Customer Reviews

The Deer Hunter (Widescreen)

5 star:		(117)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I haven't seen this film... but i like the reviewer that talked about Casino instead of The Deer Hunter... i gave this 3 stars, cause its average... i did see the film, but i was too dumb at the time to understand it, so i will see it again and probably change my rating... looks good though.

The one-star reviewer from New Jersey calls this a boring film,it is not boring.I get tired of these one-star reviewers,and I can tell you that the majority of them are young,hyper,and easily bored.The only movies that satisfy such individuals are movies crammed with exaggerated special effects but no substance.These reviewers need to stick with reviewing films more befitting their lack of patience and taste.People that are easily bored and unable or unwilling to sit through the entire film are not qualified to comment on the film.This film is well directed and well acted.Robert Deniro,John Savage,John Cazale,and Christopher Walken all turn in great performances.The foreign sequences are authentic looking although they were shot in Thailand.

This is a great movie and most certainly deserved the oscar for best picture in 1978. Not to mention it is Michael Cimino's second and he makes it his best directorial entry. A group of Pennsylvania Deer Hunters who are also industrial workers in a factory enlist and go fight in the Vietnam conflict. If you are a fan of great cinematography you will love this picture because it offers the gallery of beautiful countryside landscapes and and excellent score to go along with them. Robert De Niro is great(in his favorite role as an actor) That was a qoute made by himself in his biography The Untouchable. The Vietnam scenes are remotley disturbing when they introduce the "Russian Roliet" to the soldiers. It is also an opprotunity to see Christopher Walken in his oscar winning performance. Please at least rent this or even better! next time it is on AMC take a look at it. You won't regret it or feel cheated
Directed by Michael Cimino
Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, and John Savage.

I really , really like this movie. The movie itself gets 5 stars, but I have to say this DVD version, is extremely inferior. The picture quality is used VHS caliber, and the sound is as shabby. A film of this magnitude, one which won a
couple of Academy Awards and was nominated for a few more. (It
won for Best Picture) should have been done a lot better. I would hold out for a remastered version and express those feelings to the studio.

This movie is worth the viewing, actually worth several viewings. Although I cant say I totally relate, as a veteran of our most recent war, I can empathize with many of the emotions DeNiros character feels upon his homecoming (although I wont even pretend that I experienced anything even remotely close to what he did). Although not a big Meryl Streep fan, her performance was outstanding to such a level, that it didnt really seem like acting. It seemed like life, recorded, which is what makes a movie believable. Walkins performance was also very good, although I must admit, I wish his character could have had a happier ending, but that was part of the point. This movie has an important distinction from most war movies. Usually a few side characters die, but in the end the hero meets up with his love and everything is happy. There is SOME of that in the filme, but it also shows what life is like after the war for those who were left behind, and those who made it through, but just barely. All in all just an outstanding, very believable movie. My only criticism would probably be the wedding scene but that is mostly due to my short attention span, it seemed very long. But I know many reviewers would argue that that was where we gain insight into the community and its people etc etc. All in all, highly recommended. If you are not into older films, you may want to rent it first before purchasing, cause chances are you will either really like it, or not like it at all.

I'm not going to go off on a long diatribe on the metits of this film, or get into any philosophical debate of it or war. I just have to wonder if you HAD TO BE BORN IN THE 50's to REALIZE
WHAT THIS FILM IS ALL ABOUT?

The people that even mention it's length negitively or try & pull it apart emotionally or have any problem with this film at ALL have MATCHSTICK SIZED BRAINs & THE EMOTIONS OF A COCKROACH.

Come on folks, this is one of the greatest films ever directed/acted/produced/edited/filmed, whatever.

Don't even give me the "Russian Roulette" crapola, every GREAT movie has a 'trigger' and if you are not emotionally effected by
the performancs of DeNiro/Walken/Savage/Cazale/Strep/DeZunda then you must be absolutely brain dead & have the attention span of a flea!

Don't you get it? "THIS IS THIS"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I first started the movie I was expecting lots of combat and time in Viet Nam. The movie was almost 1/3 into it and they still had not gone to war but I was so compelled. I was compelled by the characters and the friendship. When they finally get to Nam there was not really much combat in the movie. It all centered around a game of Russian Roulette in a remote part of the jungle. One of my favorite scenes is when De Niro ends the game. The movie then continues to compel me to watch. I was surprised and sad by the end of the movie. Probably one of the most intense scenes ever in film.

Highly recommend to those who want to see a very well made movie that focuses on the characters and not for those who just want a lot of combat.

