Days of Heaven 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Days of Heaven 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 11, 2023

Terrence Malick's "Days of Heaven" (1978) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include an archival audio commentary with art director Jack Fisk and editor Billy Weber, as well as costume designer Patricia Norris and casting director Dianne Crittenden; archival interviews with Richard Gere and Sam Shepherd; and conversations with camera operators John Bailey and Haskel Wexler. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Terrence Malick is an American director, a native of Illinois, whose films have a distinctive European flavor. They are all like casual but fascinating encounters -- we meet their characters, get to know them, and then part ways. We rarely remember their exact stories; what stays with us are images of them, certain thoughts and emotions.

Days of Heaven, a film for which Malick won the prestigious Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1979, follows the deeds of a young Chicago steelworker (Richard Gere, American Gigolo) who commits a crime and flees to Texas, together with his girlfriend, Abby (Brooke Adams, A Man, a Woman and a Bank), and little sister, Linda (Linda Manz). There, the three befriend a wealthy but seriously ill farmer (Sam Shepard, Don’t Come Knocking), who eventually falls for Abby and marries her.

The film is fractured into uneven episodes, each relying heavily on Linda's narration. Most of the tragic events in it are described by the little girl in a unique kind of way -- she sees them, and so do we, and then tells us, with simple words, what is happening. The rest is filmed by Malick in a near documentary style, one that treats nature as a key character, not simply a setting for the events the film chronicles.

Sound is also of tremendous importance in Days of Heaven. On more than a few occasions, random sounds -- a gentle breeze, water flowing, birds chirping, etc. -- are used by Malick to indirectly reflect the complex emotions the main protagonists struggle with. These are the moments when Days of Heaven very much feels like a visual poem.

This unusual attention nature receives in Malick's films, however, is always at the expense of the main protagonists, which is why their stories are never complete. This is not to say that Malick's films are about the universal conflict between men and nature, as some critics suggest. Quite the opposite, they are intimate observations that typically show how both react to each other when they become close.

In Days of Heaven a few such reactions are precisely the focus of attention. On one hand, it is the steelworker, his little sister, and his girlfriend who arrive in Texas and soon discover that they need to learn to live life differently. Malick shows how the three of them struggle to adjust while they also keep doing the things they used to do in Chicago -- love each other, get angry and fight, and dream together. On the other hand, it is nature. Malick shows how the different seasons affect her, how the farmers treat her, and when disaster strikes, how nature also struggles.

This philosophical view of life that Malick introduces in Days of Heaven is achieved primarily through the employment of carefully lensed footage that is quite uneven at times but also very effective. In more than one way, it suggests that life is a process of constant motion, a series of uneven events, where men and nature interact in some truly unique ways.

For Days of Heaven Malick was assisted by two legendary cinematographers, Cuban Nestor Almendros (The Man Who Loved Women), who won an Oscar for the film, and the uncredited Chicago-born Haskell Wexler (who really speaks his heart out in one of the supplemental features provided on this Blu-ray disc, and many, this reviewer included, believe should have been recognized by the Academy as well). The film’s memorable music score was composed by renowned Italian maestro Ennio Morricone (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso).

Days of Heaven 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of Days of Heaven is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. At the moment, I only have the 4K Blu-ray disc, which is Region-Free. When I receive a market version of this release, I will update our review with comments about the Blu-ray disc.

Please note that all screencaptures that appear with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including the actual color values of this content.

This release introduces a brand new 4K restoration of Days of Heaven, which was supervised and approved by director Terrence Malick, camera operator John Bailey, and editor Billy Weber. The 4K makeover can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with Dolby Vision and later did a few quick comparisons with HDR.

Days of Heaven made its high-definition debut with this release in 2010. Since then, we have reviewed a couple of other releases, which were sourced from the same older master that was used to produce the original release. (You can see reviews here and here). Even though this master had some limitations, all quite small, these releases offer very, very good presentations of the film.

But the native 4K presentation of the 4K makeover is even better. After viewing it in its entirety last night and spending a bit more time with it earlier today -- primarily to test different areas while switching between Dolby Vision and HDR and the previous releases -- I can comfortably state that this is the healthiest presentation that will become the definitive presentation of the film. Obviously, that the film looks healthier now is hardly surprising. However, I also think that the overall quality of the 4K makeover is such that it simply makes viewing the film an even more enjoyable experience. So, what are the areas with meaningful improvements? Delineation, clarity, and depth are unquestionably superior, and the film constantly produces stunning panoramic material that makes these improvements easy to appreciate. Fluidity is exceptional as well, so moving visuals look very impressive. Color balance is very convincing. I noticed a few areas -- all of which feature some variation(s) of natural light -- where select visuals become cooler, but the overall balance is excellent. My take on these adjustments is that they reset some primaries and expand and reset certain supporting nuances. (4K has a wider color spectrum, so this is to be expected). I liked what I saw a lot. The Dolby Vision grade is gentle and handles indoor and dark areas very well. I did not see distracting crushing. The entire film is spotless as well.

Days of Heaven 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I did not encounter any technical issues to address in our review. All exchanges sounded very clear and sharp. I prefer viewing the film with the 5.1 track, but I must mention that the recent Australian release from Imprint Films has a 2.0 track as well. I do not know if any new remastering work was done on the 5.1 track. If such work was done, I could not tell.

Days of Heaven 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary features art director Jack Fisk and editor Billy Weber, who have worked with Terrence Malick on all of his films, as well as costume designer Patricia Norris and casting director Dianne Crittenden. This is an informative and well done commentary, focusing primarily on the technical aspects and history of Days of Heaven, with a rather casual tone. It was recorded exclusively for the Criterion Collection in 2007.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary features art director Jack Fisk and editor Billy Weber, who have worked with Terrence Malick on all of his films, as well as costume designer Patricia Norris and casting director Dianne Crittenden. This is an informative and well done commentary, focusing primarily on the technical aspects and history of Days of Heaven, with a rather casual tone. It was recorded exclusively for the Criterion Collection in 2007.

• Interviews - an audio interview with Richard Gere recorded exclusively for the Criterion Collection in 2007; and an interview with Sam Shepherd conducted in 2002 for Citrullo International. Both interviews are very strong, offering an abundance of informative comments from the two actors. The interview with Gere, in particular, is on par with the audio commentary offered on this disc. Without optional English subtitles. (13 min).

• John Bailey/Haskel Wexler - John Bailey served as camera operator under Academy Award-winning cinematographer Nestor Almendros on Days of Heaven. Both Almendros and Bailey had to leave before filming concluded, due to prior commitments, and Haskel Wexler took over. Here, Bailey and Wexler talk about their friend Almendros, Terrence Malick's process, and their work in achieving the specific look Malick envisioned for the film. Mr. Wexler's comments are especially moving, as they address a lot of the "controversy" surrounding his involvement with the film. Without optional English subtitles. (21 min).

• Booklet - a 42-page illustrated booklet containing Adrian Martin's essay "On Earth As It Is In Heaven" (the author is senior research fellow in film and television studies at Monash University and coeditor of Rouge); and Nestor Almendros' "Shooting Days of Heaven" (reprinted from the cinematographer's 1984 autobiography "A Man with a Camera").

Days of Heaven 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Days of Heaven has been described as one of the most beautiful films ever made, and rightfully so, because it is a visual tour de force that produces striking cinematic visuals that frequently must be seen to be believed. This upcoming 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack offers a new 4K makeover of Days of Heaven that is guaranteed to impress its fans. I think that the upgrade in quality is substantial, and I still think that the original Blu-ray release offers a very, very fine presentation of the film as well. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.