This is the original review of The Deer Hunter by Siskel & Ebert on "Sneak Previews" in 1979. All of the segments pertaining to the movie have been included.
The Deer Hunter is one of the most overrated movies ever. It drags on and on, has a non-representative episode in its Vietnam segment, and then doesn't know what to say about it afterward. It's got good segments but overall they don't add up to much. I've watched it probably a dozen times and get less impressed every time.
It's a shame that Cimino was never again able to match the maturity and sensitivity shown in this film. He had some interesting misses after this, but this was definitely his masterpiece.
Cimino was a self-indulgent narcissist who made ONE of the greatest films ever. He also made Heaven’s Gate and The Desperate Hours, both unintentional jokes in their own way.
The American public and the movie industry misses these 2 men desperately. Hollywood today makes so much garbage and has nobody to hold them accountable.
Thats because the industry was destroyed by piracy and file sharing. The only projects that get greenlit are ones they can guarantee will have an audience, so the lowest common denominator is the target audience. Blame the greed and stupidity of the average human being
I sometimes forget what an intense, incredible, explosive, emotional, and brilliant actor DeNiro was in the 70”s and 80”s. I ran to the theatres to see his movies! Wow. Getting old sucks.
When I watched this movie the first time...I didn't get it. Thought it was too long and dragged. After watching it a second time...I got it. It is now one of my favorite movies.
I liked De Niro a lot though I this. Its the most sympathetic character I think I've seen him play. I'm used to see him playing unlikeable characters but he's so so good in this.
@@jothishprabu8 I never watched the whole film but saw the russian roulette scene & a few others. It is a very long film & I think by 79 people were sorta done with the depressing Vietnam type films. That's part of why many feel star wars did so well. People wanted to go to the movies to be excited & entertained
@@natalieps2387 by 79? Were there really that many Vietnam movies already out by 1979? I always think of mid 80s being the heyday for Vietnam movies. Platoon, Full Metal Jacket
@@natalieps2387 You have no idea what you are talking about. This and Coming home where the first two US films to have the war in Vietnam as a backdrop.
This film should go into re-release. The DVD and download culture allows great films to be swept under the carpet.. It deals with universal issues and should been seen in an immersive environment..
I will not let these films be forgotten. Just know that there is at least 1 young person that appreciates these master pieces, experiencing them for the first time. Movies used to really mean something, and if we keep watching the ones like this then they still do.
My favorite DeNiro performance and the whole cast is stellar. My only criticism is that I never believed that men as old as these characters would voluntarily enlist in order to fight in Vietnam. These men were not wet-behind-the-ears, young and idealistic. They were too street-savvy to romanticize war like their fathers did in WWII. Vietnam was not a popular war; the fact that men would go voluntarily did not ring true to me.
True, perhaps if it was very early in the conflict, but there was no dialogue of politics or there thoughts on the war. They had the mentality of draftees but the faces of career soldiers.
It is interesting. I did not care for the opening and the wedding sequence when I watched this film as a young man. But in later viewings, I loved it. Perhaps being a little more experienced allowed me to appreciate it more... Who knows? The Deer Hunter is a great film and really does show the kind of society that used to exist in America. There is a scene where Deniro’s character is walking Meryl Streep’s to work, the day after he’s arrived back from the war. As they go through town, everyone greets him ... It’s very heartbreaking...
That was always one of my favorite parts. Having grown up in very more Russian Greek Orthodox / Eastern European immigrants steel mill community in Western Pa. (Clairton was 5 minutes from me), it was comforting.
For me it’s the juxtaposition of the second part of the movie. Seeing them joyful and celebratory in a huge and traditional fashion seems like it drags at first. But on a rewatch, knowing what happens to them, I think it’s so powerful to see them together and joyous and overall ignorant of how horrible the war was.
I’ve watched it several times through the years. I think you have to consider Cimino was Italian. He structured the film like a grand Italian opera. The first act paints a picture of a community through a wedding ritual. Fate is indicated by a drop of wine. The second act is immediate horror with no escape. The third act is attempted resolution and the survivors coming to terms with the loss of their friends and of their naivety, and their continued love of country. It was the first of only a few films I’ve watched where I was left speechless.
One of the very finest movies ever made. I could watch this film every single week. The performances, the direction, the cinematography, the themes and tone. There's so much raw emotion in this movie, extremely powerful.
