The Deer Hunter Reviews

Long and brilliant!

Yes it maybe nearly 3 hours long but this is a brilliant film. The acting is dynamite. De Niro and Walken are fantastic, especially in the POW camp!

Almost every single aspect of this film is stunning. The direction, acting and photography all brilliant. The only problem is that it does tend to meander a little bit. Not enough to ruin the film but you know what I mean.

Very powerful and sad but extremely compelling. Great Vietnam flick! Almost as good as Apocalypse Now and better than Full Metal Jacket.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Excellent, except for that awful classical guitar

One of De Niro's finest acting performances cements a riveting drama around friends who become involved in the Vietnam War. At three hours in length it would normally be a challenge sitting through it but unlike Casino this film did not drag one bit. Consideration is given to drawing out the characters in the opening 70 minutes of film and although this could slow things up I found it to set the film up nicely. Great cinematography elevates the film into the classic status but unlike many war films where the message is central it was more acting and characters that drove the film and it's all the better for it.

I think I'm gonna have to watch this again

Maybe I was in the wrong mood but this film really didn't affect me as much as I thought it should. The opening is very very long and pretty dull, I guess to drill into the viewer the relative normality of the characters, particularly Walken's. There's then a harsh cut to the vietnam war, the horror of combat and the infamous russian roulette game. Afterwards, Walken loses it and exists by gambling with his life in the seedy underworld of post-war saigon, DeNiro returns home only to come back later to try and bring Walken back to his home town and a normal life.

The film is obviously anti-war and is conveying its effects on people and communities directly and indirectly involved. I guess it's a film that had to be made I just didn't like it. It didn't really show me anything I didn't already know and I thought it was slow and cumbersome and heavy handed. THere are some fine performances from a young Walken and DeNiro and the famous roulette scene rightfully sticks in the mind as a gruesome and sickeningly suspensful piece of cinema but the reputation of that scene and the way the rest of the film is made makes it all seems to revolve around it. Take it away and there's not much left.

Epic & Classic

When this film came out I wasn't even born! I've always been dubious about watching old films, its odd to see some of my favourite actors when they were younger. But this film shows how good the cast was, and you can tell why they've come so far.

The film itself is quite slow to start, but a harsh cut brings you into the middle of the Vietnam war. From this point on the film takes a different route. Showing some rather brutal realities of the war and how they affect those who were there.

Even if you don't enjoy this film is worth watching for the ending, which is comparable to Apocalypse Now.

Over-rated

People talk of great films - must-sees - classics, and all-time greats - the Deer Hunter is one of those films. It may be a classic, but…

It wasn't what I was expecting, and would fall into the category of over-hyped films, blown up so much beforehand that you are ultimately disappointed. It is a typical big-story 70s flick, excruciatingly over-acted at times by all the high profile actors. De Niro mumbles his way through – by this, I mean, the lines sometimes are so incoherent that it required me to rewind a number of times and finally resort to the subtitle feature before I was able to grasp what he was saying.

The story may have a poignant, heart-felt and emotional message, but it is completely lost in the overplayed and overacted, long-drawn out scenes. The first third of the film concentrates on the preparations for the three friends' departure from Pennsylvania to serve with the US Army in Vietnam. The film tries to capture the camaraderie between the friends as naturally as possible, probably with the use of improvisation at times, but which doesn't really work. You never ever feel connected with the characters; the behaviour of Meryl Streep's character towards the two guys, played by De Niro and Christopher Walken, can only be described as “weird”.

The war scenes are fragmented - you see little of the actual war taking place - no scenes of the characters in combat - but then, that's not the purpose of the film. It focuses instead on their treatment following their capture by the Vietnamese army. They are forced to take part in a deadly game of Russian Roulette. These particular scenes are tense but again, over-acted, and unrealistic as a result. Some of the characters' actions and communications during the game are unnecessary and holds no purpose other than to confuse.

How the film did affect me was its setting in the home town of Clairton. It's a miserable, cold industrial town not far from lush forestry wilderness and seems to have little to offer its residents other than work. I don't know the background to the film. Maybe it was inspired by real-life experiences of someone from Clairton who went away to Vietnam, who knows? But it didn't capture or serve its purpose, and obsesses a lot about the Russian Roulette deaths as some sort of focal point to the film.

Unbelievable

Truly astounding. 100% rubbish. Cannot believe people have written even half decent reviews on this movie! Given it 1* as about 10 minutes of the movie was interesting. Rest was ludicrous and boring, very dull. Also far outdated, complete timewaster.

Too many Deers..........

Erm well what can i say, this was a total wast of my time and if I ever have the misfortune to watch a Robert D epic again I will take a book with me (Just in case)

TURKEY

Over-long, Over-rated and Over-here

Not the best war film by any means, maybe the worst. Pointless wedding scene that went on for hours, very little action in Vietnam and very depressing. Far too long and slow and very out-dated.

A Vietnam Classic

Although the film starts somewhat slow, a bit of patience and endurance will reward the viewer with an excellent film about the horrors of war and the after effects it causes upon the soldiers return. There are some real cinema moments which will stay with you long after the film ends. DeNiro, Walken, Savage and Streep give outstanding performances. This film is a definite must see at least once in your life.

Excellent acting, dull film

This was a very long film which could easliy have been cut down by about an hour. All the acting was excellent, but the film itself was very dull. Even the famous russian roulette scene wasn't that great and didn't build the tension very well.