The Deer Hunter
(1978)
Rusty: Academy Award for Best Film Editing (Peter Zinner)
Academy Award for Best Picture (Barry Spikings, Michael Deeley, Michael Cimino)
Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Walken)
National Film RegistryAward nominations: Academy Award for Best Actor (Robert De Niro)
Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Vilmos Zsigmond)
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Meryl Streep)
Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay (Michael Cimino, Deric Washburn)Award details: (details at IMDb)
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The Deer Hunter is a 1978 American war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Russian American steelworkers and their service in the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, John Cazale, Meryl Streep, and George Dzundza. The story takes place in Clairton, a small working class town on the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh and then in Vietnam, somewhere in the woodland and in Saigon, during the Vietnam War. The film was based in part on an unproduced screenplay called The Man Who Came to Play by Louis Garfinkle and Quinn K. Redeker about Las Vegas and Russian roulette. Producer Michael Deeley, who bought the script, hired writer/director Michael Cimino who, with Deric Washburn, rewrote the script, taking the Russian roulette element and placing it in the Vietnam War. The film went over-budget and over-schedule and ended up costing $15 million. The scenes of Russian roulette were highly controversial on release.