Review of The Deer Hunter

Outstanding and haunting Best Picture winner of 1978 that still packs a punch nearly 25 years later. Robert DeNiro (Oscar-nominated), Christopher Walken (Oscar-winning for Best Supporting Actor) and John Savage are on their way to fight for their country in Vietnam. The three are in for a rude awakening from their simple lives in a small steel town in Pennsylvania. The terrors of Vietnam will change all. DeNiro, an avid deer hunter, cannot stand to even shoot a gun after he returns. Savage loses his legs and is too ashamed and scared to return home to his new wife and friends. Walken has lost it mentally and stays in Vietnam and develops the taste for Russian roulette. The movie is a trial to sit through in many ways, but it is also an important film that was the first commentary on the topic of Vietnam. Meryl Streep also received her first of a record 12 Oscar nominations as Walken's love interest. John Cazale was deathly ill during the making of the movie and died shortly after the film was completed of terminal cancer. Michael Cimino's amazing Oscar-nominated screenplay and out-of-this-world Oscar-winning direction are right on key. "The Deer Hunter" is important film-making that has a strong message about life, death and love. It is a movie that should be experienced by everyone at least once. 5 stars out of 5.