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DVD The Deer Hunter (Legacy Series Edition)
Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, The Deer Hunter is simultaneously an audacious directorial conceit and one of the greatest films ever made about friendship and the personal impact of war. Like Apocalypse Now, it's hardly a conventional battle film--the soldier's experience was handled with greater authenticity in Platoon--but its depiction of war on an intimate scale packs a devastatingly dramatic punch. Director Michael Cimino may be manipulating our emotions with masterful skill, but he does it in a way that stirs the soul and pinches our collective nerves with graphic, high-intensity scenes of men under life-threatening duress. Although Russian-roulette gambling games were not a common occurrence during the Vietnam war, they're used here as a metaphor for the futility of the war itself. To the viewer, they become unforgettably intense rites of passage for the best friends--Pennsylvania steelworkers played by Robert De Niro, John Savage, and Oscar winner Christopher Walken--who may survive or perish during their tour through a tropical landscape of hell. Back home, their loved ones must cope with the war's domestic impact, and in doing so they allow The Deer Hunter to achieve a rare combination of epic storytelling and intimate, heart-rending drama. --Jeff Shannon
Review(s): DVD The Deer Hunter (Legacy Series Edition)
"A deer has to be taken with one shot. I try to tell people that but they don't listen."
Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter" is a heartbreaking examination of the physical and emotional scars left on those who fought in Vietnam. Yet, while it does feature a number of strong performances, it is a work that is ultimately unfulfilling because of its disjointed and uneven narrative.
Three friends from Clairton, Pennsylvania leave their hometown to fight in Vietnam. The strong bond between Michael Vronsky (Robert De Niro), Steven (John Savage), and Nikonar "Nick" Chevotarevich (Christopher Walken) helps them survive the horrific ordeal of being prisoners of the Vietcong. However, Nick is profoundly changed by his experiences and retreats to the shadowy world of life-and-death gambling. Michael searches for him intent on returning him to the life and community he had left behind.
"The Deer Hunter" deserves praise for its mature examination of a difficult and painful subject. It refuses to tone down its gut-wrenching approach to the material and never strives for the traditional Hollywood happy ending. The performances are nothing short of superb. De Niro, Savage, Walken, along with John Cazale, and Meryl Streep are stunning. Yet, "The Deer Hunter" has two serious problems. First of all, it is not edited tightly. Energetic sequences are bracketed by sequences that are dull and run on for far too long. The story never develops any momentum as a result. Second, the three acts of "The Deer Hunter" do not blend together seamlessly. There is a start-and-stop feel when one act moves into the next because of a lack of transitions. This gives the narrative a rough and abrupt feel. In sum, these shortcomings harm "The Deer Hunter" enough to declare it a noble, but flawed, effort.
Excellent
If you haven't seen this movie, please do so. This movie lasts more than 3 hours, but you won't notice it. De Niro, Walken and Savage provide a terrific performance, and Streep and Cazale don't get behind. A must see.
This Legacy Series Edition is excellent, a double dvd pack with a beautiful design and a lot of extras. Totally recommended.
A huge letdown!
I finally rented this movie, 26 years after it came out. I always thought, this must be a great movie, but for some reason I just never got around to seeing it. God was I wrong! The first hour is so boring, you just want to shut it off! The rest of the movie is just pointless and stupid. Over and over you keep seeing people play Russian roulette, to the point where it's just ridiculous! If you haven't seen this movie yet, and you're expecting to see a movie that was worthy of winning five Academy Awards, think again!
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