As a result, he had made the decision at the time to take a break from movies altogether, if only for a few years. All these work and family responsibilities had started to pile on for De Niro. It was his work in that second installment of The Godfather film series that had indeed bagged him his first Oscar, for Best Supporting Actor in 1974. De Niro was also on the tail end of a whirlwind decade workwise, in which he had starred in career-defining films such as Taxi Driver and The Godfather II. The Deer Hunter premiered in 1978, at a time when he had recently become a father - his first born son, Raphael was two years old at the time. Interestingly as well, De Niro's apparent crazy suggestion would not even be a subject of conversation today if had had his way in the first place. But whether there was any veracity to those claims or not, common sense prevailed and no actual bullet was used in shooting the scene. It is not clear how De Niro might have envisioned tragedy being avoided in real life had the producers listened to him and actually followed his plan. As a nod to their adventurous past, they play a game of Russian Roulette, which tragically culminates with Nick shooting himself in the head. He finds Nick - now an addict - in a gambling den. The film builds up to a scene back in Saigon, Vietnam, where Mike has gone back looking for his old friend Nick, who deserted the army. In Vietnam, their dreams of military honor are quickly shattered by the inhumanities of war even those who survive are haunted by the experience, as is Nick's hometown sweetheart, Linda (Streep).' Towards the end of the decade, another classic would be born: Michael Cimino wrote and directed The Deer Hunter, a war drama picture that would star Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep and a then 35-year old Robert De Niro.Ī synopsis for The Deer Hunter reads, 'In 1968, Michael (De Niro), Nick (Walken) and Steven (John Savage), lifelong friends from a working-class Pennsylvania steel town, prepare to ship out overseas following Steven's elaborate wedding and one final group hunting trip. Cult classics such as The Godfather, Star Wars and Steven Spielberg's thriller film, Jaws all came to life in the '70s.

Nonetheless, the industry managed not only to survive the financial crisis, but also experience what came to be seen as a period of renaissance. Consequently, the American film industry nearly came to its knees in the early part of the decade, as major Hollywood studios plunged to the brink of bankruptcy. The effects of the Second World War were still being keenly felt across the world.

The 1970s were quite a unique time in the history of Hollywood.

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