Not without flaws but the most real portrayal of Vietnam I've seen

Rating: 8/10 (8 June 2004)

I had difficulty with the first hour of The Deer Hunter. My two problems concerned technicalities and length. In a three-hour movie, I feel everything should function in the narrative or inform the viewer's understanding of the narrative. That being said, I felt there was a lot of fat that could have been trimmed in the very opening of the film, and especially the wedding. Meryll Streep's first appearance seemed unnecessary, her getting a drink with Robert De Niro's character, the very opening with the truck, and various shots could have been cut down-production companies might have seen Cimino's future mistakes with Heaven's Gate coming had they paid attention to these issues. I also felt at first that the cinematography and sound quality were poor. It didn't look visually real when I felt it should have, and there seemed a lot of audio inconsistencies (ie background noise that changed from shot to shot). THAT being said, these concerns were soon put to rest when I saw the reason for cinematography that wasn't aesthetically pleasing. Once Mikey, Nicky, and Steve went to war, I realized that this movie was meant to seem like a documentary in a way-no fancy cinematography so the viewer could notice a certain amount of work put into aesthetics and think more about that than context. I felt like I was there and everything was shot on location and the Russian roullette scenes were really happening. It seemed to me the most real portrait of the Vietnam War I've seen, and I now appreciate movies like Full Metal Jacket which didn't resonate prior to seeing the Deer Hunter. Christopher Walken also gave his most powerful and unforgettable performance that he has not outlasted since. I wasn't watching Christopher Walken; I was watching his character Nick. This movie is not to be missed, and you won't forget it.