The Deer Hunter (1978)

The Deer Hunter spends its whole first act at a wedding and a hunting trip before anyone sets foot in Vietnam, and that’s both its boldest choice and its biggest test of patience. Michael Cimino lingers in a Pennsylvania steel town, at a long, loud, joyful reception where everybody dances and sings, so you know exactly who these men were before the war. The Vietnam sections have a real flaw: the Vietnamese characters are mostly faceless captors, and that one-sided picture is hard to defend. Then come the roulette scenes, which are almost unbearable. Robert De Niro gives Mike a stubborn, private strength. Christopher Walken is heartbreaking as Nick, a cheerful guy who slowly comes apart. John Savage’s Steven carries the quietest wound, and Meryl Streep makes tiny moments feel huge. It made $49 million domestic on a reported $15M. A 9.2 because it shows what war takes from the people who come home and the ones who don’t. $93.15 says you call someone from your hometown this week, just to hear how they’re doing.

What works: The long wedding opening makes every later loss land, and De Niro, Walken and Savage give three of the era’s best performances.

What doesn’t: The Vietnamese characters are reduced to faceless captors, and the slow pacing will test anyone who isn’t fully invested.

Who it’s for: Patient adults who want a serious war drama about friendship and what the war did to the men who came back.