Review of The Deer Hunter. One shot. One shot.

The Deer Hunter is an epic masterpiece. And that's an understatement. In fact, and I never say this, The Deer Hunter may have a permanent place on my top ten list. It was directed by Michael Cimino and starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, and John Cazale in his last role, and I was utterly amazed at the quality of this movie. It follows six friends in a small industrial town somewhere in Pittsburgh, three of which go to Vietnam to fight the war there. Going in thinking that it'll be easy and they'll come out of Nam as veteran heroes, De Niro, Walken, and Savage are sadly mistaken and when they are captured, they are forced to play a gruesome game called Russian Roulette, in which a single bullet is placed into a revolver and each person is to pull the trigger on the gun to see if they live or die and this game plays a heavy influence on the rest of the film. Really, this film is split into three parts, the moments leading up to when the pals go to war, the war itself, and then what goes on after Michael returns from the war. Almost all of the time the film is intensely shot with amazing cinematography and special effects, mostly saved for the total of twenty minutes of war violence. While the film is quite long, clocking in at a little longer than three hours, it gives the viewer the opportunity to get an emotional attachment to each of the characters and how they act before and after the war. Meryl Streep is also an important character, serving as the love interest. Go figure.
The Verdict:
The Deer Hunter is a masterful piece of art that should not be missed. There is a great meaning behind the film that is shown throughout about friendship and relationships and that is something in these present times is barely shown. Acting is phenomenal by everyone, especially the leads. Direction is fantastic as well, the score is great. Everything is amazing. And I'm not going to lie, I cried at the end. That's how attached I got. I give The Deer Hunter five clicks and one POW out of five. 5/5.