Broken People

Rating: 8/10 (14 December 2017)

As a whole, The Deer Hunter feels less like a war focused film; instead, Vietnam and the war serves as a backdrop and an influence on the three main characters at least. This is important to note up front, because this makes The Deer Hunter an interesting study of the main characters before, during, and after the war.
The beginning of the movie is long and slow, but it works to show the details of Mike, Nick, and Stevie. We get a good idea from his wedding and the circumstances of his bride, Angela's, pregnancy that he is a naive, but faithful and well meaning young man, who sees a big future ahead of them. Nick shows himself as an optimistic romantic, looking to work in the best of his friends' actions in the hunting trip and at the same time, play by Mike's rules. He also spends much time showing how much he cares for Linda, and openly comments about how he loves the small steel town he lives and works in. Mike, on the other hand, is much less of a romantic, and despite his naked run after the wedding, is shown to have a set of rules he lives by, and this includes his dedication to his friends, and the promise he makes to Nick to bring him home.
Being in Vietnam changes things, especially the russian roulette scenes. Stevie, with his emotional naive nature, handles it poorly and winds up in a cage full of water and rats because he misses his head with the bullet. Mike, with his strict rules and self compass, fares better because he is the one who can steel himself against death, and ultimately is mostly responsible for their escape. He tries with Nick, but... Nick can't handle it. Having to play russian roulette against Mike while being encouraged by Mike to do it for their escape breaks him, and this impacts his portrayal from then on.
By the end, Stevie is paralyzed and missing both legs, Mike is living with psychological trauma from both his experiences in war, and also the results of his attempt to rescue Nick, who was playing russian roulette professionally in Vietnam. Being forced to do it by Mike has left him in a broken state, and when Mike comes to rescue him, he blows his brains out in a russian roulette match in a disturbingly tragic way. "One shot" indeed. The line shows just how far he had fallen from before, and how much spite he had for Mike inside for the entire experience. Despite Mike's best efforts, he couldn't bring Nick back, even if he technically kept the promise and brought him home.
That ending sort of broke my heart too, and I think it was a great way to hammer home the emotional message of the movie. Good movie overall. Would recommend.