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When I first saw “The Deer Hunter” it was clear to me that director Michael Cimino was trying to invest the same epic, near mythic quality in his film that Francis Ford Coppola did with “The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part II”. The narrative structure of the film from the opening elaborate sequence of a wedding that clearly echoes Coppola’s efforts in “The Godfather” to the final Russian roulette sequence has all the right lyrical visual moments in the right place but the message and meaning seem out of touch with the visual side of the film. I walked out of the movie perplexed at the ending which seemed empty of any irony and while the film is visually stunning subtly clearly is not Cimino’s forte. I hadn’t seen the film since 1978 outside of watching snippets of it when it premiered on network TV until I watched his DVD. What’s interesting is that my initial impression of the film still remains the same; “The Deer Hunter” has all the trappings of an epic saga about working class stiffs serving and surviving in the horror of Vietnam but with all the dots connected. Cimino seems insistent on making everything obvious to the audience without any touch of subtly and spelling out his lessons although the meaning is still less than clear. Cimino has the visual gift as a storyteller but lacks the depth that the tale calls for. That doesn’t imply that “The Deer Hunter” is a bad movie; it just plays it safe all too often by regurgitating the same old spiel that’s made every war movie from the 1930’s on successful with an audience. The ending is completely out of left field and while consistent with the “traditional” values of war films at the core of this film given the brutality that we’ve seen, it just doesn’t work. My opinion aside on thestory, etc., if you’re a fan of this movie this is the edition to pick up. ***

Three buddies Michael (Robert De Niro), Nick (Christopher Walken in his Academy Award winning performance) and Steve (John Savage) enlist to fight in the Vietnam War. Michael and his buddies go out hunting shortly before they’re set to go to basic training and renew their bond of friendship. After being separated during the war, the three meet up again when they are taken prisoners of the Viet Cong. The three along with their other prisoners of war amuse their captors by playng a deadly game of Russian roulette (a transparent metaphor later for the psychological trauma of the war and its effects on all of its victims). When Michael returns from Vietnam he discovers that Steve has psychologically never left Vietnam and he’s determined to save him from the past that haunts him. ---

I’m a bit surprised at how little there is in the way of extras here particularly when compared to other Oscar winners in the Legacy Series. We get deleted and extended scenes but they look like variations on scenes that were included in the film. The image quality here is so-so as it’s clear these were drawn from a work-in-progress print of the film. We also get the original theatrical trailer which shows how bad this DVD presentation could have been. There’s also some production notes included as well. ---