Days of Heaven - Criterion Collection | 
 enlarge | Director: Terrence Malick
Actors: Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard
Studio: Criterion
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $27.77
You Save: $12.18 (30%)
New (42) Used (10) from $27.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  85 reviews
Sales Rank: 13278
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Italian (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 94
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 1717
UPC: 715515026321
EAN: 0715515026321
ASIN: B000TXNDV6
Theatrical Release Date: September 13, 1978
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
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Amazon.com essential video
Richard Gere works in a Chicago steel mill at the turn of the century, but must flee the city after accidentally killing a man. Heading for the wheat fields of Texas, he packs up his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) and his younger sister (Linda Manz). Instead of a better life, they head straight into tragedy when a wealthy farmer (Sam Shepard) falls for Adams. Believing him to be dying and expecting to inherit a fortune, she agrees to marry him. Their plans change when Shepard fails to die and Gere takes matters into his own hands. Aesthetically flawless, this film about a romantic love triangle is diminished by the small scope of video. Originally shown in 70mm, it is an eye-catching period piece that won its cinematographer, Néstor Almendros, a 1978 Oscar. Texture and color are the unbilled characters in this tragic tale, and are just as important as the players. The story, sadly, fades somewhat when compared to the glory of the visuals. --Rochelle O'Gorman
Description
One-of-a-kind filmmaker-philosopher Terrence Malick has created some of the most visually arresting movies of the twentieth century, and his glorious period tragedy Days of Heaven, featuring Oscar-winning cinematography by Nestor Almendros, stands out among them. In 1910, a Chicago steel worker (Richard Gere) accidentally kills his supervisor and flees to the Texas panhandle with his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) and little sister (Linda Manz) to work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer (Sam Shepard). A love triangle, a swarm of locusts, a hellish fire—Malick captures it all with dreamlike authenticity, creating at once a timeless American idyll and a gritty evocation of turn-of-the-century labor.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 80 more reviews...
 Visually Brilliant March 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This remarkable film takes full advantage of the medium to tell a story with an absolute minimum of dialogue. The use of camera and music elevates a simple story of a love triangle to the level of epic myth.
The opening sequence of the film uses still shots and music to transport the viewer back to 1916 America. And then the brief sequences of the factory and the train to the farm demonstrate urban and rural life in the new industrial age.
Sam Shepard and Richard Gere are quite convincing in portraying, with almost no dialogue, the conflicting emotions and suffering of the rivals for Brooke Adams' affections. Adams also is well cast as the beautiful girl from humble circumstances who is at once corrupted and the source of all truth. And the narration by the child is a wonderful touch that adds an ironic perspective to the tale. Leo Kottke's guitar on the soundtrack is yet another perfect touch.
The story itself is a bit thin. Though it may well be that the elemental themes of love and jealousy and the social context that undercuts relationships are best portrayed in a mythic and epic fashion that abstracts from the individuals involved.
The movie is entrancing and one of the great films of the 1970s.
 Poor quality March 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Item received in the time specified. It was a poor quality DVD. The picture so dark, you couldn't enjoy the wonderful cinenatography which this movie is known for
 Location Better than the Plot February 26, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was prepared to sit back and enjoy a good movie when I watched "Days of Heaven" last night. I admit that the setting was very beautiful, undulating, expansive, and more. The mansion in the middle of thousands of acres of wheat fields was an impressive touch. The problem was with the plot and the acting. I admit that my mild hearing loss may have robbed me of a sentence of two of dialogue here (hear?) and there. However, I had to check the liner notes on the DVD case to reassure myself that the man and the woman were supposed to be traveling together incognito as brother and sister to help in their escape from a murder in Chicago. Their relationship never really developed into anything coherent during the movie even allowing for their intential misrepresentation. Her relationship with the young landowner was a better developed relationship.
The director used a juvenile as a sort of narrator throughout the film. I had a hard time hearing much of what she said and I came away thinking that it was a gimic that didn't work. As a matter of fact, her character was rather unnecessary to the movie, in my opinion. There were times in the movie where the work being done was alternately instructive and ridiculous. I'm reminded of one scene where Richard Gere seems deeply involved with the seriousness of his job as he takes a bundle of cut wheat and moves it from one pile to another one three feet away. There is a scene of disaster that made me wish for the better rendition from "The Good Earth". The ending is akward but, in keeping with the film's strong point, leads us through another cinematic scene of nature's beauty.
Buy ONLY the Criterion release February 25, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I bought the $9.99 version but then ended up buying the Criterion release and giving away the other one. I was shcoked at the dust, sparkles and grain in the standard release. The Criterion release is so much better. Cleaned up and improved in every way. This is the way every film should be transferred to DVD by the studio. If you are thinking about owning this movie, that is the one to buy. Critereon's quality is so high, I look forward to buying some of there other releases.
An awful movie that was beautifully filmed. February 11, 2008
0 out of 9 found this review helpful
I purchased this movie for my boyfriend, who is interested in film and hopes to make movies himself. He wanted it because he heard that it was a true testament to beautiful cinematography. He absolutely loved it, saying it was so beautifully made. I, on the other hand, loathed this movie. It was depressing, slow, and lacked dialogue. The characters were all unlikable and the plot was pretty stupid.
So, if you're a film person, you may find this worth purchasing for the cinematic qualities, but if you're just, say, a Richard Gere fan and are curious, I beg of you, don't waste your time or money.
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