Tagline

 • Winner of 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture 1978

Plot Summary

Mike treats hunting as a test of skill, lecturing Stan about the value of "one shot" deer slaying and brushing off Nick's urgings to appreciate nature's beauty. As Mike ruminates post-hunt, the film cuts to the horror of Vietnam, where the men are captured by Vietcong soldiers who force Mike and Nick to play Russian roulette for the V.C.'s amusement. Mike turns the game to his advantage so they can escape captivity, but the men are permanently scarred by the episode. Steve loses his legs; Nick vanishes in the Saigon Russian roulette parlors. Mike returns alone to Clairton a changed man, as he rejects the killing of the deer hunt and finds solace with Nick's old girlfriend Linda (Meryl Streep). Disgusted by the antics of his male cohorts at home, Mike decides to bring Steve back from a veterans' hospital, and he returns to Saigon to find Nick. As Saigon falls, Mike discovers how far gone Nick is; the survivors gather in Clairton for a funeral breakfast, singing an impromptu rendition of "God Bless America."

Memorable Quotes

Nick: I don't think about that much with one shot anymore, Mike. Michael: You have to think about one shot. One shot is what it's all about. A deer's gotta be taken with one shot.

Axel: You're so full of shit, you're gonna float away.

Michael: Stanley, see this? This is this. This ain't something else. This is this. From now on, you're on your own.