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Don't Believe the Hype

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

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)

When I think of de niro at his best i don't think of Godfather Part II (though that is a close second), Raging Bull (close third) or Goodfellas. i think of The Deer Hunter.my case would be to watch the russian roulette game in the POW camp. In that scene you feel every bit of de niro's pain and anger so much that you (at least me) want to get angry and ramp up the way he does.p.s : the first 1 hour of this film might sucks balls, it consists of irritatingly long boring wedding scenes, BUT THE REST OF THE FILM IS PURE THRILLING EPIC DEPRESSINGLY GOOD CINEMA

In The Deer Hunter, Mike comes back from Vietnam knowing that he wasn't able to bring Nick back with him and Mike knows that he can't break that promise for Nick. When Mike comes back to town he avoids a party at his house and then goes in on his own when only Linda is in there. Linda then reminds him that he hadn't brought Nick back with him and that they think he is AWOL. After being back in town for a couple of days he realized life was too different without Nick, for example he didn't feel right working without him or living in their house with Nick's girl. The last straw is pulled when Mike and the other guys go on a hunting trip and Mike just can't pull the trigger on a deer who had accepted defeat. Mike misses on purpose and realizes that he needs to fulfill his promise because that is the type of guy he is, point A to point B. So, when Mike gets back from the trip he plans to fulfill his promise and try to bring Nick back home, but little does he know Nick has gotten himself in a very dangerous business.

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.