The Deer Hunter

The 1978 drama "The Deer Hunter" is a powerful, disturbing, and compelling look at the Vietnam War through the lives of three blue-collar friends, Michael, Steven, and Nick, in a small steel-mill Pennsylvania town before, during, and after their service in the war.

The beginning of the film establishes the lives of the characters as it opens with a beautiful wedding and introduces Michael, Steven, and Nick and their friends. After partying and staying up all night, the early morning has the men getting ready to pack up for one last hunting trip before they're off to war. While hunting, the men share moments of bonding with long talks filled with laughter and wisdom of how life really is. The three are shipped out to Vietnam and the film goes straight to the war sequences. The three are captured and kept in a POW camp where sadly, they are used in a game of Russian Roulette, which consists of having to point a gun to your own head and pulling the trigger and hoping that the bullet won't go through your head. They manage to escape but unfortunately are separated on their way home. Michael returns home safely. Steven has lost both legs and ashamed of going home, decides to stay at the VA Hospital to recover. Nick has remained in Vietnam. Michael, not feeling like home is the way it should be without his friends, decides to go and retrieve Steven and then travel back to Vietnam to find Nick and bring both of them home. He successfully talked Steven into coming back home. Bringing Nick home was a more difficult task. He found Nick in an underground gambling ring playing, none other, than Russian Roulette. Michael pleaded with Nick to remember who he was but Nick was unable to recognize him. It was Nick's turn at playing Russian Roulette but when Nick suddenly remembered Michael, he pulled the trigger and the bullet went through his head. Back home, there was silence among all the friends sitting around the table. They made a toast in Nick's honor and out of the blue, sang "God Bless America", ending the film on a peaceful note.

The film is extraordinary and the performances are incredible.

"The Deer Hunter" is a film about real life. It's not just a war movie and it's not just a simple life movie. It's a balanced story made to compare and contrast the characters' lives surrounding the Vietnam War and the consequences of war itself in the eyes and emotions of the characters involved.

Lizzy  =)