I don't understand the joke, I must be missing something. Christopher said in a tv interview in 1979 that one of his brothers went to Vietnam and he was afraid something bad was going to happen to him.
Deer Hunter is as hard a film to watch as you will ever see. Don't get me wrong, it's a great film IMO ,but get ready cause this one is gonna rip at your emotions for real. But if you like movies you should see it.
Yes, the Dear Hunter is a masterpiece of filmmaking. The problem I have with it is it portrays the Americans as the victims and underdogs, and the Vietnamese as pure evil.
It's tough because I agree with you somewhat and know that some Vietnamese see it the same way. They think this film is antivietnamese. I can't agree with that. Think of Abu Gharib in Iraq and the torture given out by our side against Iraqi prisoners. It seems to me that war brings out the worst in everybody, no matter the nationality. You can't say for sure that American POW were not treated to horrific treatment under the Viet Cong or prisoner camps run by sadists. The film needs to be appreciated for the reasons S&E outline in their review: the Vietnam middle section is condensed to encapsulate the most horrific experience that innocents from the Midwest could endure. Another point is that the inferior technology of North Vietnam had to be reinforced with brutal methods to instill fear. It was a bulwark against this disadvantage, for better of worse.
The Asians in general have less respect for human life, executing American wounded, cutting their genitals off pulling out their intestines in some cases. In Vietnam if you have a war film that depicts a VC dying they call you anti Vietnamese so their reaction is no surprise
Would it have made the film more digestible and the overall plot arc more understandable if they removed the entire Roulette scene (you know, to paint the Vietnamese in a better light). Would that have made the film better? Pretty sure it wouldn't have, and pretty sure making the Vietnamese look more caring and the Americans as equally heinous would have also defeated the purpose of of the movie, which was to show the trauma that the experience of war inflicts in one small group of friends perspective, not to document both sides tragedy in an unbiased and fair perspective.
@@jimmycakes7158 Not all of them, they stumbled across Deniro at the end of his mission before they were all captured together. But what's the point. It's all fiction, so why be nit-picky.
John Savage always top notch performance in every role he plays also walken scene with the doctor I thought the actor playing the doctor did great just standing there kind of not really knowing what to do next while this soldier is having a breakdown or is waiting for the breakdown to end so he can finish and move on to the next man
Nahhh they're wrong Deer Hunter isn't a combat movie at all its rather about veterans back home similar to Coming Home. That vietnam sequence felt more like Deliverance. It's a great movie but for me the combat movies were Platoon, Hamburger Hill and Full Metal Jacket.
Saw part of it. It's another rehab movie ... like all movies. I'm not against it, but I used to think movies were more than just dramatic experiences. They're just rehab stories with some cheering involved. Not a bad thing, but they don't tell you that in film school. I wasted my time with it. You want to be a successful film maker? Then go become a doctor and shoot a rehab story.
I love the cast, but just don’t get the adulation for this movie. It’s way too long, and has an absolutely preposterous plot with some over the top, melodramatic moments. It’s one of those movies that’s more “important” than actually good in my opinion.
For growing up in the northwest I loved “heavens gate” ever second of it was like wine couldn’t get enough I always thought Camino made a masterpiece that would take decades to really be appreciated… still waiting.. lol
With all due respect to Michael Cimino, there was no way he could top himself after The Deer Hunter. While I don't think his followup Heaven's Gate is as bad as some say, I will agree that the movie doesn't have a story, and its lead character's motives are confused and difficult to understand. Heaven's Gate also has a beautiful final sequence inside a boat. A marvelous shot of Kris Kristopherson looking melancholy and closing the door. I like this scene even though I don't know what's going on lol. He then made "Enter the Dragon", a film I originally thought was good but hurt by being overly violent and excessive, but now its grown on me and now I think it's very good and has a terrific, powerful lead acting job by Mickey Rouke. Michael Cimino is one of the most interesting directors in movie history in my opinion.
To me it's one of those movies that really has something to say, but then doesn't really say much of anything. Which the critics love. Plus, they all seem to old for Vietnam anyway, even if they weren't drafted but enlisted.
I have to rewatch this one. I saw at at 15 or 16 when it first came out. Except for the Vietnam sequence, it bored me to tears. Especially the long wedding scenes.
