History Film / TheDeerHunter

* WretchedHive: Bangkok, of course.

-->'''Gambler:''' Enfoiré. Fais chier de voir des cons comme ça. Belle connerie, grand Dieu, j'me demande c'que je fous ici. C'est pas possible. [[note]]: (which roughly means : "Bastard. It sucks to see such dumbass. What a crazy shit, good Lord, I wonder what the fuck I'm doing here. Unbelievable!")[[/note]]

* HeroicBSOD: Michael, after coming back from the war and trying to go hunting again, realizes that he can't shoot a deer because it reminds him too much of killing a human being, and has a breakdown.

* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Michael jumps back in the river after being rescued by the helicopter [[AFriendInNeed to help Steven.]]

* PrettyLittleHeadshots: A fairly JustForFun/{{egregious}} example when Michael shoots his Vietnamese captor in the head at point-blank range.

* PrettyLittleHeadshots: A fairly {{egregious}} example when Michael shoots his Vietnamese captor in the head at point-blank range.

* HollywoodCostuming: One would expect 1960s fashion in a Vietnam-era film, but the civilians tends to wear the styles of the 1970s, the decade of filming.

* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: Played straight at first, when Linda runs into Michael's arms for comfort when they are both convinced that her boyfriend Nick is dead. Subverted later on when Michael locates Nick in Saigon and tries to bring him home, only to watch Nick die right before his eyes. He never makes it home at all.

* AnArmAndALeg: Steven loses both his legs in the evacuation from the river.

* BittersweetEnding: Mike and Steven survive the war, but not all in one piece, physically or mentally. Nick dies, but Michael brings his body home and has his funeral in America like he promised.
* BloodSplatteredWeddingDress: Wine-spattered, but at the wedding, the priest says that Steven and Angela will have good luck all their lives, but only if they don't spill a drop of the wine that they chug. The camera carefully depicts a couple drops of wine falling on Angela's dress. Steven loses his legs in Vietnam.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Nick comes across as a little... "out there", and becomes even more so and a dark, poignant Cloudcuckoolander after [[EmptyShell his experiences]] [[ShellShockedVeteran in combat]] and [[DeathSeeker subsequently becoming addicted to playing Russian Roulette for money]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The night before they're due to go off to 'Nam, Nick tells Michael "Don't leave me over there." That's what motivates Michael to go back to Vietnam to rescue Nick.

** Nick, after assuming the other two died in Vietnam.

* IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight: A very cruel subversion: Michael successfully snaps Nick out of his HeroicBSOD by reminding him of their earlier deer hunt. Nick then takes his turn on the roulette table... and gets the bullet.

* MeaningfulFuneral: Nick's, when Michael fulfills his promise to bring him back home... after his death at the roulette table.

** Nick makes Michael promise not to leave him in Vietnam. After the war, he goes back to find him.

** Nick's death, where he shoots himself in the head at point-blank range. He bleeds a lot, but it's not too gory. It's the emotional impact of the scene that makes it hard to watch.

* SurvivorsGuilt: Nick suffers from this big time as he fears that Michael and Steven didn't made it out alive after the helicopter that rescued him, failed to rescue them. It is this that drives him to be a DeathSeeker.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The trailer consists purely of 5 second clips of the film, from start to finish, with a black screen saying "The Deer Hunter" in between. It cuts away before Nick shoots himself in the final game of Russian roulette, but plays the sound of a gunshot, making it fairly clear what happens.

In the 1960s, three friends from a Pennsylvania steel town -- Nick (Creator/ChristopherWalken), Michael (Creator/RobertDeNiro), and Steven (John Savage) -- are enlisted to fight in [[TheVietnamWar Vietnam]] just as Steven weds his girlfriend, Angela. Nick and Michael, who both love the same woman, Linda (Creator/MerylStreep), celebrate their last days of freedom by going deer hunting. When they do go to war, the experience is very much a nightmare; eventually, they are imprisoned by the Viet Cong and are forced to play Russian Roulette against each other. The trio escape their captors, but they don't escape the consequences of the war.

* {{Pittsburgh}}: Much of the movie was filmed there (Long before it was a desirable destination to film in) and the protagonists all are Pittsburgh steelworkers.

A 1978 film directed, co-written, and co-produced by Michael Cimino, his last film [[FollowUpFailure before the infamous disaster]] ''Film/HeavensGate''. It won five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and for Christopher Walken as Best Supporting Actor.

