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The Deer Hunter Watch Along (Patreon)

Published:
2024-01-15 17:00:11
Imported:
2026-06
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This movie was incredible! I've never seen anything like it. Its such a beautiful and tragic movie about friendships and the toll of war on your psyche. I have so many more questions to ask myself about this movie. But from a filmmaking perspective, I felt the pacing, acting, score, story, and cinematography was incredible. I will never forget this movie. 

xx

ames

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The Deer Hunter Watch Along

Comments

John Brennan

I can't watch this again.... it 's completely haunting..... and just too real.... if that makes sense?

John Courtright

Amazing filmmaking! An unforgettable film! Whew, I'll need to prepare myself to see this one again!

RFK Fan

There's just so much insane acting and cinematography going on it's really a masterclass in filmmaking. Still think this is Deniro's GREATEST role and sadly the late John Cazale (who was engaged to Meryl Streep while making this film) never got to see it. But watching Meryl's performance here you really see her talent shining through taking a small role and making it big. The backstory here that's never discussed is that these guys all grew up together. The director even had them carry around a photo of the 5 of them when they were kids to remind them what's at stake when 3 of them go off to war and how that forever changes their tight group dichotomy. Look for the SMALL acting choices like Mike trying to sneak in a kiss on Linda at the bar then thinks better of it. Or Stan trying to insinuate to Mike that NICK might be the father of Angela's baby. Or the "hot lips" comment Linda gets from a co-worker insinuating that she's been "loose" since Nick's departure. It's just such a tragic character study and so brilliantly done by perfectionist Michael Cimino...

Shawn Goforth

The Russian roulette scenes are still some of the hardest things for me to watch. The first time I saw this movie, I anticipated Michael returning to find Nick unwilling or unable to leave, as we hear him promise not to leave Nick in Vietnam the night of the wedding. Watching Nick again at the end this many years later, I didn't so much feel he was addicted or felt invulnerable, like I did during my first watch. I thought more about the effect the roulette experience must have on the sanity of anyone whose been through it. Obviously they all handled it differently, but we definitely see that it is triggering for all the characters. I will never forget those sounds or images.

pickupthepieces

John Cazale (Stan) was in a relationship with Streep at the time of this movie. He had lung cancer and had to film his scenes first. When the studio found out he had cancer they wanted to remove him from the film. Streep threatened to quit if they did. De Niro paid for his insurance so he could participate in the movie.. Streep cared and stayed with him until his death. Sadly, he died before the release of the film. He was a great actor. See him in Godfather and Dog Day Afternoon. Had he lived longer I have no doubt he would be a famous and revered actor like Pacino and De Niro. It was not to be.

Carl Lyngholm

Not a comment about "The Deer Hunter" per se, but there's a 5 or 6 episode podcast that was produced by The Ringer/Spotify called "Do We Get to Win This Time". It basically covers the history of the portrayal of The Vietnam War thru the various films depicting the war starting from propogandist films like, "The Green Berets" with John Wayne all the way to modern times. Obviously, it covers the major films like "The Deer Hunter", "Apocalypse Now", and "Platoon" in some depth. Anyone interested should give it a listen.

John Courtright

Why did Michael spare the deer after returning from Vietnam? I think in some way, perhaps unconsciously, Michael felt that by letting the deer live, he was somehow keeping Nick alive. A life for a life.

