Oliver Stone did some, er, editing...
I liked this movie, but it's nothing like the book, nothing. Ms. Hayslips husband was not a special forces guy who committed suicide and is really not mentioned much in the book other than being much older than her, and I believe he died from emphysema.

The movie is good on it's own merits however.

DV D Jacket for Heaven and Earth
Again, just like the DVD jacket for the Killing Fields, the quality is extremely poor. Poor quality paper and not a proper case as one would purchase in a store. Quite disappointing. This is not what I had paid for.

A WAR ON BOTH SIDES OF THE WORLD.
heaven and earth is a beautiful, but sad look at a war and turmoil. i saw this movie long ago and i still watch it over and over again. you can't help but get caught up in this film. about a man who all he knows is to fight, and this woman who must do what she can to survive. he's from america and she's from a whole other world. a world where food is scarce, war is everyday life, and where you don't know when you'll live or die. a place a woman called home and her own, until one day the war touched them and destroyed their land. her and her family had to learn to do what they must to survive. her brothers went off to fight, she became a part of this war, doing what she could to help her people. they suffered, she suffered, always knowing she could be the next to die. she learned to love only to be tossed aside left vulnerable and to fend for herself. she did what she had to for survival. then she met this man, a man of war of the opposite side. an american, who was captivated by her from the start. they found a brief moment of happiness and they made a life together. they did the best they could. when it was time for him to come back to america she followed with their children in tow. things got worse not better. their cultures crashed, their nightmares wouldn't leave them alone, and it was a relationship meant to crash and burn. she had fought a war in her country and here in america she was fighting a whole different kind. he needed mental help and she just couldn't deal. a movie with so much insight, and so much to give, it's hard to walk away not remembering it. this woman goes through so much and all she ever wanted was peace and love. it's these kinds of movies that you never want them to end. oliver stone did it again. it deserves an honorable mention no doubt. joan chen, the starring actress did a great job. as for tommy lee jones, he was excellent. he's one of my favorites. there's something about this guys attitude that you can't help but like. overall a very good movie.

An excellent film!
Certainly, Heaven & Earth is a film about the confrontations of two cultures and its values; woman and man, the East and the West: the eternal confrontation of this radical duality, that is not solved at all in this film, and it is not, because the West does not have the solution, and the East does not either.

Kitaro and its music, the beautiful scenery are but a glimpse of what the East has to offer to the West... and the West and specially the American way of life, even though it seems to be the solution for the WOMAN, it is so poor at the end that love becomes a real tragedy.

A great film by Oliver Stone!

"Freedom is never a gift,"
Those were some of the last words Le Ly's father expressed before he died.I found lots of Buddha's thoughts in this movie
that help me to recognize many 'actions and reactions',the cause of acts and 'everything happens for a reason'.
It's a true story of a very brave young woman who at last
saved her children and achieved freedom.
Well done,Le ly. The best part I like about this movie is the soundtrack.It's one of the sublime sounds I've ever listened in my life.In fact,I have immense collections of Kitaro...

I love so much this story.I saw it many times.