A Pretty Damn Good War Film

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2018)

I recently saw The Deer Hunter for the first time not to long ago and I thought it was great. I heard it was a good film before I went into it but I was surprised by how the story went into the issues of post-war life and PTSD.
The performances of Robert De Niro was well done and I'd probably say that this is his second best role (my favourite is Raging Bull) in my opinion. I also liked Meryl Streep in the film and I'm not a fan of Meryl Streep. She plays her character really well and it really shines through during the second half of the movie. However the role that steals the show for me is Christopher Walken. He really knocked it out of the park with this role. The emotions he played were strong and his death by the end of the movie really hits hard. Not enough to drive me to tears but still hit quite hard. He totally deserved the Oscar win.
The scenes in Vietnam have to be some of the most intense scenes I've seen to date. The Russian Roulette scene was really intense and it left me quite on the edge of my seat (or bed since I was watching this at night). (I'm also aware that some scenes aren't historically accurate, specifically with the Russian Roulette scene where there were no documented cases of Russian Roulette being played during the Vietnam War but honestly that doesn't change my opinion). I also really like the scenes with Mike trying to reconnect to society were also really well done. You can tell he wants to reconnect with the world again but the horrors of the war haunt him. However my favourite scene is the ending when Nick dies and everyone is at the table ready to honour him. The silence that surrounds the scene is almost too real. As if you were there with them. A perfect way to end the film.
However I do have some issues with the film. One problem I have is that the other side characters aren't that interesting. They didn't really add a lot and didn't leave that much of an impression. I'm not saying they were bad characters it's just that they weren't that interesting. Some scenes drag on for a little bit, specifically when Nick returns to his home. I felt they could've been cut shorter but honestly that could be considered a nitpick. But my main issue with the film is with the beginning. More specifically with the wedding. The wedding scene lasted for way to long and it honestly brought me out of the experience a little bit. I know they're having this huge celebration before they get sent off to war but it really did drag. Also the run-time can also be considered an issue as it's way over 2 hours long and I did feel it's length.
Overall I thought the film was great and I'm glad I watched it. I liked how the film dealt with the topics of post-war life rather than romanticising the what happens after a soldier's done with war. The characters struggles and emotions feel real and really brings to life the tragedies that war can bring not onto a country but into citizens outside the war. But while I did like the film it's probably going to be one of those films that I won't see for a very long time. I really liked it a lot but there isn't much re-watch value for multiple revisits. It's definitely a one-and-done type of film for me. Also the run-time and the wedding scenes can be enough of a turn off for me to not want to watch it again. But I still think the film is really amazing and definitely worth at least one viewing.