JM63

So many wide shots and long takes. Um, why exactly did they stop shooting movies like this, again? (Otoh, it lets me appreciate these 70s masterpieces even more.) There were also some great lingering shots, like when Nick leaves the phone and the camera shows two other soldiers fighting over it for a good 10 seconds. The wedding sequence. The obvious comparison is The Godfather, which brilliantly uses a wedding to introduce that world. But this one is equally effective: it introduces the entire town, its ethnic roots, and its close-knit, almost oppressive, relationships (the wedding singer who grabs your girlfriend's ass tonight will sell your groceries tomorrow). By taking up so much of the movie, it leaves a vivid impression in our minds, just as it does for Mike, Nick, and Steve before they leave for war. I've always loved Meryl Streep's performance here. Her later roles are brilliant for other reasons, but I don't know if she's ever been so immediate and reactive as she is here. Her character is utterly lost in life, but Streep conveys this with merely a quiet vulnerability. Why does Nick stay? I think we see part of the answer during the hospital interview. He can barely remember his own name, let alone his parents' names and birthdates. Even the thought of Linda can't provoke a response. Maybe the realization that the world can contain violence that is so brutal and senseless (the guards seemed to be running the game simply to pass the time) has made him feel like his old life of the steel mill, drinking, and bowling is simply a lie that covers the ugly truth of what human beings are capable of. Better to face reality rather than bullshit. The kill-or-be-killed "game" might symbolize how many of the the soldiers, who were mostly draftees, saw the Vietnam War: as brutal, interminable violence which was inflicted upon them for no reason (as opposed to WWII, which had a clear and easily understandable objective). According to Wikipedia, the frustration in Vietnam led to nearly 900 "fragging" incidents where soldiers threw live grenades into their commanding officers' tents. (Thankfully, Wiki also says that the deer was brought down with a tranquilizer dart, not a real gun.) Glad you were able to check off a big one! Always excited to revisit this era, when "slow cinema" was the norm.

RFK Fan
>>127182144

Good observations JM.. I agree... This movie wouldn't get greenlit today unless spiderman popped up somewhere...

Clay F

Your reaction was perfect. Soothing. Help me in rewatching this. Agree the De Niro/Walken acting was stellar. Mesmerizing. Savage was convincing. Meryl Streep is a true nuanced actor and beautiful. The camera work made the movie even more enveloping. Among the mixture of feelings the movie delivers is a somber sick feeling. Stunning movie. The No. 52 ranking on the AFI Top 100 is well deserved. I liked your outro.

Hold Down A
>>127280776

Thanks for watching Clay!!it’s a really good movie and I’m still thinking about it today. I felt hard to speak at times because I was frustrated and felt the struggles they were going throu. I’ve been learning more about the film. It’s wild

Lana Gorgeous

I saw this movie when it first came out. I was in the Army, Military Police Corps stationed in Panama. Until today I haven't seen it since. Although I enlisted in 1978, there were plenty of Viet Nam veterans in my unit including my squad leader and platoon sergeant. I thought it was a very good movie at the time, but it did not hit me in a visceral way until a tragedy happened. A kid my age at the time, 20 or maybe he was 19, and he wasn't in my platoon but another platoon in the company. I didn't know him well being in different platoons, but one evening after watching this movie he started playing Russian Roulette and ended up killing himself. I remember it to this day, and I just thought what a tragic waste of life. War movies never impacted me that way, I've watched them all my young life from Here to Eternity to Audie Murphy To Hell and Back and even while in Panama, Apocalypse Now and The Boys of Company C and so on. Movies about Vietnam did sort of peak my interest only because I knew so many older soldiers who served there and I wanted to learn from them in case my time came and they were awesome teachers, great NCO's and whenever we were on alert, as a young soldier they gave us confidence. When one is dealing with real heroes, it’ s easy to put a movie in its proper perspective. I am not sure why it hit that other soldier the way it did. But I could not watch this movie again after that, because it just remined me of a young life taken in vain. I’m in my 60’s now and to die at 19 or 20 you never know what his life could have been. Seeing the Christopher Walken’s character kill himself reminded me of that kid, dying senselessly far away from home and alone.

China Andronicus

An amazing cast and an amazing film. Walken absolutely deserved his Oscar win for this role. I get so frustrated when people see him as just a quirky character actor when he can pull of performances like THIS. The range of emotion, down to the sheer blank look in his eyes in that closing scene, was astonishing. I don't think there was anything in the thrill for Nick. I can never understand their PTSD, but as someone who has attempted suicide more than once and who suffers survivors' guilt with my dad, I seriously feel for him. Sometimes you really want to go but can't quite push yourself there. I always felt like this was sort of his way of not taking that final push but giving himself the option. I have never been able to really like Michael because of how he treated his friends before the war, between blatantly trying to steal Nick's girlfriend and how he behaved towards Stan (Cazale). Also, firing the gun on Stan was just insane to me. He can't shoot at a deer, but he can fire point blank at his friend's head? One bullet, but that's still crazy. As always, I apologize for my rambling reviews, but this is a seriously long film and there's loads to unpack.