In fact, De Niro was so furious about it he nearly left the set.ġ1. When Walken actually did it, Robert De Niro was completely shocked, as evidenced by his reaction. Michael Cimino convinced Christopher Walken to spit in Michael’s face. Christopher Walken achieved the withdrawn, hollow look of his character by eating nothing but rice and bananas.ġ0. Robert De Niro and John Savage performed their own stunts in the fall into the river, filming the 30ft drop 15 times in two days.ĩ.

The deaths of approximately twenty-eight people who died playing Russian roulette were reported as having been influenced by scenes in the movie.Ĩ. It was checked, however, to make sure the bullet was not in the chamber before the trigger was pulled.ħ. During some of the Russian Roulette scenes, a live round was put into the gun to heighten the actors’ tension. The actors grew very agitated by the constant slapping, which, naturally, added to the realism of the scenes.Ħ. The slapping in the Russian roulette sequences was 100% authentic. Robert De Niro and Cimino reportedly argued as to the realism of the scenes.ĥ. Michael Cimino was planning on the scenes to cause controversy and simply stated that no one could be certain of the accuracy. Various critics objected to the Russian roulette sequences, suggesting that such activity never took place in the Vietnam War. Cimino tore the wrapping paper off a few of the packages, only to find that the extras had in fact wrapped real gifts for the “wedding.”Ĥ. The extras did as they were told, however, when Cimino inspected the “props” he noticed that the “gifts” were a lot heavier than empty boxes otherwise would be. The fake gifts would then be used as props for the wedding reception. Prior to filming the wedding reception, Cimino instructed the extras to take empty boxes from home and wrap them as if they were wrapping real wedding gifts and bring them to the set the next day. During the filming of the wedding sequence, director Michael Cimino encouraged the many extras to treat the festivities as a real wedding, so as to increase the authenticity of the scenes. Robert De Niro, who prepared for his role by socializing with actual steelworkers, was introduced by his hosts and new friends as Bob, and no one recognized him.ģ. Cazale died shortly after filming was completed.Ģ.

Robert De Niro put up the money for the insurance. The studio wanted to replace John Cazale when he was ruled un-insurable due to the fact he was suffering from throat cancer. Here are 11 interesting facts about Michael Cimino’s war epic…ġ. That didn’t stop the film from being a searing work of art, and collecting five awards on Oscar night. The Deer Hunter was met with controversy in 1978 regarding its treatment of the Vietnamese soldiers and its fictionalization of the war.

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