NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

thedarkknight-99999 Its running length may annoy some, and it's criticized for being self-indulgent, and for having a problematic message. And while I can see that it could have been more shorter, I think that it has this great emotional impact because Cimino took his time in a very long first act that made us dive into the characters, and most importantly, their relationship. This first act with all its very very long scenes that feel as they were unedited is what made us care deeply about his characters when they were thrown inside a terrifically tense, gut-wrenching second act. That's how Cimino made us thoroughly disturbed, and have mixed, and vague feelings that result in creating a great catharsis at the third act. Every actor gave a very realistic performance, needless to say that both De Niro and Meryl Streep shine, but Christopher Walken's Oscar-winning performance is the standout here. All the characters are fully-developed, and fleshed out, but they are incredibly realistic and three-dimensional that can be analyzed as they are Shakespearean or Tolstoyan characters.I can't believe or describe how emotionally sweeping and overwhelming this epic is.(9/10)

TheNabOwnzz The Deer Hunter is not the typical moral confliction of soldiers in war kind of motion picture but one that instead focuses on the consequences the war has for people that have participated in it, and for the people related to them.It is a character picture, focusing on its vast group of characters as its main focus. We get to know all of the main characters ( and the three of them that leave for Vietnam ) in a lengthy opening hour of the movie so we can relate to them better when the scenes in Vietnam do occur. It is a movie divided into three parts: The pre-Vietnam phase in which one of the three protagonists leaving for Vietnam gets married, which also features a very large wedding scene. The scenes in Vietnam themselves & the post-Vietnam phase. Obviously the whole point of this film is the last hour of the movie, but this would not be as powerful or emotionally rich without the first two parts in which we see what the characters are like and ( by the time they reach Vietnam ) can relate to them and root for them to escape with their lives. The acting for all of the main characters is absolute world class, with Cristopher Walken seemingly the greatest of them all. While the characters might not always seem likeable, they are portrayed realistically and their friendship feels genuine due to this.The musical score by Stanley Myers captures the emotional intensity of the movie perfectly due to its peaceful bittersweet kind of sound which fits just right into the theme of the movie about friends trying to reconnect with eachother after a series of brutal events.The cinematography is beautiful, especially the scenes with Michael ( Robert de Niro ) deer hunting in the mountains are just visually incredible due to their gorgeous backdrop mountain shots. Tension is only something that is build up for the Vietnam scenes, but this is done beautifully in the form of Russian roulette games that feature exceptional acting by de Niro whose electrifying presence further heightens the tension.The final part of the movie where one of the protagonists tries to reconnect with his former life and friends is ofcourse where it really shines. It accurately shows the consequences of the dehumanizating nature of war and how the lives of the participants and their relatives are affected by it, often resulting in heartbreaking scenes.Unfortunately there does seem to be an abundance of constant background sounds or indistinguishable dialogue that makes it quite hard to follow what is going on, and that the scenes seem to jump a bit too quickly from one place to another ( probably due to its already long running time, but still ). Yet these things are not so noticeable that they significantly lessen the cinematic experience.It is an emotionally rich statement about how war affects us all in a negative way, and by showing us the first hour of pre-war character development, Michael Cimino allows us to see the changes this causes to ( especially ) our three protagonists who have left for Vietnam.

chas437 I saw this film in college in the early-80s. At the time, there was so much hype around 'The Deer Hunter", I felt I almost had to love it. I was greatly disappointed and never gave it a second thought. A film group I'm in viewed this recently, and WOW, it hit me, this isn't just a bad film, its aged horribly. Nonetheless, my contemporizes continue to heap praise on the film.Lets be clear, the film is way too long, tedious and unrealistic. The wedding reception goes on forever, and for no apparent reason. The director was obviously going for some sort of effect here, but he failed, and today's audiences would simply walkout on this.The hunting scenes are farcical. Last time I checked, the Canadian Rockies aren't in Pennsylvania.The war scenes are offensively bad.So, how did this film come to be so highly regarded when, in fact, its a terrible film? I believe its an exercise in mass delusion. So, this was the first big Vietnam War film to hit American theaters in 1978, AND it was meant to show the war in a very negative light. Well, that's all film critics and movie "aficionados" needed.

johnny-burgundy The Deer Hunter (1978) This is an epic war drama film about a trio of steelworkers whose lives are changed forever after they fight in the Vietnam War. The cast includes Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, John Cazale, Meryl Streep, and George Dzundza. The story takes place in a little working class town south of Pittsburgh, and in Vietnam. The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for Christopher Walken. It also marked Meryl Streep's very first Academy Award nomination. She is now the most nominated actor in history. It was named the 53rd greatest American film of all time by the American Film Institute (AFI). The film's initial reviews were mostly positive. It was hailed by many critics as the best American epic since The Godfather. The late Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars and called it "one of the most emotionally shattering films ever made." This film is an American classic. It is my favorite drama, and perhaps my favorite film of all time. It even holds up nearly 40 years later. My willingness to try older films, any films, was because of this picture. Movies are like these are why film lovers should really give older movies a shot. I suggest the AFI's top 100 films as a starting point. The Deer Hunter is a masterful piece of cinema that explores the human condition in a way few films do today.