I think why it wasn't shown in theaters across the country at the time also had to do with the running time of over 3 hours. In 1979 we didn't have multiplexes. A lot of theaters didn't want a movie they could only show once in an evening. They wanted movies they could show twice to double their ticket sales and stay in business.
It went into wide release once the studio saw the rave reviews. I think Time magazine made a big deal out of it being the first movie for which New York City theaters were charging five dollars for tickets. I saw it twice in my small town, the first time with a Vietnam vet. First time I had ever seen or heard of Meryl Streep. The scene outside the church, after the wedding, as the couple was getting into the car, in which Meryl was just standing there watching them, smiling, she looked absolutely like a real person, not an actress, and I couldn't take my eyes off her.
Yes it does because many of us CAN'T see it again.Once is more than enough for the Deer hunter. And If I could give an advice to someone who hasn't seen it and wants to see it is , switch on the lights and don't watch this film alone or very late at night like I did almost 30 years ago.
The scene where Nick finds the Russian Roulette club breaks my heart every time. Michael and Nick were SO CLOSE to reuniting and avoiding tragedy, but it wasn't to be...
The intensity that DeNiro brings to that Russian Roulette scene has always been in a class of its own. Trying to keep things together and his friends alive long enough to get more bullets in the gun. All of this while his own anger and frustration keeps on boiling over. He wants to kill that Vietnamese guy sooo fucking bad. It’s terrifying and heart breaking to watch.
Who else recalls the WFLD Channel 32 in Chicago TV premiere of this film in around 1981, showing it totally UNCUT with all the swear words including the few 'F' Bombs in it, and yes even leaving the entire, very intense Russian Roulette scene completely intact. Pretty gutsy move back then, and if I recall correctly there were only one or two commercial breaks as well...after all it WAS commercial TV, and not HBO lol, but I always wondered what kind of deal WFLD struck with the FCC or whomever to show it uncut, and I imagine part of the deal was including the strong parental guidance warnings before broadcast, of which I recall as well.
Can I say something very unpopular? I hated the Deer Hunter. So many scenes dragged on, especially the wedding reception. The idea of russian roulette seems pretty thin. I don't know how anyone could sit through this overlong junk. The actors are fine, but they can't hold up this boring movie. I don't know how it won Best Picture, but at least Michael Cimino was given enough money to waste it on Heaven's Gate and we didn't have to sit through anymore of his pretentious garbage.
I saw this movie years after it won all its awards. I could not figure out what all the fuss was about. Three working class guys in there late twenties/early thirties all decide to fight in the Vietnam War at the same time? They all get shipped out on the same day and all end up not only being captured but also being held in the same prison camp.... That was simply to much disbelieve for me to suspend. And the whole being forced to play Russian roulette thing? Sheesh!
Back then, the only "F" word was FUCK. Faggot wasn't even considered an obscenity back then. Even now, it's commonly used among teenagers, especially in hip hop culture I noticed. So no, it's not going to be censored. Certainly not in 1979.
When were those guys actually heading to Vietnam, 1977? And how old are they? The beginning of the movie they all look old enough to be parents, but they're shipping out to Vietnam? I think that's why this movie didn't really work for me, there was too much that was unbelievable to me, starting with that.
@@TooCooFoYou Yeah, I get it's not the 60's, but to me they still look/seem too old for the story. That's just how I see it though, I don't think the filmmakers made a mistake, and tried to pass older guys off as much younger, or anything like that. But for me, it was a distraction.
That's the problem with Hollywood: they go for big names over realistic casting. Look at "Shaving Ryan's Privates", Stephen Ambrose scoffed at the fact that Tom Hanks was playing a Captain. He claimed Hanks was way too old to be playing a captain.
Finally saw this a few years back. Thought the whole Russian Roulette thing was weird. Felt it was overly-long. Dragged. Didn't really care about the characters. Film didn't really work for me.
For me, everything that happened before and after they were in country really hit me. They were just working class regular folks who had no idea what was heading towards them. Great performances.
I wondered why three guys in there late twenties and/or early thirties suddenly decided to all join the military and go off to fight in Vietnam at the same time.... That seemed pretty ridiculous to me.