"The Deer Hunter" is one of those films that, once seen, will linger in the recesses of your mind forever. It's a powerful, painful reminder of the Vietnam fiasco that doomed American POW's to a haunted hell of torture and torment with ultimately no vindication in a homecoming for their suffrage. Robert DeNiro is Michael - a stoic loner whose home fires burn for Linda (Meryl Streep), the girl of his best friend, Nick (Christopher Walken). But when the boys are drafted into the Vietnam War they leave their small mining town to serve their country. After a lengthy wedding scene (which frankly, is too long) between Steven (John Savage) and Angela (Rutanya Alda) the boys, including Steven ship off to war. They are captured, tortured and forced to play a demented game of Russian roulette. Nick loses his mind, abandons all hope of returning home and eventually kills himself in a game of roulette for profit. Steven's legs are so badly bitten through by rats that they have to be amputated to save his life, with the net result of permanent emotional scars destroying any chance for his happiness with Angela. Only Michael emerges relatively unscathed by his experience - still stoic and alone and in search of some sort of personal satisfaction that seemingly will never come to him. The film, an American classic, pulls no punches in presenting the grim, hard reality of life during and after the Vietnam war. It deserves far better treatment than what it current has been given on DVD.

The transfer from Universal is terribly flawed. Not even anamorphically enhanced for widescreen televisions, the 2:35:1 picture is marred by digital artifacts, tiling, edge enhancement, pixelization, aliasing and a terribly rendered color scale that is unbalanced and, in spots, terribly faded. Colors bleed and are muddy. Film and digital grain are way too excessive. Shadow and contrast levels are poor. Blacks are not solid or deep. There's really nothing to recommend this visual presentation. The audio is remastered but very strained in both its bass and high end levels. Finally, there are no extra features. Don't waste your money.

The Deer Hunter ("TDH") Basic Plot: 3 'best friends' steel workers go to Vietnam and come back in various states (dead, alive, maimed, etc.).

This is a war movie, yet with only a small portion of combat action. This is much more of a "get inside your head" film about the effects of war. It is brutal and unforgettable. If you like the intensity of 'The Killing Fields', this film is much the same. One particular scene, the infamous Russian Roulette scene in the river hut, is arguably the most intense scene ever filmed. It is very difficult to watch, and helps explain why some people who go to war literally are never, ever the same.

Having lived in Pittsburgh during the era when this film 'took place', and knowing people not unlike the steelworkers in the film, the first thing viewers need to know is that Pittsburgh scenes are accurate (although not all filmed in Pittsburgh). What first comes across as a way-too-drawn-out and overly-stylized opening scenes of the wedding and hunting, is actually quite like the robust and rough lifestyle of these All American workers, and serves well to contrast with the chaos of 'Nam.

For younger people who do not quite relate to the Vietnam era, this is film is a must-see. Other goods 'Nam films are 'Coming Home' (for relationships), and 'Hamburger Hill' (for combat action). 'Platoon' is probably the most 'balanced' on the Vietnam films, although the mental and artistic side of TDH, I feel, is better.

The photography and music of TDH is superb, as is the casting and the on-location filming. The one odd bit of 'license' in TDH is the hunting scenes. There is no place anywhere near Pennsylvania that has mountains like those shown in this movie (these scenes were film north of Seattle, where there are glaciers), but TDH 'mentality' is very much a 'religion' in this part of America (as well as some other areas, such as Michigan).

This film is better on DVD than VHS as it has panoramic scenery, and the higher fidelity of the DVD makes the soundtrack more realistic.

This is no lightweight movie, and like Titanic, leaves you numb for a while after watching it. I would rate this film as easily in the Top 10 war movies ever made, right up there with 'Patton', 'Paths of Glory' and 'Private Ryan.

A final tidbit, Streep has a supporting role and does a superb job. Her lover at the time was John Cazale (Michael Corleone's 'dumb' brother, 'Fredo', in 'The Godfather') who plays one of the threesome's friends who does not go to war. Casselles died shortly after TDH was made, and TDH was among Streep's earlier roles that really got her career rolling ('Kramer vs. Kramer' and 'Out of Africa' were in the same time frame).

The first time I watched this extraordinary film, I didn't like it as much as I would later on. At first it seemed a little sloppy and slow, with some very intense and memorable sequences. This is definitely a film that grows on you, and come to love after a few viewings. Robert DeNiro stars as Michael, an ambitious guy who loves to shoot pool with his buddies and go hunting. Their world suddenly changes when Michael and his two friends Nick (Christopher Walken) and Steven (John Savage) go off to war in Vietnam.

This film shows the brutal intensity and reality of war and what the main characters are forced to go through. When they finally get back, their social and home lives have changed...mostly for the worse. We then see how each character copes with the effects of war, and loss of friendship.

One thing I've learned about some great masterpieces, is that they always seem to have a song before a huge event occurs. For example, in Pulp Fiction "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon," before Mia overdoses. In "The Deer Hunter," there is a scene early on in the film where all friends sing and dance to "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" with Christopher Walken leading. This scene sticks out in my mind as brilliant. While watching this scene, you become absorbed in the film and become close friends with the characters. It's really powerful, and a last good time before going off to war.

You may start watching this film and find the picture to be too grainy, or the plot too boring, but trust me...stick with it. It will most definitely be a film that will stay in your heart for some time.