DVD Review HTF REVIEW: The Deer Hunter (1 Viewer)

[Kevin M]

You see, I don't have a problem with the opening half of the film, it's called character development & I think it's pretty good. Plus considering what the film is basically about, friend & family ties being torn asunder by war and life in general, I don't see what other beginning some of you guys want...well there's a question: if you find the beginning so intolerable, how do you think it should have began?

Then again maybe that's a question for a different thread as this is about the DVD not the film itself.

 

[Brett_M]

The wedding portion of the film lays down the foundation for everything that follows. I enjoyed every second of it. The rest of the film doesn't matter if you don't care about the characters and their history.

It blows me away that there is so little dialog in the first hour of the film, yet the characters convey volumes of information via their behaviors and interactions.

As for the Russian Roulette sequence in the hut by the river -- what a fantastic way to create tension, fear and the gut-wrenching agony of war. How many times can the good guys get poinned down by enemy fire, only to be killed off one by one until only the main characters survive and (1) make a daring escape (2) become captured, only to escape daringly later, (3) fire their weapons empty and be rescued at the last possible second, et al? To me, the acting in that scene alone is more gripping and fascinating than the VC assualt at the end of Platoon, the Normandy Invasion sequence in Saving Private Ryan or the first half of Full Metal Jacket, and I love each of those films. The Deer Hunter brings to life the horrors of war and the effects they have on relationships between friends and loved ones.

Thanks for the review and great discussion.

 

[Jefferson Morris]

Wow, the critical downgrading of this film sure was news to me. The Deer Hunter's critical esteem used to be such that certain broadcast TV stations in my area (Northern Virginia/DC) used to show this film uncut, on two successive nights. And this was back in the 1980s! Guess it was still cruising on its Oscar cred.

I wouldn't put it above Apocalypse Now overall, but I think it does have a far greater emotional pull to it. As was pointed out above, the slow and deliberate introduction of the characters is the essential pre-amble for the horror of the Vietnam sequence. Personally, I never found the opening boring, even when I first saw the film as a kid. Besides, I find DeNiro at this age and point in his career to be endlessly watchable. And who can forget that beautiful guitar theme, as played by John Williams (no, not that one).

I'm greatly looking forward to picking up this DVD (haven't gotten around to it yet) and revisiting this film. I haven't seen the movie in a decade or so, but I expect it probably still will hold up pretty well for me.

For the record, I've never quite liked the "God Bless America" coda, although the final moment before the credits is perfect.

--Jefferson Morris

 

[Walter Kittel]

Chalk me up as another admirer of this great film. Seeing The Deer Hunter theatrically so many years ago remains one of the best film-going experiences of my life. There are other films about the Vietnam conflict that have their strengths; but amongst that group of films, for emotional resonance and impact I find this film unsurpassed.

I hope to view the new DVD release by this weekend.

- Walter.

 

[Felix Martinez]

While listening to the commentary, I checked the length of the wedding/reception sequence and was surprised that it's "only" 25 min. (including the fantastic scene with the Ranger at the bar). It's a lengthy stretch but not an hour long. Again, thanks to the wondrous transfer, one can finally see the majesty of Cimino and Zsigmond's images. I found myself engaged in this film throughout its entire length like never before. The deer hunting sequence in the first hour (and its reprise later in the film) simply took my breath away.

I envy the person who has never seen this film and is now experiencing it for the first time through this new release.

Here it is, days later, and I'm still thinking about The Deer Hunter: it's majestic and horrific images, it's haunting score, and the absolutely pitch-perfect performances.

 

[Felix Martinez]

By my estimation, the "downgrading" began post-Heaven's Gate in the early '80s when some critics used that film as a "rear-view mirror" to re-evaluate Deer Hunter. The lack of a proper version of Deer Hunter on home video also led to its decline in status among some cinefiles, as many other fine films of the era enjoyed first-class releases on laserdisc and DVD. IMHO, The Deer Hunter simply dipped under the radar.

I think this new release will bring it back to the forefront of discussion and analysis, as this thread is beginning to confirm.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

The beginning isn't so much intolerable, but the second quote pretty much answers the reason why some people feel the first third of the money seems long. We got the point very early in the film, and the wedding (moreso the reception) seemed to beat you over the head with it. But I guess every person needs to experience a Russian Orthodox wedding/reception. Like I always say, my favorites are Baptist weddings and Catholic receptions.

 

[Kevin M]

To me it is just a character developing slice of life...it may not be a slice from your life, but I thought it engaged you with these people in a pretty subtle but substantial way that gobs of dialog wouldn't have done in any more successful a manner.
I miss films like this where they actually take the time to show you who these people are....MTV really has screwed up subtilty, if it isn't coming at you a mile a second it is considered "slow".

 

[Jefferson Morris]

Fuck it!

--Jefferson Morris

 

[AlexCremers]

"You see, I don't have a problem with the opening half of the film, it's called character development & I think it's pretty good."

I agree, the first time I watched this I was pretty young and I watched it together with a bunch of guys. During the long first act we all felt like throwing bricks at the screen. Of course, later on the film became much "cooler".
The second time I watched 'The Deer Hunter' I was a few years older. To my surprise, the "boring" scenes were no longer boring but interesting. They flew by fast. I suddenly realized that the reason why 'The Deer Hunter' works so well (and where most other Vietnam movies fail) is character development. You really get to know these guys before they go to hell.