* ((Incoming)): Michael and his unit scream "Incoming!" as shells from the North Vietnamese fall on their position. The movie cuts to all three of them in a horrifying POW cage.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The night before they're due to go off to 'Nam, Nick tells Michael "Don't leave me over there." That's what motivates Nick to go back to Vietnam to rescue Nick.

* HollywoodCostuming: One would expect 1960s fashion in a Vietnam-era film, but the clothing of civilians tends toward the styles of the 1970s, the decade of filming.

In the 1960's, three friends, Nick (Creator/ChristopherWalken), Michael (Creator/RobertDeNiro), and Steven (John Savage) are enlisted to fight in Vietnam just as Steven weds his girlfriend, Angela. Nick and Michael, who both love the same woman, Linda (Creator/MerylStreep), celebrate their last days of freedom by going deer hunting. When they do go to war, the experience is very much a nightmare; eventually, they are imprisoned by the Viet Cong and are forced to play Russian Roulette against each other. The trio escape their captors, but they don't escape the consequences of the war.

->'''Nick''': "I don't think about that much with one shot anymore, Mike."
->'''Michael''': "You have to think about ''one shot''. ''One shot'' is what it's all about. A deer's gotta be taken with ''one shot''."

[[quoteright:258:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deer_hunter_2_3034.jpg]]

* TheMountainsOfIllinois: See SceneryPorn, below.

* ProlonguedPrologue: The first 45 minutes of the movie are an extended sequence involving Stevie's wedding. Characters are defined and the LoveTriangle is set up, but the plot doesn't really get into gear until they're in Vietnam.

* BloodSpatteredWeddingDress: Wine-spattered, but at the wedding, the priest says that Steven and Angela will have good luck all their lives, but only if they don't spill a drop of the wine that they chug. The camera carefully depicts a couple drops of wine falling on Angela's dress. Steven loses his legs in Vietnam.

A 1978 film directed, co-written, and co-produced by Michael Cimino, his last film [[FollowUpFailure before the infamous disaster]] ''Film/HeavensGate''. It won Five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and for Christopher Walken as Best Supporting Actor.

In the 1960's, three friends, Nick (ChristopherWalken), Michael (RobertDeNiro), and Steven (John Savage) are enlisted to fight in Vietnam just as Steven weds his girlfriend, Angela. Nick and Michael, who both love the same woman, Linda (Creator/MerylStreep), celebrate their last days of freedom by going deer hunting. When they do go to war, the experience is very much a nightmare; eventually, they are imprisoned by the Viet Cong and are forced to play Russian Roulette against each other. The trio escape their captors, but they don't escape the consequences of the war.

* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: Played straight at first, when Linda runs into Michael's arms for comfort when they are both convinced that her boyfriend Nick is dead. Subverted later on when [[spoiler:Michael locates Nick in Saigon and tries to bring him home, only to watch Nick die right before his eyes. He never makes it home at all.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Mike and Steven survive the war, but not all in one piece, physically or mentally. Nick dies, but Michael brings his body home and has his funeral in America like he promised.]]

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Nick comes across as a little... "out there", and becomes even more so and a dark, poignant Cloudcuckoolander after [[spoiler: [[EmptyShell his experiences]] [[ShellShockedVeteran in combat]] and [[DeathSeeker subsequently becoming addicted to playing Russian Roulette for money]].]]

** [[spoiler: Nick, after assuming the other two died in Vietnam.]]

* IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight: A very cruel subversion:[[spoiler: Michael successfully snaps Nick out of his HeroicBSOD by reminding him of their earlier deer hunt. Nick then takes his turn on the roulette table... and gets the bullet.]]

* MeaningfulFuneral: [[spoiler: Nick's, when Michael fulfills his promise to bring him back home... after his death at the roulette table.]]

* UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}: Where the story begins.

** [[spoiler: Nick's death, where he shoots himself in the head at point-blank range. He bleeds a lot, but it's not too gory. It's the emotional impact of the scene that makes it hard to watch.]]

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The trailer consists purely of 5 second clips of the film, from start to finish, with a black screen saying "The Deer Hunter" in between. It cuts away before [[spoiler: Nick shoots himself in the final game of Russian roulette, but plays the sound of a gunshot, making it fairly clear what happens.]]
* TheVietnamWar

* GetAholdOfYourselfMan: Michael slaps Nick in the face to get him to play Russian roulette, knowing the alternative is being put in a rathole to die.

* OscarBait: It was the TropeMaker for the now familiar strategy of "serious drama + limited December release + rack up nominations and buzz
= win Best Picture + wide release".