Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
84%RT Audience Score: 76%
Awards & Nominations: Won 2 Oscars
15 wins & 26 nominations total
Led by an unforgettable performance from Tom Cruise, Born on the Fourth of July finds director Oliver Stone tackling thought-provoking subject matter with ambitious élan
Born on the Fourth of July is a film that takes you on a journey from the patriotic high of a young Tom Cruise to the disillusionment of a paralyzed Vietnam veteran. Oliver Stone’s direction and Cruise’s acting make for a powerful combination that leaves you feeling both moved and drained. The film is a reminder of the horrors of war and the sacrifices made by those who fight them. Plus, it’s always fun to see Tom Cruise with long hair.
Production Company(ies)
Warner Bros., Plan B Entertainment, Initial Entertainment Group,
Distributor
MCA/Universal Pictures [us], Universal Pictures, Warner Home Vídeo, Image Entertainment Inc., Universal Home Entertainment
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Philippines
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1990
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 24m
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Language(s):English, Spanish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 20, 1989 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 17, 2006
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Tom Cruise, Willem Dafoe, Kyra Sedgwick, Raymond J Barry, Caroline Kava, Bryan Larkin, directed by Oliver Stone, written by Oliver Stone, Ron Kovic, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Kurt Jacobsen, Variety Staff, Vincent Canby, Ed Gonzalez, Peter Travers, Desson Thomson, Tom Meek, Peter Bowen, Otis Stuart, Brian D Johnson, Hilary Mantel, Tom Sizemore, Vivica A Fox, James Le Gros, A Kitman Ho, produced by Oliver Stone, R MPAA rating, Vietnam War, patriotism, anti-war activism, Marines, Veterans Administration, political divide, true story, paralysis, firefight, jingoistic veteran, Platoon, disillusionment, voice for the anti-war movement, enthralling, powerful, thought-provoking
Worldwide gross: $161,001,698
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $371,171,603
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 409
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 40,476,729
US/Canada gross: $70,001,698
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $161,381,170
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 482
US/Canada opening weekend: $172,021
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $396,575
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,462
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $14,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $32,275,451
Production budget ranking: 1,114
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $17,380,330
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $321,515,821
ROI to date (est.): 647%
ROI ranking: 193
Willem Dafoe – Charlie (Villa Dulce)
Kyra Sedgwick – Donna (Ron’s girlfriend)
Raymond J. Barry – Mr. Kovic
Caroline Kava – Mrs. Kovic
Bryan Larkin – Young Ron
Oliver Stone – Director, Writer
A. Kitman Ho – Producer
Director(s)
Oliver Stone
Writer(s)
Oliver Stone, Ron Kovic
Producer(s)
A. Kitman Ho, Oliver Stone
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 2 Oscars
15 wins & 26 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Directing Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Editing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (49) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (7)
Stone niftily strings together a batch of cuttingly effective dramatic sequences.
May 12, 2022
Kurt Jacobsen
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Tom Cruise, who takes Kovic from clean-cut eager teen to impassioned long-haired activist, is stunning.
June 6, 2008
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Born on the Fourth of July is…the most ambitious nondocumentary film yet made about the entire Vietnam experience.
May 20, 2003 | Rating: 3.5
Vincent Canby
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
Signaled Oliver Stone’s transition from iconic commentator to tremulous anarchist.
October 17, 2002 | Rating: 91/100
Ed Gonzalez
Apollo Guide
TOP CRITIC
Stone has found in Cruise the ideal actor to anchor the movie with simplicity and strength.
May 12, 2001
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
TOP CRITIC
Stone has created a film whose overblown parts add up to far less than the epic whole he had in mind.
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
The eclectic and incredible cast assembled by Stone in this patriotic anti-patriot statement includes Tom Sizemore, Vivica A. Fox and James Le Gros…
July 15, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4
Tom Meek
Cambridge Day
The film internalizes Cruise’s acting career from beef-cake adolescent lo gung-ho patriot within the Film’s plot, transforms him into a serious actor by making him at once handicapped and ugly.
May 20, 2020
Peter Bowen
OutWeek
This is not the boy next door. Maybe it never was.
May 20, 2020
Otis Stuart
OutWeek
The actor gives a risky, allout performance that makes him an obvious Oscar candidate. But his sacrifice is squandered. By the end of Stone’s 140-minute ordeal, it becomes gruesomely clear that the movie is bereft of ideas.
October 11, 2019
Brian D. Johnson
Maclean’s Magazine
As Kovic, Tom Cruise gives a performance that is adroit, moving and mature. The devices of fiction illuminate fact, but the film gains in power because we know that it is telling a true story.
April 10, 2019
Hilary Mantel
The Spectator
The movie is all glib explanation… banal in its obviousness and crass in its moralizing.
August 15, 2018
Robert Stone
The New York Review of Books…
Plot
The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
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