..a realistic story of what war does to men..

Rating: 10/10 (28 September 2006)

Please read some of the other reviews to get the story of this momumental film.
I was delighted that so many people caught the intention of this movie - another great one from the 70s - to give a commentary on how such brutality completely destroys everyone who is involved in it. The Vietnamese War actually ruined many lives of people who never were there; had I been a parent in that era, I would have gladly sent my sons to Canada to prevent them from being drafted. Some "users" state the term "enlisted" - voluntary. Maybe a few did, but the majority of the men sent there were drafted; because the story was about White Russians in Pennsylvania, there weren't many African Americans in it. How ironic that is, because that race toward the end of the conflict, when troops were getting scarce, were the predominant men (barely out of their teens) who were sent to war. I think Cimino did a disservice to them; there should have been more in the hospital scene. I saw one.
Younger people may not be aware of the uproar against this war. Just as President Bush has had to be slightly "untruthful" about his reasons for the "war on terror" in Iraq, Lyndon Johnson did not tell the whole truth about many actions he ordered for Vietnam. He was so distraught when the truth was made public, he decided not to run for re-election. Richard Nixon, along with the many other despicably criminal actions he was involved in, lied about heavily bombing Cambodia ("The Killing Fields"), he resigned the presidency rather than face being impeached. While shouting "democracy!", some of our presidents became meglamaniacs with the power that office holds. We can only wait to see how history handles Bush.......unfortunately, the world is heavily peopled with Muslims. Not all of them want to become Americans nor democratic; they know little of that. Their cultures are so much older than ours.
There are a lot of films that depict the dreadful battles fought in Veitnam; "The Deer Hunter" mercifully showed only one major one, while concentrating on how brutality eventually causes insanity, with the total insanity of the Vietnamese to get out of Saigon. Our government turned its back on thousands of boys-hardly-yet-men, closing its eyes on their torture once they returned home. "The War on Terror" has produced almost as many ruined lives, plus sending troops ill-equipped to fight. Hmmmmmm.........
DeNiro (Mike) actually prepared for his role by visiting steel-mills and meeting the workers and their stouthearted families. No wonder they drank so much ! "Trivia" also tells us the entire cast and crew slept on the floor of a warehouse for five days while those scenes were being shot. This is by far one of DeNiro's best roles; he was young and so energetic, and was given a beautiful script by Deric Washburn. Bravo! to DeNiro. Again, Bravo! to Christopher Walken (Nick) for his brilliant performance, and also John Savage (Steven) for his stellar acting in all of his scenes. Realism to the extreme. Meryl Streep (Linda) was so into her role, she actually adlibbed most of her lines; this was her audition for "Sophie's Choice". Johns Cazale (Stanley) was his usually obnoxious character, giving his final, great performance. Po Pao Pee (the "Russian roulette" referee) was the epitome of total detachment in those harrowing scenes, showing that some folk CAN ignore their participation in brutality - the bosses of the game stoically ate their meal and raked-in the cash for the final game. Julien Grinda (Pierre Segui) was the sole character left from decades of French colonialism in Vietnam and the mess they left it in, portraying people who manage to live through situations they cannot control. Cinematography rates a 10, at least......
Yes, we needed that hour at the beginning of "The Deer Hunter" to become acquainted with those naive men who lived their lives to the fullest, before going off to war. It was necessary to know them to compare the misery all of their lives became. Several of the actors were injured; it was a dangerous movie to film. "Steven's" realization his wounds made him unfit for family life; "Nick's" addiction to heroin gave him the stamina to "roulette" for money; "Mike's" guilt for coming-out of it all whole, and failing to save "Nick", then loving "Nick's" lady; the introversion of "Steven's" wife; the solemn funeral and breakfast for "Nick"; all of this is the real "Deer Hunter".
Life is like that. During "God Bless America" at the end, all of the characters knowing they intensely loved their country, no matter what, broke my heart. Yet, it also gave me strength to realize we Americans ARE a truly heroic people - not perfect, but mostly good - this is one of my favorite films, and again I want to rate a 50 to honor the gigantic effort it took to bring this thriller to the screen -