The Deer Hunter

I might upset some people with this one, but I didn't like this movie much at all. I felt like the entire wedding and the first 68 minutes were a waste of time. Just start it in Vietnam; I don't need to see everything to care about these characters. This easily could have been 100 minutes long because there is just so much unnecessary material. I appreciate how this is about innocence turning into PTSD, but I feel like there are better ways to tell that story. If I ever watch this again, I am definitely skipping the first 68 minutes. It feels entirely superfluous and doesn't add anything important that isn't brought up later. I also should note that I found the ending to be weakened by how much time we spent at the wedding. All of it just feels unearned in the grand scheme of things.

Robert De Niro gave one of his best performances, but it's Christopher Walken who does the best job. The rest of the cast was fine, but after a certain point, I felt like I was mainly watching for those two actors. I loved everything about the Russian roulette scenes, and this was an intense and emotional movie when it mattered most. I will certainly enjoy this more on a rewatch after skipping the first 70 minutes. I dare say the final three scenes will be even more impactful! I have been having a lot of fun watching these movies from the Letterboxd Top 500 and am glad I finally have the time to watch the ones I haven't already seen.