Deer Hunter, The (1978)
The Cast
Robert De Niro .... Michael Vronsky
John Cazale .... Stanley 'Stosh'
John Savage .... Steven
Christopher Walken .... Nick
Meryl Streep .... Linda
George Dzundza .... John
Chuck Aspegren .... Axel
Weird, two Cazale movies in a row, & I didn't even plan it out that way. The Deer Hunter is an epic story of the effect the Vietnam War had on smalltown America, directed by Michael Cimino. This is an emotional epic, not like, a promotional epic like Pearl Harbour, which I still haven't seen yet (somebody tell me whether I should or not?).
De Niro stars as the titular character, though never referred to as The Deer Hunter, it's implied dammit, it's implied! Strangely enough, deer hunting takes up only a small portion of this movie. If you'd have called the movie My Big Fat Smalltown Jewish Wedding, it might've been more accurate. For time consumption that is, not emotional involvement.
This is a near perfect movie, based on story, cinematography, acting, just about everything. Walken's performance is awesome, & heart-wrenching, with an ending that'll just beat the crap out of you. The only drawback is it's epicness. There's a lot of shots included in this movie that aren't entirely neccessary & don't really add anything to the film. Lopping off a few seconds, or small sections here & there would make it a perfect movie.
Walken deserved the Oscar he received for his performance in this movie. I'm not familiar with the other nominees for Best Picture back then (being that I was barely born!), but I think The Deer Hunter probably deserved the win. However, it didn't deserve the Best Film Editing Oscar by any means. The only other movie I saw that was nominated was Superman, & at least that guy kept the time manageable. 4.5 outta 5.
Roger Ebert's review of The Deer Hunter (1978)