Heaven's Burning (1997)

31% of users liked it
(1,626 ratings)

A runaway Japanese bride finds herself alone in Sydney, Australia when her lover fails to show up to save her from her husband, and she ends up on an off-road adventure with a handsome getaway driver while fleeing gangsters, cops from two countries and her murderously humiliated spouse. The whole… More A runaway Japanese bride finds herself alone in Sydney, Australia when her lover fails to show up to save her from her husband, and she ends up on an off-road adventure with a handsome getaway driver while fleeing gangsters, cops from two countries and her murderously humiliated spouse. The whole mess begins when Midori (Youki Kudoh) engineers her own kidnapping to avoid her honeymoon night with her hyper-tense businessman husband Yukio (Kenji Isomura). When he notices Midori's absence, Yukio panics. Local policemen Bishop and Moffat are assigned the case and it is while talking to Yukio and the staff that they learn the truth. When the Japanese press finds out about Yukio's plight, they merrily proceed to crucify him in the headlines, making him a laughingstock. Meanwhile, Midori, after getting jilted, goes to a bank to exchange some money and is caught in the midst of an armed bankrobbery masterminded by Afghani hoodlums Mahood (Robert Mammone) and his brother Gullbuddin. The two are about to shoot the terrified Midori when their getaway driver Colin (Russell Crowe) intervenes. Gullbuddin is accidentally killed during the scuffle and Colin hits the highway with Midori. With the aforementioned crowd in hot pursuit, the two fugitives head for a farm in the boonies where Colin's elderly, embittered father lives in almost comical isolation. Along the way, the two encounter several memorable characters. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: Craig Lahiff
Written By: Louis Nowra
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense, Comedy

In Theaters: Apr 3, 1998 Wide
On DVD: Nov 7, 2000
Studio: Trimark

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Featured Audience Ratings

Cameron J

Heaven is burning down the discotheque - discotheque, let's shake it. I hate the heck out of contemporary music and ironically, I'm probably the only one who gets that contemporary song reference. Seems appropriate, seeing as I'm also the only person who's heard of… More
Heaven is burning down the discotheque - discotheque, let's shake it. I hate the heck out of contemporary music and ironically, I'm probably the only one who gets that contemporary song reference. Seems appropriate, seeing as I'm also the only person who's heard of this film, something that was obvious enough without the 2 day search for a video of it. Well, maybe it was a pretty popular film, only everyone forgot about it. It's doesn't have much memorability about it. Translation: This might be a bad review. This film suffers from some lack of development, some inconsistancies in storyline and character roles, some abrupt events, some improveable choices in casting, some weak writing, some cheesiness and some overacting by some smaller cast members. Is that enough "some"s, ladies and gentlemen or do I need "some" more. Also, let us not forget that there is a ton of gratuitous violence and death. That poor robber, driving woman, gun provider, dog, crazy motorized wheelchair guy, farmer and kangaroo. I guess I'm gonna stop the list there, because I'm only allowed to type 25000 characters. I exaggerate, but this film does get pretty crazy. But seriously though, as flawed as the film is, it is saved by a good story, the occasional good line, a decent ending and decent performances from Crowe and Kudoh. Ultimately, this film is like this review, not terrible, but not terribly great. Of course, the difference is that I expected this review to be bad, where with this film, I expected it to just be the somewhat underwhelming and understandably overlooked piece on Russell Crowe's filmography that it turned out to be. Still, as forgettable as it is, if you happen to come across "Heaven's Burning" - and boy, talk about a big "if" - then it's worth watching, thanks to the enjoyable story and decent performances by the leads. Also, after seeing those mutton chops, I say that they should definately get Russell Crowe if they're ever gonna do an Elvis biopic. Heck, he's got the bloating down now-a-days. Seems like I always need to bring up either Russell's getting out of shape or phone throwing. Anyone think he'd like me?