This movie made no sense.

Rating: 1/10 (5 July 2004)

Heavy handed and manipulative.
You can make a statement about the horrors of war without inventing new atrocities about Viet Nam. This film insults the Vietnamese by suggesting some cultural fascination with Russian Roulette. There are no documented cases of U.S. Servicemen being forced to play this brutal game. Were the Viets really that depraved ?
The "combat" scenes were ridiculous. One minute the guys are jumping off a helicopter loaded for bear and the next scene they're in some ramshackle, riverside, POW hut. And the "rat pit" they threw Stevie in for not playing the game was a joke. It was in the middle of the river ! How were the rats able to congregate there ? And if that was the punishment for not playing the game, it sure appeared a better alternative. Do you really think the helicopter would have taken off before Stevie and Mike were secure ? With no food, water, or boots, Mike was supposed to have humped crippled Stevie through the Jungle to "civilization", only to dump him on the hood of a jeep and walk away ?
And really, what did Mike, Stevie and Nick have to come back to after the war anyway ? A stinky, polluted, industrial neighborhood destined to become another notch on the rust belt when the 70's economy tanked. (Billy Joel's Allentown). Since when is being a drunken steel worker a vision of paradise ? With or without Viet Nam, they were nonetheless doomed.
You want to learn about Viet Nam ? Then don't trust the brain candy from Hollywood to be your teacher. I recommend "About Face" by Col. David Hackworth and "A bright shining lie" by Neil Sheehan. When you've finished those books, re-watch the Deer Hunter and you too can write your own scathing review.
This movie has not withstood the test of time. It is never mentioned among the true classics. Not coincidentally, Michael Cimino has done nothing of note since this overbearing debacle.