What a waste of my time!!!

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

It's interesting that when this film was released in 1993 that the prominent scene shown in film review shows is the scene where the South Vietnamese Army enter the village of Le Ly and come under attack by the VC . This gives the impression you're going to be watching a Vietnam film and the early part of the film does concentrate on the history of Vietnam . Too much so because if you do have a rough outline of Vietnamese history then you'll find the main story is being held up by Le Ly's potted history of Vietnam at every opportunity . There is a train of thought that if a film is too reliant on voice over then the film is failing on that level and this may well be a case in point That's not the only flaw . The way everything is shot gives an idealised view of a far off exotic land . If the Vietnamese government want to do a plug for visiting Vietnam then director Oliver Stone has done the country a big favour . There's a war on don't you and no matter what Le Ly's village still manages to look like a Utopian destination and despite people getting frequently killed and raped one wonders why on Earth anyone would want to leave here . Indeed the cynic in me wonders if Stone is seeking a personal redemption by making this film . I know Stone volunteered for military service in Vietnam and I know prior to that he volunteered to be an English language teacher in Vietnam but yet I never felt I was watching a real world view of Vietnam , more of a clichéd Lonely Planet romanticised Westerner view of the country There's also another flaw and that is Stone seems obsessed with Eastern mysticism . Heaven and Earth ? Ying and Yang ? Slumdog non millionaire and other new age nonsense as Stone concentrates on Karma and other metaphysical nonsense . The Vietnam war came about via Cold War politics and had nothing to do with nature or anything else outside of human engineered power struggles . Stone wants us to believe that a spiritual force is controlling everything but I'm afraid I'm more likely to listen to historians and scientists rather than soothsayers . The main flaw of the movie is that the story is ugly but the visuals are beautiful and while the audience can understand the point Stone is making via this technique it doesn't make new age thinking anymore credible

Wow, some people live their lives the same way like robots till their death, but this woman lives her life with so many dramas. Same thing is happening in Iraq now, people here in the US are enjoying their lives to the fullest while so many innocent Iraqi people are suffering with no end.I am surprised that the rating is not too high. The movie "Deer hunter" which was also about Vietname war, it was so slow and boring. If it didn't win some Oscars, I would have stopped watching in the middle of it. This movie is about the same feature length, but this one is much more emotional, and not boring at all.It is another tear-jerking movie. This movie helped me to understand the pain that Vietnamese people suffered during the war. It is very authentic. Those are the common people who just want to make the best out of their lives, they just want to live. It was especially touching when she finally came back to her village, and her brother told her about how he felt throughout the years. She is not a hero, but she is such a brave woman who suffered so much, who almost died. How many of us will ever live a life like hers. In the end, this movie makes all of us to treasure the life that we have now, there are so many people who are living in this world who still don't have the things that we take for granted.Thank you for all those who worked on this great movie.

The third, and most likely final , film in Oliver Stone's trilogy about the Vietnam war is here.In "Platoon" we learned of the horrors of war through the eyes of new recruit Chris Taylor, "Born on the Fourth of July" covered the story of Vietnam veteran come anti-war activist Ron Kovic, and "Heaven and Earth" finally completes the picture by giving us the Vietnam perspective.Based on two autobiographical novels by Le Ly Hayslip, this high powered drama concerns her struggle for survival in war torn Vietnam, as both the allied forces and the North Vietnamese Army constantly threaten her village with death and destruction.Once again stone has created a thought provoking and disturbing piece of cinema, as we follow young Le through her tragic life from ravaged Vietnam to the United States. Hiep Thi Li is very impressive as Hayslip in her film debut, while Tommy Lee Jones, Haing S. Ngor and Joan Chen are strong in support. The cinematography (Robert Richardson) is quite superb as is the sweeping score (Kitaro).Unfortunately "Heaven and Earth" is not as forceful and powerful as the previous films, but this can be attributed to the fact that it is once again not as focused a work as its predecessors, and also because we've seen it before in Stone's earlier war epics, thus it doesn't have the same shocking effect.However, little else can be faulted in yet another eye opening drama from Oliver Stone.Wednesday, January 26, 1994 - Knox District CentreThe final part in Oliver Stone's Vietnam experience is told from the Vietnamese perspective with both compassion and conviction.Based on Le Ly Hayslip's (pronounced Lay Lee) autobiographical books "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places" and "Child of War, Woman of Peace", our director's screenplay tells the heartbreaking story of a young woman's devastating journey through life, from an innocent victim of war, to the troubled wife of a U.S. Marine.Following on from his powerful war epics "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July", Stone has crafted a very different and somehow more emotionally involving drama. A magnificent performance from newcomer Hiep Thi Le brings us close to Le Ly's plight as she is first tortured by the Allies and the V.C., then forced to leave her village and try to survive on the streets of Saigon.Strong support comes from Academy Award winner Dr. Haing S. Ngor, Joan Chen and Tommy Lee Jones. Robert Richardson returns to again bring us some startling images of war, as well as some impacting pictures of western society (one particular wide lens shot of a refrigerator alone manages to put our indulgent, wasteful culture to shame). Kitaro provides a sweeping score and the Art Direction and Set Decoration keep things very authentic.As in "J.F.K.", Oliver Stone has crammed so much into "Heaven and Earth" that it's a lot like trying to cope with "Reader's Digest". Yet, though it starts slowly, Stone shows for a third successive time the evil of war and the way in which it destroys lives, families, villages and entire countries. "Heaven and Earth" is also a sobering reminder of our flamboyant and richly blessed lifestyle, and one that's free of the ravages of war.If you don't object to being bludgeoned with a point of view, then all three of Oliver Stone's Vietnam works come highly recommended.Sunday, October 23, 1994 - Video

You could call this the last film in a trilogy of Vietnam films from director Oliver Stone, following Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, except in this one it is based in Vietnamese themselves. Based on a true story, this film tells the story of Le Ly (a great introduction by Hiep Thi Le) and her struggles to find her happiness in her home land, or another. For the first hour of the film it focuses on her rape, an unwanted pregnancy and her Mama (Joan Chen) disgracing her. Then after this time you finally see the main (and probably only big) American soldier (and star) that she would eventually fall in love with, Sergeant Steve Butler (a terrific Tommy Lee Jones). When they eventually move to America, California, they seem to have a good life, even with her attempting to learn the new culture. But it is after many arguments that the relationship seems to crumble, and Steve seems to have turned into a psychotic, oh, and he kills himself after she phones and says she loves him! So returns back to Vietnam with her children, to her Mama and lives the rest of her life in Vietnam, making other lives better. Also starring Haing S. Ngor as Papa, Singin' in the Rain's Debbie Reynolds as Eugenia and an uncredited very quick cameo by Beetle Juice's Jeffrey Jones as a Priest. It won the Golden Globe for Best Original Score for Kitaro, a very deserved award for such powerful and moving music. Very good!