The Deer Hunter, follows three friends through their awful experiences in the Vietnam War. And how these experiences affected their lives

Rating: 6/10 (9 December 2014)

The Russian Roulette sequences represent war as a whole, with all its senseless, random violence, and its awful capacity to push men to the breaking point and beyond. Or even how wartime brings out the very best and worst in us.
Mike acts like an almost father figure and thus as a soldier attempts to keep everyone safe. This is a major reason for him jumping in after Steve to save him. Nick loves his girlfriend and Mike very much. So much in fact, that when Mike fails to bring him home it breaks him, driving him slightly mad. Also when Mike makes him play Russian Roulette it has a lasting affect so much so that when mike leaves him Nick plays Russian Roulette for money. Steve is the most fragile of the three and the Russian Roulette has a very negative affect on him.
The French character symbolizes the fact that the French were a major reason for the US involvement in Vietnam.
Mike goes back because Nick is like a younger brother to him and he realizes that he let him down by leaving him. He knows Nick was counting on him to uphold his promise to bring him home. Mike also realizes Nick is in real danger when he sees the money he had sent Steve. Mike knows exactly where Nick would get that much money so fast.