8.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.4 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.2 |
Three friends volunteer to serve in Vietnam, they fail to foresee the horrors that will encapsulate their future lives.
Starring: Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken, Meryl StreepDrama | 100% |
War | 29% |
Melodrama | 19% |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (448 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
BD-Live
Mobile features
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
It’s somehow fitting that The Deer Hunter should be coming out on Blu-ray at around the same time that Meryl
Streep is getting a whole new round of accolades concurrent with her at least somewhat unexpected Best Actress
Academy Award win for The Iron Lady. For it was, as incredible as it may seem (at least to those of us who are
loathe to admit how shockingly old we’ve become) The Deer Hunter that first introduced film audiences to the
amazing talent of Streep, who prior to this film had just had a bit role in Fred Zinneman’s Julia as well as the
miniseries Holocaust. Who would have predicted that this young ingénue would go on to tower over every
other actress of her generation, with one iconic performance after another, a record setting number of Oscar
nominations (including her first for The Deer Hunter) and (as of 2012 anyway) three wins to her credit. But
Streep’s contributions, as awesome as they are, to The Deer Hunter are still relatively minor to what is one of
the most impressive ensemble pieces of the seventies. A large cast including Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John
Cazale, George Dzundza and John Savage help bring to life Michael Cimino’s sprawling opus of Pennsylvania steel
workers who end up being traumatized by their experiences in Vietnam.
It’s rather interesting to contrast the quick depictions Hollywood offered of World War II once that conflict started with
their somewhat more reticent response to Vietnam. While some lesser known films like The Boys in Company C
(also recently out on Blu-ray) may have predated The Deer Hunter, it was really Michael Cimino’s film that put
the Vietnam War squarely on the cinematic map. What’s so fascinating about this is the fact that so much of the film
takes place outside of the war torn jungles of that far off Asian land. But that’s also what lends The Deer
Hunter its inescapable emotional fury. This is a film about context, one that contrasts home life with the
turmoil of being in a war, which doesn’t necessarily mean being in battle.
The Deer Hunter is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Pictures with an VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer in
2.35:1. For the record, this is now the second Universal Blu-ray release in their 100th Anniversary series that does not
have a Main Menu (
All Quiet on the Western Front was the first), so like some of the recent MGM-Fox catalog releases, this film
will start (after previews) and then you must hit the Pop Up Menu button to access Set Up and Extras. Universal catalog
releases always come in for brickbats, though I personally seldom feel they're as hideous as some insist they are. Let's
address the biggest issue that most people have with Universal catalog releases, the often misunderstood or
misattributed DNR. Is there DNR applied to this release? Probably, though certainly not to any problematic degree.
Look at screencap 3 of the Pennsylvania factory for one good example: if egregious DNR had been applied, not only
would
grain be missing (which it isn't), the mist and smoke in this scene would also either be frozen or waxy looking (which it
also isn't). As Vilmos Zsigmond mentions in his fascinating commentary, the film utilizes quite a bit of stock footage
(mostly for establishing shots), and in order to match the overly grainy look of that footage, he and Cimino found that
they had to use copies of copies of prints since the Kodak film was so resilient to attempts to push contrast or exposure.
This is where the DNR is probably most apparent, as the transitions from the stock footage to the actual footage of the
film are somewhat more noticeable now. Even so, this transfer looks wonderfully fluid and natural in motion, without any
plastic smearing quality that would suggest too aggressive DNR.
Putting aside the always contentious issue of DNR, the rest of this transfer is wonderful looking, with nicely saturated
colors, beautiful sharpness and pleasing fine detail, and overall good stability (as my colleague Svet Atanasov mentioned
in his review of the
StudioCanal release of The Deer Hunter, there is some occasional very minor shimmer to deal with here and
there). Digital sharpening also adds minimal haloing to a couple of backlit scenes that is noticeable but not overly
distracting. On the other hand, shadow detail is superb, especially in the many dark interior scenes which are quite
frequent throughout the film.
The Deer Hunter features a great sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix which is incredibly well detailed and immersive. This track features none of the audio speed up which Svet Atanasov mentioned in his review of the StudioCanal release of this title. Fidelity is very strong and the ambient environmental effects in both the Pennsylvania and Vietnam sequences are outstanding, offering a consistent use of the surrounds that really helps establish a convincing soundfield. Dialogue is very cleanly presented, and the film's deliberate use of LFE is both shocking and visceral in several key scenes.
Is The Deer Hunter a perfect film? No. Is it a masterpiece nonetheless? Probably—I'm always loathe to bequeath such an honor on a film that hasn't truly weathered the test of time (say, for fifty or sixty years), but my personal opinion is The Deer Hunter is nothing less than a towering achievement. With incredible performances by the then still young Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken (as well as a glut of incredible supporting performances), and a rare narrative sweep that puts post traumatic stress disorder in its proper context, The Deer Hunter is novelistic in the best sense of the word, slowly developing characters and interrelationships through a variety of circumstances and over some considerable time. The film is arguably too long and meandering, but there is so much worth experiencing in many of these nooks and crannies that it seems a little churlish to complain. This Universal Blu-ray is awfully light on supplements (especially when compared to the StudioCanal release), but the Zsigmond commentary is exceptional. Video and audio are similarly excellent, and this release comes Highly recommended.
2009
2006
Final Cut | 40th Anniversary Edition
1979
65th Anniversary Limited Edition
1957
1987
Collector's Edition
1986
80th Anniversary Edition
1942
2009
2017
1967
1998
1957
2008
2012
1993
1964
1978
1983
Warner Archive Collection
1925
1996