Why It's Awesome: Michael Cimino's epic drama about three Russian American steelworkers and their time during the Vietnam War is a masterpiece of the genre, surrendering the wholly destructive power of war, on not just human flesh but also the psyche. Pretty much everyone gives an excellent performance in this movie, though the clear stand-outs are Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro (who were both Oscar-nominated) and of course, Christopher Walken, whose portrayal of warped soldier Nick won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In addition, the movie rightly won gongs for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Sound. As a haunting look at war, there is arguably no better film. Why You Can Only Watch It Once: There's a number of reasons why you'll probably swear off watching The Deer Hunter again, and the main one is the length: running in at a meaty 183 minutes, complete with a roughly one-hour prologue sequence set at home, it's certainly a slog, even with the immaculate character detail and sheer emotional sweep of the piece. Furthermore, the war scenes are extremely difficult to watch, and the climactic Russian roulette sequence is immensely disturbing: as such, the trauma of one viewing is enough to say, "I've seen it, it's brilliant, and never again."
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
