The Deer Hunter is a genuine American blue collar epic. At the same time anti-war, it celebrates America with astounding clarity. Perhaps it is more difficult to understand the vision of The Deer Hunter without having lived through the confused Vietnam year. For a Vietnam veteran, such as myself, the resonance's of the film ring louder and truer, but I don't think it colors my perception. Director Michael Cimino got everything right. The photography, the acting, all mold to the literate script.

     Cimino introduces his characters on the eve of their entry into the Army and emphasizes the moment of change by choosing to have Steven marry before the boys leave for Vietnam. Michael, Nick, and Steven are best friends and when coincidence brings them together on the battlefield in Vietnam, their manhood is tested like it never was meant to be. The scenes of Russian roulette played by the trio are amongst the most harrowing images ever filmed. While there is no evidence that this game was actually played by prisoners or afterwards in the back room gambling houses of Saigon, it works magnificently as a metaphor for the confusion and hopelessness of war.
     The acting is uniformly splendid. Robert DeNiro gives Michael a strength forged in the Pennsylvania steel plant where he worked, while the wild Christopher Walken brings reckless abandon and total confusion to Nick. These two alone are worth the admission, but add Meryl Streep as the girl who loves both Nick and Michael and performance laced with pain by John Savage and your getting a film bargain.
     The DVD is presented widescreen 2.35 on a dual layer disc. Aside from some brief moments in the beginning when it looks like excess enhancement was used in the transfer, The Deer Hunter looks very good. This is certainly the best I have seen it since its big screen life. Colors are vital and the delicacy of Vilmos Zsigmond's photography is preserved and matched for feeling. A remix to 5:1 would have been nice, but the 2 channel Dolby is still excellent. Crisp dialogue and the beautiful music by Stanley Myers is at perfect level. This is a core film for any DVD collection.

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