Heaven and Earth is another passion project for Oliver Stone and while it never quite gels together was a war-drama, the performances for the most part are good and the cinematography was utterly fantastic.
Heaven and Earth
(1993)
Genre(s): War, Drama
Twilight Time | R – 142 min. – $29.95 | December 9, 2014
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Oliver Stone Writer(s): Le Ly Hayslip with Jay Wurts (book “When Heaven & Earth Changed Places”), Le Ly Hayslip with James Hayslip (book “Child of War, Woman of Peace”); Oliver Stone (screenplay) Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Joan Chen, Haing S. Ngor, Hiep Thile DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1) |
PLOT SUMMARY
Oliver Stone concludes his Vietnam Trilogy (which includes Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July) with Heaven and Earth, based on the memoirs of Le Ly Hayslip. Born in a small, peaceful village in French Colonial Vietnam, Le Ly (HIEP THI LE), like her country, is thrown into chaos inflicted equally by the Viet Cong, the South Vietnamese government, and invading American forces.
Brutalized in every imaginable way, this young woman looks for rescue to an American soldier (TOMMY LEE JONES), only to find more trouble in store when she comes to America as his bride.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.25/5
Audio Commentary – As usual, Oliver Stone provides an expansive and informative track recounting behind-the-scenes stories from the script to the filming locations.
Deleted Scenes (25:33; SD) are a set of scenes removed for one reason or another and none are of real note. There’s an option to watch with optional commentary by Stone.
Alternate Opening with Score from Kitaro (22:34; SD)
Theatrical Trailer (3:11; SD)
VIDEO – 4.25/5
Heaven and Earth arrives on Blu-ray shown in its original 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and given a nice 1080p high-definition transfer. Save for some random specs of dirt and scratch marks, this is a good looking transfer with brilliant colors showcasing Robert Richardson’s fantastic cinematography.
AUDIO – 4.5/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track showcases excellent dialogue levels throughout but the most expansive and dynamic aspect is with the music which sounds brilliant. Any audio effects or action scenes come through well enough and shows off some depth for this lossless track.
OVERALL – 3.25/5
Overall, Heaven and Earth is another passion project for Oliver Stone and while it never quite gels together was a war-drama, the performances for the most part are good and the cinematography was utterly fantastic. The Blu-ray released by Twilight Time has good video and great audio transfers while the bonus material is headlined by a commentary track by Stone.
Published: 12/12/2014