and on the pews. There was a choir performing at the front and the aisles full of attendees. There were Jesus and Mary paintings all around and glass stained windows. The big grand chandelier was lovely and romantic as were the many vases of white flowers. I would recommend that anyone who is a fan of Classic Drama War movies to give this film a watch. Although the film is over 3 hours long I feel that it is worth the time that it takes to watch it since there are so much depth and so many interesting scenes. For a war movie, you may expect there to be more battle scenes that are shown in The Deer Hunter, but this is because the movie focuses more on the effects that war has after the battle is over. If I did not already have free access to this film through my Netflix subscription it would be worth it to purchase it as I will definitely watch it again someday.
The Deer Hunter is a film that will take you on a roller coaster ride of emotion's as it takes you through the lives of young men and women living in a small town during the war. The boys go out hunting after the wedding is done and before they head out to the war knowing that their lives are about to change forever. This movie is great to watch because of the intense music, the incredible performance of the actors, and the beautiful settings. I would give this movie a 9/10 for the effort put into casting, writing, and creating the costumes/settings.