The Deerhunter

[wolc123]

It is still too wet to accomplish much outside, so I am watching this movie today.  A buddy at work gave me several big crates of VHS tapes on Friday.  We no longer have cable TV in the downstairs gym, since switching to dish upstairs, so I am limited to VHS tapes or DVD's during workouts down there.  I should have enough of those for a few years now anyhow.   This looked about the most interesting, so I popped it in the old VCR.  The picture quality is pretty good.  I finished the first 1.5 hour tape, and am now almost ready to start the second.  At 3 hour run time, it is a long one.    During "intermission", I bore-sighted the new Redfield Revolution scope on my slug gun.  Now, as soon as the lane back to the range dries up, I can get it sighted in.  It sure is a nice clear scope, with good eye relief and focus at all ranges out to about 400 yards.    

So far, I would give the movie a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.    I would have given it an 8, if Diniro had shot a real PA whitetail, rather than a skinny European red stag.  It was cool watching them drive to the bar with it strapped across the hood of his Pontiac.   Hopefully, it gets even better in the second half.  Good luck to all the turkey hunters.  I am too scared of ticks and too uninterested in "white meat" to try that.  Time now to make a couple of doe-fawn burger patties (from my last pack), mix with an egg, and put them back in the fridge so they will stay bound together when I grill them for dinner after the movie.       

Edited May 4, 2019 by wolc123

[goosifer]

Can you get wi-fi in the basement? If yes, then get a Roku stick or an Amazon Fire Stick. You'd be amazed at the movies and shows you can watch for free (legally). Bit of a learning curve, but worth it.

[ny hunter]

Great movie....

[wolc123]

2 hours ago, goosifer said:

Can you get wi-fi in the basement? If yes, then get a Roku stick or an Amazon Fire Stick. You'd be amazed at the movies and shows you can watch for free (legally). Bit of a learning curve, but worth it.

I could, but it would not do me much good on the two old tv's down there now (one in the gym and one in the workshop).  Each had a VCR and DVD player, but one of the VCR's just crapped out.   Hopefully, the other one lasts thru the couple of hundred VHS movies that I have now (about 150 left to watch).  If and when one or both of those tv's craps out, we could replace them with smart tv's and go from there.    That may be several years away however.      

40 minutes ago, ny hunter said:

Great movie....

"Deerhunter" lost another point for me in the second hunting scene when they substituted a big 6 x 6 Western Elk for a PA whitetail.   I don't suppose Hollywood ever had any real eastern hunting knowledge and they are always good at turning good books into mediocre movies, like they also did with American Sniper.    Fredo, killing the doe in the middle of the river, was a little lame also.   The ending was good though, gaining back a point, for a final score of 7 out of 10 in my book.    I would call it a very good movie, but not quite a great one.     Ben Hur is up next.  Time for some grilled doe burgers now, and an Empire Strikes Bock. 

Edited May 4, 2019 by wolc123

[Daveboone]

Some time ago I read an interview with the director, and he was never happy with the hunting scenes. He apparently really wanted to catch the majesty of the mountains and the feel of the brotherhood, (If I remember right the Cascades were substitute for the actual PA hills...) and they had a heck of a time finding a buck deer. the first one was a whitetail, but an immature spindly one, and he wanted a trophy. Thus, the stag they used....the clumsy deer death scenes were due to the darting of the animals.

[wolc123]

17 minutes ago, Daveboone said:

Some time ago I read an interview with the director, and he was never happy with the hunting scenes. He apparently really wanted to catch the majesty of the mountains and the feel of the brotherhood, (If I remember right the Cascades were substitute for the actual PA hills...) and they had a heck of a time finding a buck deer. the first one was a whitetail, but an immature spindly one, and he wanted a trophy. Thus, the stag they used....the clumsy deer death scenes were due to the darting of the animals.

I will have to watch it again, but the animal that died in that first "clumsy" deer death scene certainly did not appear to be a whitetail.   Since the title of the movie is "The Deerhunter", I can understand why the director would be unhappy with the hunting scenes.  I would imagine that the writer was also  furious that they substituted what appears to be a European stag (in the first  "clumsy death" scene), and a Western elk, in the later "did not shoot" scene.   There are not many states where whitetail deer hunting is more popular than PA, and It is almost inexcusable that no "live" ones made it  into the movie (I did see a few "real" whitetail shoulder mounts).

At the very least, they should have retitled the movie "The Staghunter" or "The Elkhunter", if they could not find any live deer while filming.   I would have scored the movie an 8 out of 10 had they done that.   Back in 1979, when that movie came out and there were a lot higher percentage of deer-hunting moviegoers, I bet many from north-eastern states walked out of the theaters wondering why there were no actual  deer in the movie.    

[left field]

Masterpiece of a film. That wedding sequence is one of the best sequences ever shot. 

Little trivia. That was John Cazale’s (Stan) last film. He had cancer but Streep (his girlfriend) insisted they use him or she would walk. He never saw it finished. 

Cazale appeared in only five films and each was nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award: Godfather 1and 2; Dog Day Afternoon; The Conversation; and The Deerhunter.  

[wolc123]

 

1 hour ago, left field said:

Masterpiece of a film. That wedding sequence is one of the best sequences ever shot. 

Little trivia. That was John Cazale’s (Stan) last film. He had cancer but Streep (his girlfriend) insisted they use him or she would walk. He never saw it finished. 

Cazale appeared in only five films and each was nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award: Godfather 1and 2; Dog Day Afternoon; The Conversation; and The Deerhunter.  

The wedding sequence was very good. Hollywood has lots of experience with those.  I liked when the sergeant crashed the wedding and they bought him a drink.  His reply, when they asked him how it was "over there", was interesting.      

The scenes in the steel mill were also very realistic, and were probably the most technically correct part of the film.  The combat scenes and special effects were better than average. Had they not botched the hunting scenes so badly (can you say: no deer ?), I might rank that movie as one of my favorite 5.   

Edited May 5, 2019 by wolc123

[Daveboone]

It is important to remember that the movie wasnt about deer hunting...it was about brotherhood and loyalty, with Bobby Deniro the glue that held them all together.  

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, Daveboone said:

It is important to remember that the movie wasnt about deer hunting...it was about brotherhood and loyalty, with Bobby Deniro the glue that held them all together.  

True, but it would have scored much higher with me if they had not botched the hunting scenes so badly.   It was very important to get those right, given the title.   Had they thrown in a few real PA whitetails, it might have picked up a couple more Oscars.    The movie that I just finished (Ben Hur) really cleaned up there, picking up the most of all time, largely because it got all the technical stuff just about perfect.   Maybe DeNiro ought to try a stint as president of the NRA now that North is out, like the star of that one did.  At the very least, he might learn a thing or two about REAL deer hunting.     

[Hunter007]