Pretty Unforgettable.

Rating: 10/10 (8 September 2014)

Where do I begin to tackle "The Deer Hunter"? Obviously take into consideration that this was one of the first movies on the Vietnam War. "Apocalypse Now" (1979) was a year away, "Platoon" (1986) & "Full Metal Jacket" (1987) would soon follow. That said, imagine how controversial this film must have been being released just 3 years after the end of the war.
Another thing I gotta make a point about is that many of my peers have seen this movie and say it's boring and depressing. True I admit that first act is pretty lengthy, and depression is the core driving force of the whole movie anyway. War is S*^t, with a capital "S". I find the movies subtle beauty quite remarkable, and a few hours after watching the film did the whole message really sink in and leave me exhausted. The movie is still widely regarded as one of American Cinemas greatest film achievements, right up there with "The Godfather" (1972). It had really left its mark on me at the time I saw it, and I once considered it in my all time top 5 favourite movies (Only to be replaced by "Apocalypse Now" 1979, which I saw a year later).
Don't come looking for "Platoon" or "Full Metal Jacket", this drama is about the consequences and after effects war has on the psyche. The physical and mental wounds given to these three friends (Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and John Savage) take their toll, and all of them end up suffering their own kind of personal hell. The performances are incredible with Robert De Niro is in his prime, and as always keeps getting better with every movie at the time. Christopher Walken gives an Oscar winning performance, and I also really ended up caring for Meryl Streep's character which remains extremely grounded. It's surprisingly well done how all three actors work around this 3 way love triangle, which really aids this post traumatic stress between them all.
The 3-act movie structure is pretty obvious here. From the small Pennsylvania town wedding, to the friends in conflict forced to play Russian roulette (These scenes are brutal, and have been hailed as a metaphor for the entire War). Finally the third act depicts the effects it has had on everyone, with an ending so downright cruel in some ways it becomes difficult to explain in print.
Final Verdict: Overall this felt less like a film and more of an experience, or at least a bloody well made reconstruction or biopic. It's one I think everyone should have to sit down and watch sometime in their life. After everything I have wrote and all the horror and wonder you'll experience, I still find this movie unexplainable. 10/10.