A group of friends get drafted to fight in Vietnam. This movie is a before and after picture... all 183 minutes of it...

Warning: Moments of Russian Roulette pepper this movie.

"Robert de Niro wears Y-fronts? This is a disgrace! I want my money back!"

"Was that the same deer at the end of the movie that they killed at the beginning? I want my money back too."

"It was a bit of a give away wasn't it? The bit where De Niro asks for 6 bullets during a game of Russian Roulette? It seemed obvious to me he would shoot everyone and make a get away, or have I seen this movie before?"

"He only asked for three bullets, bonehead."

"Sorry to be pedantic, but what's so Russian about it? Are Russians too poor to afford 6 bullets? or do they like to give their victims a sporting chance to get away?"

"Hell fire dammit. This movie doesn't really start for an hour and a half."

"It is a little appreciated fact that firing a blank into your head from that close distance has much the same effect as firing a bullet. Many an actor has been killed this way."

Michael shoots his way out of a game of Russian Roulette using the three bullets in his round of RR, he then steals a machine gun. They all escape, but then they are all split up again.

Nick (Christopher Walken) loses his mind and ends up playing RR professionally, until the inevitable day when his number is up, emotionally playing against Michael who has come to save him at the end.

Michael gets the girl (Linda, played by Meryl Streep).

A seriously long outing, all 183 minutes of it.

A powerful movie which, on its release, caused much offense to liberals, who chastised thusly: "How dare they do a Vietnam movie with the POV of the Americans?" Many a university petition was signed to stop this movie being shown to young, impressionable, alcohol filled, eyes. But since then we have come a long way.

Full Metal Jacket is still my favorite war movie. This outing is mainly social commentary, one can happily go for a rest break over 25 times and not miss a single thing.

A landmark movie; a movie made while America came to terms with the whole Vietnam situation. Not a pleasant movie to watch, it is, in fact, very hard to watch in places.

The acting is undoubtedly superb and the story seems realistic.

The Russian Roulette scenes will stay with you for a lifetime.

Makes Deliverance seem like a wholesome family comedy.

Possibly a good movie to watch after a bad day at the office.

April 11, 2003