"The Deer Hunter." Am I really writing a review about this movie? I suppose I have to, since few people of my generation
have actually watched this award-winning classic. The movie won five Academy Awards in 1978 including Best Picture and Best Director. Interestingly, this is the only "really good" movie director Michael Cimino ever made, but if you''re going to have one highlight of your career, this is the one to have.
"The Deer Hunter" stars Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken as two men from a small town who are captured in Vietnam, tortured and forced to play Russian Roulette until they either blow their own brains out or go crazy. Amazingly, both survive the experience, but Walken''s mind is beyond repair, and, once the war is over, he returns to continue playing the all-stakes game. Meryl Streep also stars as a romantic interest.
The movie is wonderfully done, if not a bit long at over three hours. The Vietnam scenes are horrifyingly intense, but the whole movie is pretty much flawless - except for the beginning. The one major problem with the movie is that Cimino spends way too much time establishing the characters. What could have been done in ten minutes turns into a 30-40 minute introduction that is nothing but character development. The first time I watched the movie I almost turned it off before getting to "the good stuff."