---
title: "The Deer Hunter: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-deer-hunter/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-deer-hunter"
critics_score: 82
critics_reviews: 16
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Deer Hunter (1978): what the critics said

Critics' score 82 from 16 reviews: 14 positive, 2 mixed, 0 negative.

Most critics admire The Deer Hunter, and the praise falls in the same places. The performances come first: De Niro, Walken and an early Meryl Streep are named again and again. The Russian roulette sequence is singled out as the film’s terrifying centre, and several reviews reserve their warmest words for the long Pennsylvania wedding, which they find rooted and truthful about working-class life. The word most often used is gruelling, and it is meant as a compliment.

The reservations cluster around length and shape. Several find it overlong and roughly edited, closer to romantic melodrama than realism. Later reviews fault the Vietnam sequences for lacking subtlety and for a portrayal of the Vietnamese that has aged badly. The spread is narrow, with no outright dismissals. The sharpest dissent is Pauline Kael in The New Yorker, who finds the film lacking in moral intelligence even while admiring its panoramic Pennsylvania ensembles.

## Radio Times — Barry Norman

Rating ★★★★★. 28 June 2017. 

The critic deems it tense and moving despite being overlong, praising its depiction of male bonding and the dehumanising effects of war. The Russian roulette scenes and strong performances, especially by Walken and Streep, are highlighted.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/freeview-film-of-the-day-the-deer-hunter/)

## Time Out — CA

Rating 5/5. 21 May 2014. 

The critic calls it one of the few great films of the Seventies and a gruelling test of moral and political conscience. It singles out the central male love affair and its Nietzschean undertones for particular note.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-deer-hunter)

## Empire — Colin Kennedy

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 

The critic describes the film as a gruelling yet beautiful epic treatise on endurance and the American male spirit, highlighting its audacious contrasts, terrifying Russian roulette sequence, and strong performances, especially De Niro's.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/deer-hunter-review/)

## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 9 March 1979. 

Ebert calls the film one of the most emotionally shattering ever made, praising its progression from wedding to funeral and the way it records how Vietnam altered lives forever. He singles out the Russian roulette sequence as a brilliant central symbol for the war's random violence.

[Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-deer-hunter-1979)

## The Guardian — Derek Malcolm

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 March 1979. 

Derek Malcolm calls the film extraordinarily powerful and compares it to classic anti-war works for its view of how conflict breaks minds. He praises its intensity, feeling, and superb performances, especially from De Niro and Walken, while noting it functions more as romantic melodrama than strict realism.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/01/the-deer-hunter-review-derek-malcom-1979)

## The Hollywood Reporter — Arthur Knight

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 December 1978. 

The critic declares it the great American film of 1978 for its timely, important, and uncompromising take on the Vietnam War and its effects. He singles out De Niro's performance and Cimino's direction, story, and production work for particular praise.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/deer-hunter-review-1978-movie-1161827/)

## Variety — Charles Schreger

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 November 1978. 

The review calls the film intense, powerful and fascinating for more than three hours, highlighting outstanding action, Walken's marvelous performance and first-rate technical credits. It notes the ambitious screenplay may be too dense for wide audiences but succeeds on multiple levels.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/1978/film/reviews/the-deer-hunter-1200424319/)

## Little White Lies — David Jenkins

Rating 4/4/4. 1 August 2014. 

The critic finds the film a gruelling but enduring classic whose epic ambitions largely succeed. The prolonged wedding sequence stands out as the highlight for its realistic portrayal of working-class life.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-deer-hunter)

## The Times — Kate Muir

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 August 2014. 

The re-release confirms The Deer Hunter as a classic that improves with age. It highlights the intense Russian roulette scenes and Meryl Streep's early role.

[Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/the-deer-hunter-8pblw668dg8)

## Evening Standard — Steve Morrissey

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 11 April 2012. 

The critic calls the DVD reissue of Cimino’s three-hour Vietnam epic a timely reminder of its anti-war message, noting its place alongside Apocalypse Now and M*A*S*H as an agenda-setting work. He praises its focus on how war changes ordinary men forever while noting a forgivable 1970s weakness in its portrayal of the Vietnamese.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/timely-reminder-of-antiwar-message-6316677.html)

## The New York Times — Vincent Canby

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 15 December 1978. 

The critic finds the film a big, awkward, crazily ambitious motion picture that comes close to being a popular epic. He praises the genuine feelings for time, place and blue-collar people along with the vision of an original major new filmmaker, while noting issues with narrative manipulation and melodrama.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/15/archives/screen-the-deer-hunter.html)

## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 11 December 1978. 

Kael finds the film enraging for its lack of moral intelligence despite its scale and ambition, yet astonishing in its mixture of violent pulp and grandiosity. She singles out the virtuoso panoramic ensembles and long takes in the Pennsylvania sequences for their detailed clarity and sense of rooted community life.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1978/12/18/1978-12-18-066-tny-cards-000325121)

## HeyUGuys — Gary Green

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 31 July 2014. 

The critic praises the film's immersive three-hour structure and epic cinematography that draws viewers into the characters' lives before, during, and after the Vietnam War. Towering performances, especially from De Niro and Streep, and its exploration of masculinity and trauma are singled out for acclaim.

[Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/rerelease-deer-hunter-review/)

## /Film — Debopriyaa Dutta

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 26 June 2026. 

The critic finds it a devastating war drama about friendship, loss of innocence and post-war trauma that still holds up, despite dated and problematic elements in its depiction of Vietnam. They single out the taut script, unforgettable performances (especially Christopher Walken's) and emotionally shattering qualities for praise.

[Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/2200771/robert-de-niro-christopher-walken-70s-war-movie-still-holds-up-today-the-deer-hunter/)

## The Skinny — Juliet Buchan

Rating ★★★★. 29 July 2014. 

The film is long and roughly edited with a dragging realism that still divides audiences. Cimino's stark vision contrasts everyday beauty with the horrors of Vietnam, highlighted by the roulette scene and strong performances from De Niro and Walken.

[Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/cineskinny/the-deer-hunter)

## Collider — Thomas Butt

Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 2 September 2023. 

The critic calls it a modern American classic and essential Vietnam War text that excels in portraying the lingering anxiety of war and disillusionment of small-town America through strong performances and cinematography. They single out the operatic depiction of the Pennsylvania town and community for praise while faulting the Vietnam sequences for lacking subtlety and aging poorly.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/deer-hunter-michael-cimino-war-movie/)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-deer-hunter.md