Factual error: The boys go deer hunting somewhere in the Appalachians, but the geology is all wrong. That scene is in North Cascades National Park in Washington State. In addition, the "deer" they are hunting is a Red Stag. Not typically found in the Appalachians.
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Michael Cimino
Starring: Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken, John Savage, John Cazale
When Michael (De Niro) returns home, he finds out that Steven (Savage) is in hospital and Nick (Walken) is still in Vietnam. Nick's trauma of the events of their capture during the war has lead him to continue playing Russian roulette. Michael eventually decides to go looking for him. He finds him in a small slum in Vietnam where they are holding Russian roulette contests. When Michael sees that Nick is a contestant, he tries to talk him out of it, but it doesn't work. Michael decides to play against him, and again tries to talk him out of it, but he realises that the game won't end until one of them is dead. Nick loses. They hold a funeral for Nick and all the people back home mourn him at the dinner table. They all sing 'God Bless America'.
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Suggested correction: Part of the scenery is the North Cascades, including the first mountain shot, Mount Baker, south of the Canadian border.
Someone notes that "Red Stags are not typically found in the Appalachians." In reality, there are no wild red stags in the Eastern US, or anywhere in the US, or in North America, or even in the Western Hemisphere. Red stags are native to most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of Western Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains of Northern Africa.
Thank you! Growing up in Pennsylvania and hunting deer since the age of ten - The use of the Red Stag in the last scene always bothered me. No trained White Tails, I guess. Great movie other than that.
Trivia: The scene where Nick spits in Michael's face when they play each other at Russian Roulette towards the end of the movie was improvised by Christopher Walken. Director Michael Cimino convinced Walken to do this, and Robert De Niro was completely surprised by this, as evidenced in his reaction. In fact, De Niro was so furious about the unscripted improvisation that he almost quit the production.
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