Overview
A haunting exploration of friendship and trauma that echoes long after the credits roll.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- melancholic
- harrowing
- foreboding
- serious movie night
- war film marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as an ambitious, powerfully directed and emotionally devastating war epic elevated by exceptional performances, despite its length and one-sided perspective.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Pennsylvania community, wedding celebration, hunting rituals, and Vietnam experience are presented with unusual breadth and scale.
Russian roulette functions as a repeated, escalating motif connecting captivity, trauma, and the characters' altered lives.
Michael's return to deer hunting and his encounters with disabled Steven and missing Nick show how war transforms home itself.
The returning friends struggle with disability, alienation, compulsive risk, and the lasting effects of Vietnam.
Films like The Deer Hunter, and why
Apocalypse Now
shared anti-war drama, psychological trauma, and epic treatment of combat's aftermath
Coming Home
shared Vietnam veteran experience, working-class American communities, and devastating postwar disillusionment
The Best Years of Our Lives
shared intimate anti-war drama, fractured friendship, and the emotional costs of military service
The Godfather
shared New Hollywood ambition, masculine friendship, and morally corrosive violence
Movie Details
- Director
- Michael Cimino
- Release Date
- 1978-12-08
- Runtime
- 183 min
- Rating
- 8.0 / 10 (4403)
Cast
- Robert De Niro
- Christopher Walken
- John Cazale
- John Savage
- Meryl Streep
- George Dzundza
- Rutanya Alda
- Pierre Segui
- Amy Wright
- Richard Kuss
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Deer Hunter about?
- An emotionally shattering New Hollywood war epic follows three Pennsylvania friends whose Vietnam experience permanently fractures their bonds, identities, and sense of home.
- What is The Deer Hunter like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Deer Hunter as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Deer Hunter violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Deer Hunter as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Deer Hunter?
- Critics broadly regard the film as an ambitious, powerfully directed and emotionally devastating war epic elevated by exceptional performances, despite its length and one-sided perspective.
- Which films are like The Deer Hunter?
- Films with a similar feel include Apocalypse Now, Coming Home, The Best Years of Our Lives, and The Godfather.
- How long is The Deer Hunter?
- The Deer Hunter runs 183 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Deer Hunter?
- In United States, The Deer Hunter streams on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads.
