Reviews for The Deer Hunter
Review - Deer Hunter, The
A bunch of Pennsylvania steel mill friends deal with Vietnam. Steven gets married to Angela (who is carrying Nick’s baby) on the last weekend. After the wedding, his friends go deer hunting. Both Michael and Nick love Linda, but she agrees to marry Nick when he comes home from the war. Michael, Nick and Steven head to war, the rest stay home. All of this took the at least an hour of the movie.
In Vietnam, Michael, Nick and Steven are captured by a sadistic Viet Cong who forces his prisoners to play Russian roulette. Michael taunts the guy into putting three bullets in the gun, then he and Nick overpower the guards, grab Steven and escape by floating down a river. They are rescued by an American helicopter, but not before Steven’s legs are shattered and Nick is wounded. Steven returns home a double amputee. Nick comes out of the hospital and goes AWOL in Saigon. Michael returns home a decorated veteran, but he can no longer bring himself to shoot the deer he used to love to hunt. While hunting with Stan and Axel, he sees Stan playing with a handgun. He takes it away from him, threatens to shoot him, then throws it off the mountain. He and Linda hit it off and begin sleeping together. Michael finds Steven in a vet hospital and brings him home to Angela. Steven tells Michael that he’s been receiving huge sums of money from Saigon, which is about to fall. Michael realizes its from Nick and returns to get him. He finds him, spaced out and drugged, in a Russian roulette gambling parlor. He tries to get him to come home, but Nick spits in his face. To show Nick how much he cares for him, Michael plays a game of Russian roulette with him. Nick blows his brains out. Michael, on one of the last flights out of the city, brings the body home. All the friends attend the funeral.
It was a depressing, warped movie about how different people dealt with the war. That much is fine, but the Russian roulette shown several times, was way over the top. Especially since there’s no evidence that happened in Vietnam. Even without that, and accepting that showing how people deal with war is a worthwhile topic, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to see this movie twice or why it won awards. The characters aren’t at all likeable, much of it is slow-paced and extraordinarily boring, and there’s several just plain inaccuracies. The deer they hunt are elk. The Pennsylvania mountains they hunt in are obviously out west.
In Vietnam, Michael, Nick and Steven are captured by a sadistic Viet Cong who forces his prisoners to play Russian roulette. Michael taunts the guy into putting three bullets in the gun, then he and Nick overpower the guards, grab Steven and escape by floating down a river. They are rescued by an American helicopter, but not before Steven’s legs are shattered and Nick is wounded. Steven returns home a double amputee. Nick comes out of the hospital and goes AWOL in Saigon. Michael returns home a decorated veteran, but he can no longer bring himself to shoot the deer he used to love to hunt. While hunting with Stan and Axel, he sees Stan playing with a handgun. He takes it away from him, threatens to shoot him, then throws it off the mountain. He and Linda hit it off and begin sleeping together. Michael finds Steven in a vet hospital and brings him home to Angela. Steven tells Michael that he’s been receiving huge sums of money from Saigon, which is about to fall. Michael realizes its from Nick and returns to get him. He finds him, spaced out and drugged, in a Russian roulette gambling parlor. He tries to get him to come home, but Nick spits in his face. To show Nick how much he cares for him, Michael plays a game of Russian roulette with him. Nick blows his brains out. Michael, on one of the last flights out of the city, brings the body home. All the friends attend the funeral.
It was a depressing, warped movie about how different people dealt with the war. That much is fine, but the Russian roulette shown several times, was way over the top. Especially since there’s no evidence that happened in Vietnam. Even without that, and accepting that showing how people deal with war is a worthwhile topic, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to see this movie twice or why it won awards. The characters aren’t at all likeable, much of it is slow-paced and extraordinarily boring, and there’s several just plain inaccuracies. The deer they hunt are elk. The Pennsylvania mountains they hunt in are obviously out west.
Reviewed by Roger on 2008-08-05 14:07:49