@@kakashi101able, please. Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken were both 35 when the Deer Hunter came out in 1978 (and both looked every minute of their ages), and John Savage (who looked slightly younger) was 29. "It happens." Yes, but it's not very likely--especially for a war that had already been raging for several years before these three friends suddenly decided they wanted to join "for America". I'm sorry that I didn't like this movie as much as you did. Don't even get me started on the fact that they all met up again when they were in Vietnam (as if the entire country is the size of Mayberry) or any of that ridiculous stuff about being forced to play Russian roulette. You found it gripping and compelling. I found it overlong and pretentious.
The movie didn't come to Chicago until early 1979 after the Oscar nominations were announced...it only played in NY and LA in December 1978 to qualify for Oscar consideration...after the new year is when is slowly started to play in different markets around the country...that's how a lot of movies got released back in those days and still do depending on their importance and Oscar caliber prestige....that's why you see 1979 here in the caption and that's when Gene and Roger themselves finally saw it....
The movie is not really all that good. It’s mostly that one good scene-the Russian Roulette scene. The rest of the movie is padding for that. And from knowing people with military and war-time experience, I can tell you that it is highly unlikely that if four friends enlist and then go to another country to fight, they are ever going to see each other there. But all these guys end up together. It’s not going to happen.
I agree. “The notebook”. Is a real movie about true love. Meryl streep dosnt hold a candle to that Spanish actress in GILI. And bob denior character could of been played by Gilbert Godfrey
No the film is about the struggle many soldiers feel returning to so called normal life after witnessesing things no person ever should do. My favourite part was De Niro's character returning home.
Probably because it's not about Vietnam, but about how war and it's trauma effected a community and a group of friends. They could have easily made this happen around the Korean War, or WWII.
Another crappy American movie about the US invasion of Vietnam. I would be willing to forgive the film's god-awful portrayal of the Vietnamese if the film was at least entertaining or interesting on some level. It is just so booooooring.
The choice of this Russian Roulette thing - a historical slander of the (North) Vietnamese, however bad they actually were - was very unfortunate. Sadly S&E did not talk about this point.
@@SandfordSmythe It's not symbolic. Michael Cimino in 1979 (search the interview , it's here on youtube) said that the russian roulette was a real thing in Vietnam.
@@dora1980 I'm not aware of that. I always saw suicide as the flip side of war. MASH the movie came out during the war, and it had a catchy theme song of "Suicide is Painless" which summed up my attitude towards possibly going to Vietnam. The scene had a powerful effect, and I think we miss a lot by seeing it as a documentary.
@@dora1980 it is symbolic. the visualization you see of the later 2 russian roulette scenes is pretty obvious, young men playing a game of chance with death as both vietnamese and white men in business suits watch and bet. all the while laughing and treating their lives as disposable. theres no honor in it, it takes the war and reduces it to a crude game of chance for the entertainment and enrichment of rich people who themselves dont have to put their lives in the line
The most overrated film of all time. Figures that these two turds would think otherwise. Completely unlikable characters, ridiculous "plot". An absolute mess. Did anyone notice that Cimino's career went nowhere? That is not what happens when you have talent.
I found it boring and pointless. The story jumped around senselessly. The Russian roulette stuff was just a bunch of bs. No verified stories of this ever happening. I didn’t get the appeal at all.
I don't think pointless. The roulette, I think, was a stand-in for war itself, which we never see much of in the movie. It's chaos, random chance as much as anything can be. That's the brutal truth of war that gets a lot of veterans truly demoralized: that lives are taken and broken without meaning, design or justification, and even more importantly, that there's very little one can do to protect one's self. Militaries and soldiers go on an on about drilling and preparation and fitness and weapons and equipment and patriotism and just cause and rah-rah-blah-blah, but it's really all crap, isn't it? That's the roulette...De Niro's character is special forces, Green Beret apparently, and he keeps a steadier head than the other two, who either give in to the emotional breakdown (Savage) or embrace only the chaos (Walken), but they all equally have to play the game. And in the end, survival isn't really enough. De Niro can no longer shoot the deer: He knows too much about how it feels to be on the other end of a weapon by the end.
Am I the only who thought that the Deer Hunter was completely stupid? I have been scouring the internet for just one harsh review but every single critic thinks early Cimino just craps cotton candy.
Meryl Streep...one of the greatest female actresses to ever grace the screen. She did this and Out of Africa...two completely different characters both equally amazing.