EMI Films, who produced the film, released the film internationally while Universal Pictures handled its distribution in North America. The film went over-budget and over-schedule, and ended up costing $15 million. Producer Michael Deeley, who bought the script, hired writer/director Michael Cimino who, with Deric Washburn, rewrote the script, taking the Russian roulette element and placing it in the Vietnam War. Redeker, about Las Vegas and Russian roulette. The film was based in part on an unproduced screenplay called The Man Who Came to Play by Louis A. The story takes place in Clairton, Pennsylvania, a working-class town on the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh, and in Vietnam. The three soldiers are played by Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage, with John Cazale (in his final role), Meryl Streep, and George Dzundza playing supporting roles.

The Deer Hunter is a 1978 epic war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Slavic-American steelworkers whose lives are upended after fighting in the Vietnam War.

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