Heaven & Earth (1993)

44% of critics liked it
(18 reviews)
71% of users liked it
(5,234 ratings)

With Heaven and Earth -- cobbled together from two autobiographical reminiscences (When Heaven and Earth Changed Places and Child of War, Woman of Peace by Le Ly Hayslip -- Oliver Stone completes his self-declared "Vietnam Trilogy" (the other films being Platoon and Born On the Fourth of July) of… More With Heaven and Earth -- cobbled together from two autobiographical reminiscences (When Heaven and Earth Changed Places and Child of War, Woman of Peace by Le Ly Hayslip -- Oliver Stone completes his self-declared "Vietnam Trilogy" (the other films being Platoon and Born On the Fourth of July) of films examining the Vietnam War from different perspectives. Heaven and Earth begins in the central Vietnamese village of Ky La during the 1950s. Phung Le Ly (Hiep Thi Le) is an innocent peasant girl, helping her mother (Joan Chen) to tend the rice paddies while being lectured in the ways of life by her father (Haing Ngor). The idyllic peace of the village is disrupted when a jet bomber crosses the skies. Soon the village is decimated as the American-backed South Vietnamese government troops and the Viet Cong engage in brutal warfare in which the victims are the innocent villagers. Le Ly is both tortured and raped. She leaves Ky La for Danang for a life as a prostitute. There she meets the tall and craggy American soldier Steve Butler (Tommy Lee Jones), a kind but lonely man who isn't looking for sex but for someone to settle down with -- as he says, "I want an Oriental wife." They marry, and Steve takes her back to the United States, where her in-laws look at her not as a wife but as a pet. In the harsh glare of 1970s U.S. culture, Le Ly has trouble adjusting to the American way of life. But not as hard a time as her husband, who, after twenty years in Vietnam, discovers he cannot adapt to civilian life. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: R, 2 hr. 23 min.
Directed By: Oliver Stone
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Jun 1, 1994 Wide
On DVD: Oct 19, 2004
Studio: Warner Home Video

Critic Reviews

Janet Maslin, New York Times
Mr. Stone tells this tale vigorously, but he has the wrong cinematic vocabulary for his heroine's essentially passive experience.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Heaven has so many themes, ranging from Buddhist spirituality to feminism, it ends up with none.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
This is the first time [Stone] has tried to place himself inside a woman's imagination, and that he succeeds so well is due partly...to an extraordinary performance by Hiep Thi Le in the leading role.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
Heaven and Earth has the epic scope one would expect from a film of this magnitude, but it lacks much of the narrative strength of Stone's first two Vietnamese tales.
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
What Oliver Stone has created is his Mrs. Miniver for the Vietnam era.
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
Overblown, forgettable Oliver Stone epic.
James Plath, Reel.com
Stone's most understated film to date--which, of course, is a little like saying that the bulldozer doesn't knock down everything in sight
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Touches the heart not only as a cross-cultural treasure but as Oliver Stone's most soulful movie.

Read all 8 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Brian R

Pretty flat and weak. I think Stone was afraid to take risks with this picture since he is dealing with a touchy subject particularly Vietnam. The performances is mediocre and easily forgettable. Hiep Te Li tried her best as Ly Li Hayslip but fails. If anything good is to come of this… More
Pretty flat and weak. I think Stone was afraid to take risks with this picture since he is dealing with a touchy subject particularly Vietnam. The performances is mediocre and easily forgettable. Hiep Te Li tried her best as Ly Li Hayslip but fails. If anything good is to come of this it would have to be the cinematography handled expertly by Robert Richardson.
Sarah P

A much different perspective on the Vietnam War than I'm used to seeing. I appreciated it, but don't know if I would watch the movie again.
Leo L

A great film!

Cast

            Tommy Lee Jones as Steve Butler

            Joan Chen as Mama

            Dr. Haing S. Ngor as Papa

            Hiep Thi Le
            
            Debbie Reynolds as Eugenia

            Vivian Wu as Madame Lien

            Dustin Nguyen as Sau

            Conchata Ferrell as Bernice

            Dale Dye as Larry

            Liem Whatley as Viet Cong Captain

            Robert John Burke as G.I. Paul

            Michael Paul Chan as Interrogator

            Timothy Carhart as Big Mike

            Tim Guinee as Young Sergeant

            Marshall Bell as 3rd Dinner Guest

            Robert Marshall as Detective

            Annie McEnroe as 1st Dinner Guest

            Chitra Mojtabai as Supermarket Check-out Girl

            Marianne Muellerleile as 2nd Dinner Guest

            Stephen Polk as G.I. #1

            Brad Rea as G.I. #3

            Vivien Straus as Neighbor's Wife

            Tai Thai as Jimmy (age 20)

            Phil Neilson as Marine in Helicopter

            Keith Smith as G.I. #2

            Dave Cooper as Bald Onlooker

            Tuan Tran as Rapist

            Billy Hopkins
            
            Heidi Levitt
            
            Risa Bramon Garcia
            
            Mai Le Ho as Hai

            Irene Ng as 1st Torture Girl

            Michael Lee as Ky La Wizard

            Bussaro Sanruck
            
            Haing S. Ngor
            
            Khiem Thai
            
            Lan Nguyen Calderon
            
            Supak Pititam
            
            Thuan K. Nguyen
            
            Thuan Le
            
See full cast