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IMDbPro

Born on the Fourth of July

  • 19891989
  • RR
  • 2h 25m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
106K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,885
449
Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Theatrical Trailer from Universal Pictures
Play trailer2:54
2 Videos
99+ Photos
BiographyDramaWar
The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
106K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,885
449
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Oliver Stone
    • Writers
      • Ron Kovic(based on the book by)
      • Oliver Stone(screenplay by)
    • Stars
      • Tom Cruise
      • Bryan Larkin
      • Raymond J. Barry
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Oliver Stone
    • Writers
      • Ron Kovic(based on the book by)
      • Oliver Stone(screenplay by)
    • Stars
      • Tom Cruise
      • Bryan Larkin
      • Raymond J. Barry
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 225User reviews
    • 55Critic reviews
    • 75Metascore
    • Won 2 Oscars
      • 15 wins & 26 nominations total

    Videos2

    Born On The Fourth of July
    Trailer 2:54
    Born On The Fourth of July
    "Dates in Movie & TV History": July 4
    Video 2:42
    "Dates in Movie & TV History": July 4

    Photos199

    Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
    Tom Cruise and Bill Neal in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
    Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, Anne Bobby, Josh Evans, and Jamie Talisman in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
    Tom Cruise and Willem Dafoe in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
    Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
    Tom Cruise, Stephen Baldwin, Frank Whaley, Rob Camilletti, Jerry Levine, and Richard Panebianco in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
    Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
    Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
    Tom Cruise and Kyra Sedgwick in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
    Oliver Stone and Ron Kovic in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
    Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
    Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Tom Cruise
    Tom Cruise
    • Ron Kovic
    Bryan Larkin
    Bryan Larkin
    • Young Ron
    Raymond J. Barry
    Raymond J. Barry
    • Mr. Kovic
    Caroline Kava
    Caroline Kava
    • Mrs. Kovic
    Josh Evans
    Josh Evans
    • Tommy Kovic
    Seth Allen
    • Young Tommy
    Jamie Talisman
    • Jimmy Kovic
    Sean Stone
    Sean Stone
    • Young Jimmy
    Anne Bobby
    Anne Bobby
    • Susanne Kovic
    Jenna von Oÿ
    Jenna von Oÿ
    • Young Susanne
    Samantha Larkin
    • Patty Kovic
    Erika Geminder
    • Young Patty
    Amanda Davis
    • Baby Patty
    Kevin Harvey Morse
    • Jackie Kovic
    John Getz
    John Getz
    • Marine Major
    David Warshofsky
    David Warshofsky
    • Lieutenant
    Jason Gedrick
    Jason Gedrick
    • Martinez
    Michael Compotaro
    • Wilson
    • Director
      • Oliver Stone
    • Writers
      • Ron Kovic(based on the book by) (screenplay by)
      • Oliver Stone(screenplay by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The real Ron Kovic gave Tom Cruise his Bronze Star for his performance in this movie.
    • Goofs
      When the recruiter visits Ronnie's school, he incorrectly refers to Marine boot camp as "13 weeks of hell," when Marine boot camp was only 8 weeks during the timeframe of the movie.
    • Quotes

      Mrs. Kovic: [almost sobbing] Don't say penis in this house!

      Ron Kovic: Penis! Penis! Big fucking erect penis, Mom!

    • Crazy credits
      The film's title is seen after the end credits have finished.
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Family Business/Blaze/We're No Angels/The Wizard/The Rosegarden (1989)
    • Soundtracks
      You're a Grand Old Flag
      Written by George M. Cohan

      Performed by the Pride of the 48

      Courtesy of Alshire International, Inc.

      Published by George M. Cohan Music Publishing Co.

    User reviews225

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Haunting and disturbing, but ultimately redemptive
    I avoided this when it came out in 1989 having seen Coming Home (1978) and not wanting to revisit the theme of paraplegic sexual dysfunction and frustration. I also didn't want to reprise the bloody horror of our involvement in the war in Vietnam that I knew Oliver Stone was going to serve up. And Tom Cruise as Ron Kovic? I just didn't think it would work. Well, my preconceptions were wrong. First of all, for those who think that Tom Cruise is just another pretty boy (which was basically my opinion), this movie sets that mistaken notion to rest. He is nothing short of brilliant in a role that is enormously demanding--physically, mentally, artistically, and emotionally. I don't see how anybody could play that role and still be the same person. Someday in his memoirs, Tom Cruise is going to talk about being Ron Kovic as directed by Oliver Stone. And second, Stone's treatment of the sex life of Viet Vets in wheelchairs is absolutely without sentimentality or silver lining. There are no rose petals and no soft pedaling. There was no Jane Fonda, as in Coming Home, to play an angel of love. Instead the high school girl friend understandably went her own way, and love became something you bought if you could afford it. And third, Stone's depiction of America--and this movie really is about America, from the 1950s to the 1970s--from the pseudo-innocence of childhood war games and 4th of July parades down Main street USA to having your guts spilled in a foreign land and your brothers-in-arms being sent home in body bags--was as indelible as black ink on white parchment. He takes us from proud moms and patriotic homilies to the shameful neglect in our Veteran's hospitals to the bloody clashes between anti-war demonstrators and the police outside convention halls where reveling conventioneers wave flags and mouth phony slogans. I have seen most of Stone's work and as far as fidelity to authentic detail and sustained concentration, this is his best. There are a thousand details that Stone got exactly right, from Dalton Trumbo's paperback novel of a paraplegic from WW I, Johnny Got His Gun, that sat on a tray near Kovic's hospital bed, to the black medic telling him that there was a more important war going on at the same time as the Vietnam war, namely the civil rights movement, to a mother throwing her son out of the house when he no longer fulfilled her trophy case vision of what her son ought to be, to Willem DaFoe's remark about what you have to do sexually when nothing in the middle moves. Also striking were some of the scenes. In particular, the confession scene at the home of the boy Kovic accidentally shot; the Mexican brothel scene of sex/love desperation, the drunken scene at the pool hall bar and the pretty girl's face he touches, and then the drunken, hate-filled rage against his mother, and of course the savage hospital scenes--these and some others were deeply moving and likely to haunt me for many years to come. Of course, as usual, Oliver Stone's political message weighed heavily upon his artistic purpose. Straight-laced conservatives will find his portrait of America one-sided and offensive and something they'd rather forget. But I imagine that the guys who fought in Vietnam and managed to get back somehow and see this movie, will find it redemptive. Certainly to watch Ron Kovic, just an ordinary Joe who believed in his country and the sentiments of John Wayne movies and comic book heroics, go from a depressed, enraged, drug-addled waste of a human being to an enlightened, focused, articulate, and ultimately triumphant spokesman for the anti-war movement, for veterans, and the disabled was wonderful to see. As Stone reminds us, Kovic really did become the hero that his misguided mother dreamed he would be. No other Vietnam war movie haunts me like this one. There is something about coming back less than whole that is worse than not coming back at all that eats away at our consciousness. And yet in the end there is here displayed the triumph of the human will and a story about how a man might find redemption in the most deplorable of circumstances. --Dennis Littrell, author of "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!"
    helpful•182
    40
    • DeeNine-2
    • Oct 23, 2003

    FAQ6

    • Is 'Born on the Fourth of July' based on a book?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 5, 1990 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Geboren am 4. Juli
    • Filming locations
      • Philippines
    • Production company
      • Ixtlan
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $14,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $70,001,698
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $172,021
      • Dec 25, 1989
    • Gross worldwide
      • $161,001,698
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 25 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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