The Deer Hunter, which won five Oscars in 1979, tells the story of three Pittsburgh steel workers who struggle to recover mentally after being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. It is a progression from a wedding to a funeral. Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter" is a three-hour movie in three major movements. It won best picture, director, sound, editing, and supporting actor for Walken. The Deer Hunter was nominated for nine Oscars in ’78, and took home five of them. It is the record of how the war in Vietnam entered several lives and altered them terribly forever. Showing all 5 items Jump to: Summaries (4) Synopsis (1) Summaries. It is not a pro-war film. An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania. The Deer Hunter is a 1978 American epic war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of steelworkers whose lives were changed forever after fighting in the Vietnam War.The three soldiers are played by Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage, with John Cazale (in his final role), Meryl Streep, and George Dzundza playing supporting roles.

It is not an anti-war film. An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania. The Deer Hunter (1978) Plot. It is the story of a group of friends. With Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale, John Savage. Ending / spoiler for The Deer Hunter (1978), plus mistakes, quotes, trivia and more. That leaves Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter in the Goldilocks spot: it's just crazy enough to capture something of the madness of Vietnam, domesticated enough that it's mostly something concrete that you put your arms around, and on top of that it has a mythic texture - not at all the same as Apocalypse Now's gonzo operatic grandiosity - which makes it feel like a proper American epic.

Directed by Michael Cimino.

De Niro lost out on best actor, Streep lost out on supporting actress, and it lost original screenplay and cinematography. It is one of the most emotionally shattering films ever made.