The Deer Hunter (1978)

An in-depth examination of the way that the Vietnam war affects the lives of people in a small industrial town in the USA.

Director:

Michael Cimino

Writers:

Michael Cimino (story), Deric Washburn (story),

Stars:

Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage

Top 250 #132 | Won 5 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro	...	Michael
John Cazale	...	Stan
John Savage	...	Steven
Christopher Walken	...	Nick
Meryl Streep	...	Linda
George Dzundza	...	John
Chuck Aspegren	...	Axel
Shirley Stoler	...	Steven's Mother
Rutanya Alda	...	Angela
Pierre Segui	...	Julien
Mady Kaplan	...	Axel's Girl
Amy Wright	...	Bridesmaid
Mary Ann Haenel	...	Stan's Girl
Richard Kuss	...	Linda's Father
Joe Grifasi	...	Bandleader

Storyline

Michael, Steven and Nick are young factory workers from Pennsylvania who enlist into the Army to fight in Vietnam. Before they go, Steven marries the pregnant Angela and their wedding-party is also the men's farewell party. After some time and many horrors the three friends fall in the hands of the Vietcong and are brought to a prison camp in which they are forced to play Russian roulette against each other. Michael makes it possible for them to escape, but they soon get separated again.

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Plot Keywords:

vietnam | russian roulette | escape | pennsylvania | vietcong | 

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Taglines:

Winner of 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture 1978

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Russian Vietnamese French

Release Date:

23 February 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die durch die Hölle gehen

Filming Locations:

993 N. 7th Street, Steubenville, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 10,994,967 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

EMI Films, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

182 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The deer hunting scene was actually shot in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. The mountain shown in the background is Mount Shuksan.

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Goofs

Near the end of the movie, right before Nick's funeral, the scene shows the Eagle Super Market with the exact same sale signs in the window as at the beginning of the movie, which were different when Michael had returned home from Vietnam, some year-and-a-half later.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Michael: Hey, watch out, Axel. We'll be calling him old fireballs after tonight.
Axel: Fuckin' A.
Michael: Not bad.

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Crazy Credits

We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of our Thai crew in the production of "The Deer Hunter"

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Connections

Spoofed in Everybody Hates Chris: Everybody Hates Spring Break (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Memory Eternal (Vechnaya Pamyat)"
(uncredited)
Traditional Russian song
Adaptated and Arranged by Ken Kovach
Sung after the funeral

User Reviews

Touching drama about the ruin of a group of men's friendship by war

"The Deer Hunter" is not a film about the Vietnam war, as it is wrongly said in many cases.

"The Deer Hunter" is a film tells the story of 3 friends within about 5-6 years, during which their friendship is repeatedly put to the test.

It is primarily a picture of the contemporary life of a group of people around 30 living in a small American town during the Vietnam war.

The first hour of the film portrays the every day life of three friends Mike (De Niro), Steven (Savage) and Nick (Walken), who look forward to Steve's wedding but at the same time have to prepare for their commitment in Vietnam. The main actors (above all De Niro and Walken) perfectly picture the character's inner conflict between their easygoing home town life and the forthcoming assignment in Vietnam. Despite this conflict the characters don't show their concerns to their environment.

Particularly Nick is worried about him and his friends leaving his home town and perhaps never coming back, but he only tells his best friend Mike of his thoughts, who is much more resolute and sees their engagement as a strong masculine act.

Cimino manages to show the simple irrationality of young men, going to a senseless war from which they might never return for the only purpose of glory and approval, and abandoning their settled and happy life for it. The spectator just can't understand why those young men voluntarily sign for the army and give up everything they have. The passage from the small-town-idyll to the war cruelty is greatly pictured. Cimino does not show the three friends' way to Vietnam or the training, he immediately switches from a happy get-together to the cruel war captivity of the Vietcong. This passage perfectly underlines the contrast and the inexplicability of the three men's actions.

Although the passage that is set in Vietnam is only about one third of the whole film long, the war is omnipresent at any time, which is probably the best benefit of the whole film, Cimino does not need to bomb the spectator with pictures of crying children, mutilated soldiers or desert battlefields in order to illustrate the cruelty of war. Far from it! The changed behavior of all characters after the friends' returns tell more about wars' capability of changing someone's life, than anything else.

And the fact that the many dreams that these three friends had before they went to Vietnam didn't come true, because of their longing for recognition by becoming an acclaimed veteran can even pluck your heartstrings.

Cimino's great directing and the cast's awesome acting provide for a touching and honest drama about the friendship of a group of young men, that is destroyed by the Vietnam war.