**May Contain Spoilers**

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2012)

The Deer Hunter is a film about a group of friends in small town America whose lives are forever changed as a result of the Vietnam War. This movie explores the emotional and physical repercussions of war, without taking a political stance on war itself. There is also a reoccurring theme of inhumanity in this film. Robert De Niro (Michael), John Savage (Steven), and Christopher Walken (Nick) play the three friends who join the Army and leave for Vietnam.
This film appears to be almost equally divided into three parts. The first segment of the film is spent focusing on Steven's wedding and providing the viewer with insight into the normalcy and intimacy of their small town lives. The movie then moves into the war and we are first introduced to the brutality and insanity of Russian Roulette. Finally, we are brought back to America and begin to explore the impact the war has had on this group of friends. I felt the final scene between Michael and Nick was the epitome of emotional devastation. It was gut-wrenching to watch. The only other scene I can compare it to is the scene from Revenge when Miryea dies in Cochran's arms. Michael and Nick's characters represent the struggle between two sides of human nature. They each have very different responses to the war. Michael stands as a pillar of strength and courage. Nick, on the other hand, gives in to the brutality of the war. As we see Nick's character in the final scenes in Saigon, we see that he has completely lost himself. I also felt this film represented a strong sense of loyalty. We see this when Mike drops off the helicopter to stay with Steven and again when he returns to Saigon to bring Nick home.
I felt there were several techniques used to reinforce the sense of inhumanity during the war. First of all, the angles of the shots when they were held prisoner and forced to play Russian Roulette were very effective. It was hard to watch the close up scenes when they were preparing to pull the trigger. The torture and fear on their faces was evident and it had a strong emotional impact. Secondly, I felt the lighting was effective in contributing to the tone. During the hunting scene, it was bright and sunny and contributed to the pure naturalistic feeling of the scene. When they were held captive it was very dark and gloomy. The sense of inhumanity was clearly expressed.