Heroes (1977)

Henry Winkler and Sally Field play two off-center characters who find love when they least expect it in the moving comedy Heroes. Jack (Winkler) is a troubled yet high-spirited Vietnam vet who embarks on a cross-country odyssey to open a worm farm and prove his own self-worth. En route he befriends Carol (Field) attempting to "sort things out" before she marries an old flame. Their laugh and tear-filled adventures including a high-speed run-in with a footloose army buddy (Harrison Ford) become the life-affirming story of two people who find themselves when they find each other. Product Description

Viewing Heroes

I purchased this, really, for my Harrison Ford collection, and had been searching for it for quite some time. Story was just okay. August 23, 2008

Surprisingly bad DVD

You'd think it would be easy to convert a movie to DVD; but this movie didn't do it. I remember this movie ending with the music from Kansas' song, "Carry On Wayward Son", yet, Kansas (while appearing in the end-credits) is no where to be HEARD on this DVD. NO WHERE. This must be a cheap edited version of a strong movie. Save your money. I think Kansas (if they're still around) has rights to sue--credit given for a song that doesn't appear on the disk! July 13, 2008

The Kansas song isn't the only thing missing from the ending...

Many have already noticed that the re-release of "Heroes" is missing its original soundtrack, and that Kansas' powerhouse recording, "Carry On Wayward Son" has been replaced with a generic, poorly-recorded piece of s*** ballad that sounds like it was written by John Ashcroft and produced by a hearing-impaired fifth grader.

But what you may not notice is that the ending itself has been changed, with the addition of footage shortly after the famous flashback scene, which is more melodramatic than the original footage, and which completely ruins the counter-climax that occurred in the original ending.

It would appear that when MCA/Universal made the decision to cut the Kansas number, they attempted to compensate by adding a bit of tacked-on melodrama. The result is, to say the least, disappointing.

Still, if you can get over your disappointment with the ending, the rest of the movie is as good as it ever was. Winkler delivers a surprisingly good performance as Jack Dunne, a war-scarred Vietnam veteran with dreams of owning his own worm farm, and fans of Sally Field and Harrison Ford will no doubt be interested to see the their early pre-fame film performances. (At the time, Harrison Ford was virtually an unknown, and Sally Field was famous in 1977, but only for roles like "Gidget" and "The Flying Nun" -- this was a breakaway performance for the young Field, who was in serious danger of being typecast into these sorts of fluff roles, and thus might never have otherwise had an opportunity to show us the Oscar-quality dramatic actress with which we're all so familiar.)

This is a movie that I would recommend renting, but not buying. It's worth seeing, but not really worth paying for, considering the way that MCA/Universal has utterly ruined an ending which was once this film's strongest point.

For those who would like to see the original ending, [...] June 28, 2008

Ending Blunted By Generic Replacement of Kansas Song

The ending of this movie has always been etched in my memory as one of the most harrowing depictions of what would later be called PTSD I've seen in film. It's blunted and trivialized somewhat by the replacement of "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas with a generic rock song over the end credits. The reason I have a fond memory of that song is because of this movie, so to see the ending altered in such a crude way is somewhat upsetting. However, the movie itself is still worth a look for a flawed but interesting and risky performance by Henry Winkler, and good supporting roles by Sally Field and Harrison Ford before both became the respected Hollywood actors they are now. The movie as a whole is hit and miss, but its depiction of PTSD I think is fairly accurate, though the subject was better handled some years later in Peter Weir's Fearless. June 27, 2008

Viet Nam Misfire

Heroes was made at the height of Henry Winkler's popularity as Fonzie on the popular sitcom Happy Days, at a time when many thought a great actor lurked beneath the leather jacket and smile. In this bizarre little film he portrays a Viet Nam veteran with dreams of opening up a worm farm. Escaping from a mental hospital he hooks up with Sally Field in her pre-Oscar days and finds a Viet Nam buddy along the way, played with genuinely spooking intensity by Harrison Ford, the film's only bright spot. Of course Winkler is carrying around ghosts, but he lacks the acting chops to draw us into the story and make us care about him. Eventually his eide eyed performance becomes over wrought and finally ridiculous, which is not I suspect, what was intended. A curiousity piece at best. Made the year before Coming Home and The Deer Hunter, it was quickly and mercifully forgotten. March 31, 2008

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