Michael Cimino’s ‘The Deer Hunter’ and Hollywood’s belated response to the Vietnam War

Right from the start, Hollywood struggled with the Vietnam War, a conflict that deeply divided public opinion and defied easy representation on-screen.

The 1968 John Wayne film “The Green Berets,” released at the height of the conflict, was an old-fashioned war drama and ignored the moral gray areas of the increasingly confused war effort. Other movies dealt with the issues only indirectly or focused on the stateside antiwar counterculture that was growing parallel to the conflict. It wasn’t until well after the last chopper left Saigon in 1975 that Hollywood attempted a more in-depth look at the conflict, with Michael Cimino’s “The Deer Hunter” leading the way.

Cimino’s recent death brought back memories of “The Deer Hunter” and other great Vietnam War films. Here are some of the best: 

‘The Deer Hunter,’ 1978

Michael Cimino, left, on the set of “The Deer Hunter,” with Robert De Niro in the center, wearing a beret. (Neal Ulevich / Associated Press)

(Test)

The epic, three-act drama takes an intimate look at working-class friends torn apart by war. The still-shocking Russian roulette scene, in which Robert De Niro’s and Christopher Walken’s characters leave their fate to a game of chance at the hands of their Viet Cong captors, served as a metaphor for the war itself but was met with a great amount of controversy for its depiction of Vietnamese forces. Still, “The Deer Hunter” was one of Hollywood’s earliest attempts to grapple with the absurdities of the war while it was still an open wound for 1970s America. The film took the best picture Oscar and put Cimino on the map as an A-list director.

‘Coming Home,’ 1978

Jon Voight and Jane Fonda in “Coming Home.” (United Artists)

(Test)

Just as the 1946 drama “The Best Years of Our Lives” humanized World War II vets returning stateside after surviving the horrors of combat, this Hal Ashby-directed best picture nominee depicted the struggles of a paraplegic Vietnam vet re-adjusting to civilian life and finding temporary solace with another solder’s wife. Stars Jon Voight and Jane Fonda won Oscars, but it was eclipsed by “Deer Hunter” for best picture.

‘Apocalypse Now,’ 1979

Marlon Brando, left, and Martin Sheen in “Apocalypse Now.” (United Artist)

(United Artist Corporation )

The troubled making of Francis Ford Coppola’s surrealistic, divisive Vietnam-by-way-of-Conrad epic nearly killed the obsessive director, but a Palme d’Or win at Cannes and Oscar nominations for picture and director were only the beginning of the film’s lasting legacy. Portraying America’s time in Southeast Asia as one very bad trip, many of its iconic moments — the “Ride of the Valkyries” helicopter attack, Dennis Hopper’s hopped-up hippie photojournalist, the deadly river journey – have become some of pop culture’s most recognizable depictions of war.

‘Platoon,’ 1986

From left: Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, who acts as a stand-in for Stone, and Tom Berenger, in Oliver Stone’s “Platoon.” (Roland Neveu / LightRocket via Getty Images)

(Roland Neveu / LightRocket via Getty Images )

Veteran-turned-filmmaker Oliver Stone — who earned a bronze star and a purple heart during his infantry stint in Vietnam — turned his real-life experiences into Oscar gold with this caustic best picture winner. Taking place entirely in country – there are no homecoming sequences or flashbacks to civilian life here — “Platoon” examines the conflict from the point-of-view of foot soldiers, including dissent among the ranks, corrupt officers, friendly fire and brutal war crimes. 

‘Full Metal Jacket,’ 1987

Stanley Kubrick‘s “Full Metal Jacket.” (Warner Bros.)

(Test)

For his first film in seven years, Stanley Kubrick turned his perfectionist’s eye on the chaotic nature of Vietnam for “Full Metal Jacket.” Essentially two films in one, “Jacket” is most famous for the boot camp sequences in which real-life drill instructor R. Lee Ermey terrorizes a batch of new recruits in the most dehumanizing ways possible. The film’s second half sends Pvt. Joker (Matthew Modine) into the abyss of hellish warfare, with the English countryside amazingly standing in for Hue, Vietnam.

‘Born on the Fourth of July,’ 1989

Tom Cruise in “Born on the Fourth of July.”

(Test)

After tackling the culture of greed in 1987’s “Wall Street,” Stone returned to the Vietnam War era, this time with a portrait of the controversial soldier-turned-activist Ron Kovic (who co-wrote the Oscar-nominated script based on his autobiography). A critical and commercial success, it earned Tom Cruise his first Oscar nomination. Stone was also nominated for direction, and he would finish his loose “Vietnam trilogy” with 1993’s lesser-known “Heaven & Earth,” although the war’s specter was never far from his subsequent films.

ALSO:

'Snowden' trailer: Can Oliver Stone make whistleblowing suspenseful?

From the Archives: 'Heaven's Gate': The film flop that reshaped Hollywood

Appreciation: Michael Cimino, a 'Hunter' in pursuit of an uncompromising vision