Beautiful production about the importance of home and friendship

Rating: 9/10 (9 January 2008)

The Deer Hunter is about a band of close friends that is broken apart after three of them decide to serve the country in Vietnam. It begins with many celebrations; a wedding, a deer hunting excursion, and a night at the bar. The gang drinks heavily and does many foolish things (such as swerving in front of a semi with their car), but are tied together by friendship and have genuine care for each other. When Mike, Steven, and Nick leave for Vietnam, the whole group is forever changed.
Robert De Niro does an impressive portrayal of Mike, the one who has the most success in Vietnam. The majority of the film is witnessed from his perspective, which makes sense since he retains his mentality the best. Christopher Walken also does a notable performance as the disturbed Nick, who is dragged into betting with his life via Russian Roulette. There two characters are the main focus of the plot; Mike witnesses Nick's gradual decline and attempts to save him.
Russian Roulette is an interesting way to illustrate the impact of Vietnam on soldiers. This is probably the thing that most separates it from the other Vietnam movies around. The Russian Roulette scenes are disturbingly tense, despite the fact that they are quite predictable. The other Vietnam scenes are beautiful and realistic. It is overflowed with detail that makes the whole thing believable. You don't just watch the transformation happen; you feel it.
The non-Vietnam segments are interesting and important, but I would say they are a bit overlong. The wedding part was especially long; I got the point after the first ten minutes of it. The deer hunting segments make up for it. The mountain scenery is simply magnificent (to the point that I swear that I could feel the mist). I suppose the advantage of spending extra time on the homeland scenes is that it makes you grow attached to it. The whole town (primarily the bar and Mike's house) feel reassuringly familiar, especially in contrast to the chaotic maze of Vietnam. This is a great contrast that is important for when Mike returns from Vietnam to revisit home.
The Deer Hunter is among the best Vietnam films around. Currently, it rivals Apocalypse Now for my personal favorite Vietnam film. The thing that makes it so powerful is that it compares Vietnam chaos with benevolent life at home.