The Deer Hunter (Special Edition) [DVD] [1979] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

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  • Lowest New Price: £15.56
  • Lowest Used Price: £8.00
  • Total New: 4
  • Total Used: 4
  • Total Collectible: 0
  • Total Refurbished: 0
  • Actor : Robert De Niro
  • Actor : John Cazale
  • Actor : John Savage
  • Actor : Christopher Walken
  • Actor : Meryl Streep
  • Aspect Ratio : 16:9 - 2.35:1
  • Binding : DVD
  • Creator : Robert De Niro
  • Creator : John Cazale
  • Director : Michael Cimino
  • EAN : 9781417054442
  • Format : Colour
  • Format : Dolby
  • Format : DVD-Video
  • Format : Widescreen
  • Format : NTSC
  • Is Adult Product? : No
  • ISBN : 1417054441
  • Label : Universal Home Video
  • Languages : Subtitled: English, Subtitled: Spanish, Original Language: English, Original Language: French, Original Language: Russian, Original Language: Vietnamese
  • Manufacturer : Universal Home Video
  • MPN : MCAD27976D
  • Number Of Discs : 2
  • Number Of Items : 2
  • Package Dimensions : 0.80 inches (Height) x 7.40 inches (Length) x 0.40 pounds (Weight) x 5.40 inches (Width)
  • Package Quantity : 1
  • Part Number : MCAD27976D
  • Product Group : DVD
  • Publisher : Universal Home Video
  • Region Code : 1
  • Release Date : 2005-09-06
  • Running Time : 184
  • SKU : 0025192797620ING
  • Studio : Universal Home Video
  • UPC : 025192797620

The Deer Hunter is an expansive portrait of friendship in a Pennsylvania steel town, and of the effects of the Vietnam War. Led by the trio of Robert De Niro, John Savage and Christopher Walken (who won a supporting actor Oscar), the first hour is dominated by an engrossing Russian Orthodox wedding and reception. When the drama moves overseas it switches from anthropologically realistic documentation of a community's rituals to highly controversial and still shocking Russian Roulette scenes, symbolising the random horror of war. Unforgettable as they are, the Vietnam sequences occupy less than a third of the three-hour running time; defying movie convention The Deer Hunter is fundamentally a before-and-after ensemble character study anchored by De Niro's great performance. Although it was the first serious Hollywood feature to address the Vietnam War, the plausibility of some of the later plot developments raises awkward questions. But the film remains powerfully effective, its deliberate pace, naturalistic overlapping dialogue and unflinching seriousness marking it very much a product of the 1970s. With nine Oscar nominations and five wins, including Best Picture and Director, it's a cinematic landmark that stands the test time, almost incidentally setting Meryl Streep on the road to superstardom in her first leading role. On the DVD: The Deer Hunter: Special Edition has the film on the first disc with a serious yet amiable Region 2 exclusive discussion track between director Michael Cimino and critic SX Finnie. The picture is anamorphically enhanced at 2.35:1, and perfectly reproduces Vilmos Zsigmond's deliberately desaturated, necessarily grainy cinematography. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack clearly reveals the mono original, being largely focused on the centre speaker and while it does a good job, some of the choral music does sound harsh. Dialogue is sometimes indecipherable, but that's due to the naturalistic nature of the original sound recording and mixing. Disc 2 offers excellent new interviews with Jon Savage (15 mins), Vilmos Zsigmond (15 mins) and Michael Cimino (23 mins). Also included is the original trailer (anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1), a routine photo gallery and a DVD version of the original press brochure. There's no trace of the 40 minutes of deleted material referred to by Cimino, but this presentation is still an object lesson in how quality of extras triumphs over quantity. --Gary S Dalkin

- Amazon.co.uk Review

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