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The Deer Hunter

The Deer Hunter

Drama · War · 1978

Three steelworkers enlist in the army and are sent to Vietnam, one leaving behind a rushed marriage, the others a shared love. What they encounter during the war changes their lives forever.

Movie details

The Deer Hunter

“One of the most important and powerful films of all time!”

1978 Drama · War 3h 3m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

8.0 / 10

Community rating

Three steelworkers enlist in the army and are sent to Vietnam, one leaving behind a rushed marriage, the others a shared love. What they encounter during the war changes their lives forever.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Deer Hunter?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.

Shame

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Drama · 2011

Brandon, a thirty-something man living in New York, eludes intimacy with women but feeds his deepest desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his younger sister temporarily moves into his apartment, stirring up bitter memories of their shared painful past, Brandon's life, like his fragile mind, gets out of control.

Trafficked

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Unthinkable

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Suburbia

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Drama · 1984

When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society. The runaways hold on to each other like a family until a tragedy tears them apart.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Michael Cimino

Written by

Quinn K. Redeker · Deric Washburn · Michael Cimino · Louis Garfinkle

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro

Michael Vronsky

Christopher Walken

Christopher Walken

Nikanor "Nick" Chevotarevich

John Cazale

John Cazale

Stan

John Savage

John Savage

Steven Pushkov

Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep

Linda

George Dzundza

George Dzundza

John

Rutanya Alda

Rutanya Alda

Angela

Court is in session

Put The Deer Hunter on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.