Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.5

Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 16, 2019

Errol Morris remains one of the most distinctive voices in the annals of contemporary documentary film, and in a way it’s maybe just a little surprising that it took him until 2003 to finally win an Academy Award, an Oscar bestowed for his riveting piece on a former Secretary of Defense in the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson adminstrations, The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara. This appealing release from The Criterion Collection aggregates two of Morris’ early pieces, including Gates of Heaven, the film which initially brought him considerable attention and which famously led to the inimitable Werner Herzog literally eating his shoe as part of a bet he made with Morris to encourage Morris to get his film made despite any funding or other production obstacles (the Blu-ray disc includes a nice supplementary documentary detailing Herzog’s “adventures in cuisine”). If one of Morris’ most famous pieces, The Thin Blue Line is, along with the McNamara documentary, probably accurately perceived as having a noticeable point of view, both of the films in this set are kind of curious “fly on the wall” offerings whose only “perspective” may be the general sense of disbelief that people like the ones found in both of these pieces actually exist. Gates of Heaven has more of a narrative thrust than Vernon, Florida (as will be discussed in the reviews of each film), but together they make for a hugely entertaining if often downright weird viewing experience.

For reviews of the two films included on this release, please click on the following links:

Gates of Heaven Blu-ray review

Vernon, Florida Blu-ray review

Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplements included with each film are detailed in the above linked reviews.

Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even if you're not a fan of documentaries, you may well find yourself completely captivated by both Gates of Heaven and Vernon, Florida. Both offer curiously "American" types, albeit ones who are vastly different in the two films, and Morris's approach is to just let the folks do the talking, which they do to often unexpectedly revelatory results. Technical merits are generally solid, and Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida comes Highly recommended.