Which 1978 Vietnam War drama won Best Picture and Best Director for Michael Cimino?

The 1978 Vietnam War drama that won Best Picture and Best Director for Michael Cimino is The Deer Hunter.

The film follows three Russian-American steelworkers from Clairton, Pennsylvania, whose lives are transformed by military service in Vietnam. Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, Meryl Streep, and John Cazale headline the cast.

At the 51st Academy Awards, The Deer Hunter won five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Walken, Film Editing, and Sound. Its three-part structure moves from working-class community life to combat and then to the difficult aftermath of war.

Coming Home is the most notable mix-up because it also won major awards for its Vietnam story, but The Deer Hunter took the 1978 Best Picture prize. Apocalypse Now was nominated but did not win.