The Ending Of The Deer Hunter Explained

"The Deer Hunter" focuses on a group of Russian-American steelworker buddies who are excited to leave their small town to go and fight in Vietnam. Mike (Robert De Niro) is the macho man of the bunch, while Nick (Christopher Walken) is his more sensitive best friend. The two also run with Steven (John Savage), Stanley (John Cazale), Axel (Chuck Aspegren), and bartender John (George Dzundza). The friends celebrate Steven's wedding to Angela (Rutanya Alda), while the town celebrates the three men — Steven, Mike, and Nick — heading off to war.

At the wedding, it's clear Mike has a crush on Nick's girlfriend, Linda (Meryl Streep). Afterward, Nick cares for a drunken Mike and makes Mike promise that he won't leave him in Vietnam, no matter what. The next day, the friends go on one last deer hunt, and Mike shoots a buck with one shot — telling Nick that's the only way to take a deer. The sound of helicopters transitions the film to Vietnam, where the three friends are being held as prisoners of war.

They are forced to play a game of Russian roulette for their Viet Cong captors to gamble on. Mike leads Nick in a tense shootout escape. They grab Steven, and a helicopter saves the trio — but only for a moment. Steven slips into the river, and Mike goes in after him, but Nick goes AWOL in Vietnam forcing Michael to return without him. Once home, Mike avoids everyone but Linda — and discovers that Steven is now an amputee, living at a Veterans Administration (VA) hospital, and receiving money every month from someone in Saigon.