Overrated, but a decent film nonetheless.

B

Yep it was a good movie but by far not the masterpiece I expected. The first hour with the wedding is way too long. And how many times can you play Russian Roulette in one movie? I also thought it would be much more intense. B

It is too long, but it's a fantastic movie. I loved the last few minutes of the movie, especially the final scene. Meryl Streep was attractive in her youth! My grade: A.

A

Whoa, I loved this wayyyy more than I thought I would. It's really not about Vietnam at all, that's just the backdrop for a great character story and arc, which I found refreshing in a war movie (as opposed to something like Saving Private Ryan, which hardly has characters at all, just action scenes).

I think it's a credit to Cimino that he's able to spend an hour an a half before with the characters even go to Nam, and not only does the movie live through the time, but I'd actually say the pre-war part of this film is pretty much masterful. The wedding scene is unbelievably orchastrated, the character interactions and dialogue are all great, and of course, the scenes on the mountain... just some of the most beautiful shots in all of film. And when it cuts from that heaven immediately into pure hell, the impact is tremendous, it's like getting hit by a truck, a feeling lasts until the end of the movie and into the final game and climax, which by that point just broke me. It's truly one of the most affecting movies ever, by the end I felt like crawling into a ball and sulking.

The acting is amazing from all corners, among the best performances of De Niro's and Walken's career, Meryl does her regular thing (though I'm still not her biggest fan) and even John Savage steps up and does great work.

On that note, I'd also like to mention how shitty it is that John Cazale died right before this movie came out... after surely one of the best starts to a career I've seen (Godfather 1/2, The Conversation, Dog Day Afternoon, Deer Hunter), he was well on his way to becoming a legendary supporting player. Shame.

Truly a masterpiece and one of the best movies of the 70s, and the best war film (if you can call it that) I have seen.

5/5

Intensity incarnate.

Brilliant.

I thought it shouLd have been a 120-minute movie. Dissapointing to say this but the Can't Take My Eyes of You scene is more entertaining than the rest of the movie. The chemistry between the characters in the group was quite memorabLe though.

B-

I think Cimino puts too much emphasis on the Russian Roulette games. In fact, that's really the only taste of the war we get. Then he hangs the climax on it too. It's as though he realized it would play great on screen (and it does), so he wrote a movie around it. This is a Vietnam war movie without Vietnam.

It's also way too long, and if anyone dies while watching it I think the death certificate should read "death by metaphors."

Incredible film.

9/10