The Russian Roulette

Rating: Null/10 (16 December 2005)

The Deer Hunter is a great movie and captures the lives of Vietnam solders so well. There are so many scenes in this movie that are so dramatic and really make the viewer think hard about cretin aspects of life. But the scene that sticks in to my mind most and really got me to think about the war and life is the Russian roulette scenes. I believe these scenes show how war can turn someone in to a completely different person. You also see how damaging the war can be physiologically and physically.
When Mike (Robert De Niro), Nick (Christopher Walkens) and Steven (John Savave) were taken into a POW camp and were forced to play Russian roulette, you see human nature at its lowest points and highest points. Steven loses his mind all together and has a complete mental break down, but Mike is there to help him through it. He puts his own fears aside to help his friend, while Nick just sits and watches. Nick seems to be confused about his surroundings and everything that is going on. Mike seems to be the only one realizing their reality that have landed into, and is willing to risk Nick's life and his own to see freedom once again. Before they went over to Vietnam, they would always say this was their duty to their country. It was all for their country. And I think that patriotism is a major aspect in this film, but it is very subtle. They are going to fight for our country, everything that our fore fathers built this country on and more. Mike, Nick and Steven could have given up, and said the hell with this. But they didn't. True Steven had a break down, but he still pushed his way to the end with a little help. Knowing that the next pull of the trigger might kill you and still willing to do it only proves your faith to your country and life. These three men prove their patriotism by risking their lives to keep us free.
When Nick gets left behind and becomes a robot in a way, you see a darker side of war. Nick has become so angry and numb to the outside that he subjects him self to this game. The game Russian roulette is no longer a matter of life and death, it might be a punishment he puts him self though. Nick may have gotten so used to playing the game that he forgot what he was doing and it simply became part of his routine. The physiological damage that has been done to Nick is irreversible. He has reached the point where he cannot be saved. Nick decided his fate when he chose to continue with the Russian roulette, it's all most as if he was doomed to this fate from the start. When Mike returns to fine Nick and is playing Russian roulette hoping that Nick will snap out of it, you can see the hope and life draining out of Mike. It is taking all of his energy to play that game once again, and to get his best friend to realize what he is doing.
I don't believe that the game Russian roulette shows their patriotism, I think that it is more about life and death. All three of them, however, do show their patriotism by going over to Vietnam and fighting. If you agree or disagree with the Vietnam or any war for that matter, you own the solders respect and gratitude. They are risking their lives so we can have the rights we have.