It's one of the few movies I really needed to see twice before giving it a big

Alex

 

[JohnRice]

I'm glad to finally see several posts which don't slam (quite mistakenly, I think) this film, and particularly the first 1/3. I don't, and never did think it was slow. I expect I saw it the first time while I was in High School. I loved it all then and have grown to love it all even more now. Also, I think the fact that it is 3 hours long, but barely more than 1/4 of it actually takes place in Vietnam should be clear evidence what it is actually about and the reason a lot of people are dissappointed with it. I mean, "it's a Vietnam movie. It should be about Vietnam." Not really.

Anyway, that whole, extremely long intro section has a huge payoff for me when...

they go to the bar after hunting and are horsing around when George Dzundza starts playing the piano. They all start settling down, he finishes the song, everything is quiet while the camera moves in on DeNiro and you start hearing helicopters before you are thrown right into the middle of a battle.

There is just something that works with that like nothing else I have ever seen. I can't believe it would be nearly as effective if the audience hadn't been lulled, in a sense, from the extensive opening segment.

 

[JohnRice]

I just want to say it again. I am floored by all the accustaions of this film being so manipulative. Platoon isn't at least, and probably even more manipulative? Schindler's List is FAR more manipulative, if you really pay attention. A lot of people worship Braveheart and that one is so manipulative it is unbelievable. The Deer Hunter can't even hold a candle to how manipulative any of those films is.

 

[Jeff_Standley]

Although the new DVD sounds great I, along with Ron and a few others, dont think I could sit through the first half, or the entire movie for that matter to see it in it's new glory.
I felt like this movie hated me. I was bored to death for the first half with some scenes dragging on for what seemed like days.
There were some very good scenes though, but not enough to watch again.
Walken was awesome though.

This movie got lots of attention because it was the first movie made about the Vietnam war, after the war right?

Sidenote:
I was talking with a vietnam vet once and he said it was one of his favorites films and very powerful because they got the feel of vietnam right to him. I dont know what he was talking being born several years after Vietnam. But he saw something apparently aI missed in this movie.

 

[Jefferson Morris]

I agree its no more manipulative than any of the films you mentioned.

Personally I think it's silly to criticize any film as "manipulative." We are all being manipulated into emotional and visceral responses when we watch films. The best films manipulate us with an apparent effortlessness that always belies the huge amounts of effort and calculation that went into them.

When someone criticizes a film as "manipulative," what they're effectively saying is, "the film didn't successfully manipulate me, because I was wise to its game." It's like the flip side of praising something as "subversive" - what we really mean is, "it subverts opinions and beliefs that I don't actually hold myself."

--Jefferson Morris

 

[Jefferson Morris]

The first seriously acclaimed one, anyhow. There was John Wayne's famously lambasted The Green Berets, released in 1968. But I think you're right--it was the first major one after the war concluded.

Apocalypse Now would have been released first, I believe, had production not dragged on endlessly.

--Jefferson Morris

P.S. Not related, but a legend has passed.

 

[Haggai]

Right, Apocalypse Now had started production earlier, I think maybe even a year or two before Deer Hunter did. I'm not old enough to remember this, but I did read that some in the press started referring to Deer Hunter as "Apocalypse First," while Coppola's movie became "Apocalypse Never" as the production dragged on and on. And while I do love AN, I got a chuckle out of reading that one reviewer found it inconsistent and dubbed it "Apocalypse Now And Then."

 

[Kevin M]

I agree, Deer Hunter certainly wasn't the first Nam film to be made but it was one the first one's to crack the block that hollywood and the film going public had on visiting something so recent, 1978 seems to have been the year this self imposed blacklist was raised as three films were released that year, Coming Home & The Boys From Company C being the other two. However, aside from Coming Home, Deer Hunter was the first one to be widely recognized and acclaimed (as has been said) & many don't even consider coming home to be a vietnam film as it deals with the aftermath....I personally think Deer Hunter has more in common with that film then with Platoon, but all are connected to vietnam and it's impact on people so IMO are vietnam films....some are just more direct than others.

 

[Bob Cashill]

GO TELL THE SPARTANS (78) was another film that broke open the subject of Vietnam for Hollywood, but though released before THE DEER HUNTER it, like COMPANY C, was a flop. Still, it's worth rediscovering--be advised, however, that the new HBO DVD is panned/scanned.

 

[Haggai]

Finally got around to watching it tonight. Great movie, and the impact of seeing this excellent transfer on a widescreen display certainly beats the pan&scan tape I saw some years back.

 

[Kevin M]

All this talk of Deer Hunter being manipulative....I just watched Without a Trace (1983)...now that is an example of manipulative filmmaking, at least the ending is*, now compare that to DH.
Film...hell, storytelling in general...is a manipulative art form by it's very nature and it is the care under which it is played out that determines whether it is successful or not, now some have said that they see the artifice in DH....I disagree, but even so DH is absolutely subtle compared to Without A Trace's ending.

Again, that's an example of truly manipulative filmmaking.




*And that's such a shame as pretty much the rest of the film is filled with solid acting and honest storytelling that pretty much followed the main facts of the real life case that were known at the time...except of course for that tacked on pathetic maudlin hollywood ending.