Rotten Tomatoes Logo Do you want to see ‘The Deer Hunter’?

The Deer Hunter (1978)

tomatometer

91

Average Rating: 8.4/10
Reviews Counted: 45
Fresh: 41 | Rotten: 4

Its greatness is blunted by its length and one-sided point of view, but the film's weaknesses are overpowered by Michael Cimino's sympathetic direction and a series of heartbreaking performances from Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and Christopher Walken.

80

Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 1

Its greatness is blunted by its length and one-sided point of view, but the film's weaknesses are overpowered by Michael Cimino's sympathetic direction and a series of heartbreaking performances from Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and Christopher Walken.

audience

91

liked it
Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 92,711

My Rating

Movie Info

One of several 1978 films dealing with the Vietnam War (including Hal Ashby's Oscar-winning Coming Home), Michael Cimino's epic second feature The Deer Hunter was both renowned for its tough portrayal of the war's effect on American working class steel workers and notorious for its ahistorical use of Russian roulette in the Vietnam sequences. Structured in five sections contrasting home and war, the film opens in Clairton, PA, as Mike (Robert De Niro), Nick (Christopher Walken), and Stan (John

R, 3 hr. 3 min.

Drama, Cult Movies

Deric Washburn

Sep 6, 2005

Universal Pictures

Cast

All Critics (45) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (45) | Rotten (5) | DVD (28)

This excruciatingly violent, three-hour Viet Nam saga demolishes the moral and ideological cliches of an era: it shoves the audience into hell and leaves it stranded without a map.

February 20, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment (1)
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The film is ambitious and it succeeds on a number of levels and it proves that Cimino is an important director who deserves to be watched carefully.

February 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A disgusting account of what the evil Vietnamese did to poor, innocent Americans stands at the center of this Oscar-laden weepie about macho buddies from a small industrial town.

December 13, 2006 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comments (40)
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It is a heartbreakingly effective fictional machine that evokes the agony of the Vietnam time.

October 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Its feelings for time, place and blue-collar people are genuine, and its vision is that of an original, major new film maker.

May 20, 2003 Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Largely Ambitious, and not without flaws, Cimino's Oscar winning film is nonetheless an effective chronicle of the impact of Vietnam on a clique of close friends

February 26, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

The friendship between the three central characters, as well as their shared association with the men from their small hometown, is truthful and realistic in a way that most guys will find impossible to resist.

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews

The first half and second half of the film couldn't be more different but that is the genius behind the film.

August 3, 2008 Comment
BDK Reviews

Like an honorable soldier, Cazale gave everything he had for a cause in which he believed.

July 8, 2007 Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | Comment
Arizona Daily Star

Gauging the shifting moods of the 1970s, this tale of life and love disrupted by war is as arresting as a bullet to the brain.

June 13, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

A film I have grown increasingly ambivalent about over the years.

February 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Cinemania | Comment

A visceral film that says volumes about the horrors of war and its impact on the lives of typically well adjusted people.

December 13, 2006 Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | Comment
Oscar Guy

This is probably one of the few great films of the decade.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comments (2)

It certainly shows the horrors of war, but it also shows the close buddy friendship that two men can have with each other...

October 17, 2005 Comment
International Press Academy

The movie is perhaps most remarkable in its depictions of the intensely personal emotional costs of war...

October 5, 2005 Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine | Comment

Cimino's artistically acclaimed drama, which swept the 1978 Oscars despite protests, is available in a new DVD, with deleted scenes and comments from cinematographer Zsigmond

August 26, 2005 Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Deer Hunter

Beyond amazing. Robert De Niro was amazing as usual. This movie showed you that you can go from having the time of your life to having shit. How the war can mess you up, forget who you are, and who your friends are. A young Meryl Streep in this movie. Meryl was excellent, as she always is in film roles. I will most

November 12, 2011
movieguru12
Cassie Hill

Super Reviewer

Amazing film. Top 5 all-time for sure. Amazing performances and how the vibe of the film changes is incredible. It's like 3 or 4 films in one. On first view ofcourse the POW camp scenes are the most memorable but on repeat viewings the beginning of the film (going away party, etc.) is the real gem. Real human life is

October 21, 2011
Graham Jones

Super Reviewer

    1. Nick: I like the trees you know. All the different ways of the trees.
    – Submitted by Steve R (25 days ago)
    1. Nick: One shot.
    – Submitted by Elliott T (2 months ago)
    1. Stan: Fuckin' A!
    – Submitted by Steven S (6 months ago)
    1. Michael: You wanna play games? All right, I'll play your fucking games.
    – Submitted by rob g (9 months ago)
    1. Michael: This is this.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)

Latest News for The Deer Hunter

February 25, 2011:
Five Favorite Films with William Fichtner
Movie obsessives know him by name, while everyone else will definitely be familiar with his face:...

June 22, 2007:
AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time ... Again
Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was...

What's Hot On RT

Luis Guzman
Luis Guzman

What are his 10 best movies ever?

<em>Amazing Spider-Man</em>
Amazing Spider-Man

See the all-new action-packed trailer!

The Avengers!
The Avengers!

Five new Marvelous pictures

Total Recall
Total Recall

Unconventional Superheroes

Top Movie Quizzes

LEGO Mania: 2011 Best Picture Nominees
by natalie - 18,541 taken
created 12 months ago
How Much Do You Know About Leonardo DiCaprio?
by natalie - 44,375 taken
created 15 months ago
Pixar Movies!
by jdikwlzviv - 27,120 taken
created 15 months ago
The Wizards of Harry Potter
by jdikwlzviv - 27,623 taken
created 15 months ago

Foreign Titles

  • Voyage au bout de l'enfer (FR)
  • El Francotirador (ES)
Help | About | Jobs | Newsletter | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Blog | Developers | Mobile