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.
