One of the most important and powerful films of all time!
Overview
Three steelworkers enlist in the army and are sent to Vietnam, one leaving behind a rushed marriage, the others a shared love. What they encounter during the war changes their lives forever.
Ratings
Curator score: 9.3/10
IMDb: 8.1/10
Letterboxd: 4.21/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Metacritic: 90
TMDB: 8.0/10
Director
Michael Cimino
Production
Universal Pictures, EMI Films
Cast
Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale, John Savage, Meryl Streep, George Dzundza, Rutanya Alda, Pierre Segui, Amy Wright, Richard Kuss, Joe Grifasi, Dennis Watlington, Shirley Stoler, Chuck Aspegren, Mary Ann Haenel, Mady Kaplan, Paul D'Amato, Christopher Colombi Jr., Victoria Karnafel, Jack Scardino
Curator Review
Verdict
A major American war drama that starts as a working-class hangout movie and slowly turns into a devastating study of trauma, friendship, and the psychic cost of Vietnam. Its length and tonal swings can be challenging, but the emotional payoff and iconic performances make it essential viewing.
Best for
Viewers who like epic character-driven dramas
People interested in Vietnam War films with a human focus
Fans of 1970s American cinema and prestige filmmaking
Audiences drawn to tragic, emotionally punishing stories
Skip if
You want a brisk, plot-driven war movie
You prefer consistently intense or consistently light tones
You are sensitive to depictions of torture, trauma, and psychological breakdown
You dislike long runtimes and slow-burn structure
Overview
The Deer Hunter is less a conventional war film than a long, bruising elegy for friendship, home, and the lives that get shattered between them. Michael Cimino spends real time in the steel town before Vietnam ever appears, which makes the later devastation feel personal rather than abstract. That first stretch can feel expansive, even meandering, but it is doing crucial emotional work.
Worth noting
What lingers most is the film’s sense of irreversible change. The performances are raw and deeply felt, especially as the story shifts from communal ritual to survival horror and then to the quiet wreckage of return. It is a film about men who thought they understood themselves until history proved otherwise.
Bottom line
Its reputation is partly built on scale and seriousness, but the movie endures because it is so committed to grief. Even when it feels overextended, it keeps finding new ways to hurt. For viewers willing to sit with its patience and pain, it remains one of the defining American films of the 1970s.
Top Letterboxd reviews
kevintporter (4★) · 3198 likes
ME SEEING JOHN CAZALE: Uh, weird guy
ME READING THAT JOHN CAZALE WAS MERYL'S HUSBAND WHO WAS DYING OF CANCER AND SHE ONLY TOOK THE THANKLESS GIRLFRIEND PART IN THIS MOVIE TO BE BY HIS SIDE 24/7 IN HIS LAST DAYS: Oh 🥺
The Deer Hunter ends with Meryl singing and a freeze frame. Four stars!
Kieran Triplett (4★) · 3023 likes
I baked an entire casserole and when I came back we were still at this fucking wedding
Jizzmonkey (5★) · 2532 likes
The first half is a bit serious, with the second half a lighthearted trip down easy street. I recommend watching for a time where you need cheering up, and hang on in there till the end.
#1 gizmo fan (3★) · 1608 likes
not enough robert de niro schlong
cinemasauron (2★) · 1587 likes
One of the first films to employ Vietnam War into its premise, The Deer Hunter tells the story of a trio of young factory workers who enlist into the army to fight the ongoing war in Vietnam, only to discover that war isn't a noble venture they imagined it to be but a hellish chaos which ultimately ends up transforming their entire personalities.
The film features a three act structure, with the first act introducing its three primary characters, their… more