The Deer Hunter (1978) Universal Pictures 📢 Director: Michael Cimino 💰 Producer: Barry Spikings, Michael Deeley, Michael Cimino, John Peverall 👫 Cast: Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken. 🏆 Awards ceremony: -51st Academy Awards: April 9, 1979. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, California. 🎭 Other films nominated for Best Picture this year: -Coming Home. -Heaven Can Wait. -Midnight Express. -An Unmarried Woman. 📕 Plot summary: The lives of a group of steel workers from Pennsylvania change irrevocably when three friends head off to fight in Vietnam. Scenes of torture, extreme discomfort and heartbreak follow as we focus on Michael's (Robert De Niro) character and his loyalty towards Nick (Christopher Walken) and Steven (John Savage) as they experience the severe brutality of being prisoners of war. 💥 Standout scene(s): The best scene in the movie for me is when the guys stop the car on the mountain road and end up having the argument over a pair of boots. The camaraderie between all of them is just fantastic. The background shots are beautiful and the whole dialogue is perfect. 🔑 Facts: -The 51st Academy Awards. -Nominated for 9 Academy Awards, it won 5: Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Christopher Walken), Sound, Editing. -Christopher Walken won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This was his second Best Picture appearance in succession after appearing in the previous year's ANNIE HALL. -Second Best Picture for Robert De Niro (The Godfather Part II). -Both Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep - the greatest actor and actress of all time in my opinion - were both nominated for their roles but neither of them won. -The studio did not want to cast John Cazale in the movie because he was dying but Robert De Niro personally vouched for him and even paid the insurance needed to secure Cazale. 🙂 Personal opinion: Intense, humorous, dramatic and shocking... I used to think this film was merely 'okay', but having recently seen it again - and now in HD - my opinion of it has greatly improved and I now think of it as 'very good'. The wedding ceremony and celebrations take up the first hour of the movie with extravagant scenes which are long but leisurely. The ambience is calm and jovial with a good feel about it, including a scene that has De Niro running down the middle of a street at night balls-naked... and then we hit Vietnam and the whole mood changes. The tone becomes much darker and serious and sets the stage for a bittersweet ending. George Dzundza (John) and John Cazale (Stan) are supporting characters to each add their own touches on the light-hearted aspect of the story and enhance the buddy-feel of the picture. A big thumbs up for the cinematography too - both the beautiful and the ugly scenes really fill the screen with immensely powerful framing. The torture scenes in Saigon, the Russian Roulette stuff and the hunting trip back home contrast and compliment each other in what is a well-edited film that flows fast and keeps the attention on the screen for 3 whole hours. There was only one scene I didn't appreciate and that was when De Niro shoots and kills the deer and we see it suffer and take its final breath. Seeing Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep in their first film together is also an important milestone. Both would go on to become probably the two greatest actors of all time for their own sex. I'm sure that opinion is shared by many other genuine movie fans. Did it deserve the Oscar? ✅YES. A powerful film. ⭐️8/10

Review date: 29 March 2025