ABSTRACT
The prevalence and popularity of the Vietnam War films throughout the 1980's testify to the power of America's need to justify its presence in Vietnam and the morality of individual soldier's involvement. Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter, released just two years after Taxi Driver, was first of these Vietnam War films to represent the American soldier's experience in Vietnam as a captivity from which only a man of extraordinary strength and determination could rescue him. Ironically, Robert DeNiro plays the role of the film's rescuing hero, Michael Vronsky, a role that establishes a connection between The Deer Hunter and Taxi Driver, in which DeNiro starred as Travis. While Taxi Driver lampoons Travis, The Deer Hunter ultimately creates respect for and legitimizes its hero and his rescue mission. In the film, based on an actual incident reported in the New Yorker by Daniel Lang in 1969, a patrol of five soldiers is sent on a reconnaissance mission deep into enemy territory.
