Picture 51: The Deer Hunter (1978)

Robert De Niro returns to the process in this epic Vietnam War classic that also stars Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep and John Cazale. Michael Cimino’s feature won 5 Academy Awards (including Best Supporting Actor for Walken) and is widely considered to be one of the best films ever made. An impressive CV but does it appeal to a 2020s audience?

The film introduces the three young and carefree main characters – Mike (Robert De Niro), Steven (John Savage) and Nick (Christopher Walken) with long introductory scenes in Pennsylvania. They solidify their friendship by having bantz at work in a steel plant, hunting deer and behaving in a laddish manner. It’s 1969 and they form part of a tight-knit, working-class, Slavic-American community. Mike and Nick are both in love with Linda (Meryl Streep) but fly off to fight in Vietnam before the awkwardness fully takes hold.

What follows is the horror of war, imprisonment by the Viet Cong and famous scenes of Russian roulette. The physical and mental scars of war are shown in brutal detail. The PTSD is severe and the gritty realism hard to match. This is interspersed with beautiful shots of the American countryside and a stellar cast at the top of their game. Compelling characters drive this tragically excellent story that is rightly up there with the very best.

Few films have or will ever depict the cataclysm of the soul that can follow war as well as this. Freedom is not free.

Rating: 9/10

Oscar Best Picture Rankings:

1. The Godfather (1972)

2. Casablanca (1943)

3. The Apartment (1960)

4. Rebecca (1940)

5. The Godfather: Part II (1974)

6. The Sound of Music (1965)

7. The Deer Hunter (1978)

8. A Man for All Seasons (1966)

9. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

10. Ben-Hur (1959)

11. Lost Weekend (1945)

12. Rocky (1976)

13. Annie Hall (1977)

14. All About Eve (1950)

15. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

16. Hamlet (1948)

17. How Green Was My Valley (1941)

18. Gone With the Wind (1939)

19. West Side Story (1961)

20. Mrs. Miniver (1942)

21. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

22. Wings (1928)

23. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

24. You can’t take it with you (1938)

25. Patton (1970)

26. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

27. On the Waterfront (1954)

28. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

29. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

30. Marty (1955)

31. Oliver! (1968)

32. Cimarron (1931)

33. Grand Hotel (1932)

34. The French Connection (1971)

35. An American in Paris (1951)

36. From Here to Eternity (1953)

37. It Happened One Night (1934)

38. My Fair Lady (1964)

39. Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

40. Cavalcade (1933)

41. The Sting (1973)

42. The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

43. Going My Way (1944)

44. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

45. All the King’s Men (1949)

46. In the Heat of the Night (1967)

47. Gigi (1958)

48. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

49. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

50. The Broadway Melody (1929)

51. Tom Jones (1963)

Previous or current ranking leaders are in bold.

With credit and thanks to the patrons of the Best Picture Film Club:

Dr Sophie Bloomfield – fashion correspondent

Dr Caspar Briault – head of cynicism

Dr Conrad Charlton

Dr Kate Diomede

Dr Fionnuala Durrant

Dr Josh Fisher

Dr Joseph Hamilton

Dr Adam Holland

Dr Sid Mohan

Dr Hannah Morrison

Dr Meera Radia