The Deer Hunter (1978)

Michael Cimino co-wrote and directed The Deer Hunter, a 1978 American epic war drama film about a trio of Slavic-American steelworkers whose lives were irrevocably transformed after serving in the Vietnam War. Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage portray the three soldiers, with John Cazale (in his penultimate performance), Meryl Streep, and George Dzundza providing assistance. Clairton, Pennsylvania, a working-class village on the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh, and Vietnam are the settings for the novel.

The job that would give Streep her first Academy Award nomination didn't initially capture Streep's attention - in fact, it was the polar opposite. Linda was "basically a man's idea of a woman", she said, with passivity and weakness, but she took the job to spend more time with her lover, actor John Cazale, who was dying of lung cancer at the time. Linda shines out as the emotional center of this devastating three-hour Vietnam War epic, and Streep pulls true emotions from the classic "girl back home" figure. Mike (Robert De Niro, 77) and Nick (Christopher Walken, 78) were both taken with her, and it's easy to understand why.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Michael Cimino

Release date: December 8, 1978

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077416