Press Release Criterion Press Release: Days of Heaven (1978) (4k UHD Combo) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

One-of-a-kind filmmaker-philosopher Terrence Malick has created some of the most visually arresting films of the twentieth century, and his glorious period tragedy Days of Heaven, featuring Oscar-winning cinematography by Nestor Almendros, stands out among them. In 1910, a Chicago steelworker (Richard Gere) accidentally kills his supervisor, and flees with his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) and his little sister (Linda Manz) to the Texas panhandle, where they find work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer (Sam Shepard). A love triangle, a swarm of locusts, a hellish fire—Malick captures it all with dreamlike authenticity, creating a timeless American idyll that is also a gritty evocation of turn-of-the-century labor.
​

FILM INFO​

• United States
• 1978
• 94 minutes
• Color
• 1.85:1
• English
• Spine #409

DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES​

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Terrence Malick, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio commentary featuring editor Billy Weber, art director Jack Fisk, costume designer Patricia Norris, and casting director Dianne Crittenden
• Audio interview with actor Richard Gere
• Interviews with camera operator John Bailey, cinematographer Haskell Wexler, and actor Sam Shepard
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Adrian Martin and a chapter from director of photography Nestor Almendros’s autobiography
  
  Cover by Lucien S. Y. Yang
  
  November 14, 2023

 

[Ronald Epstein]

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See on Amazon

 

[Sultanofcinema]

To know this film was to have seen it in 70MM! I wish we could all see it that way again.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Its nice to see Don't Look Now was the start of a trend and not a one off. Hopefully Criterion will reissue Nashville and Rosemary's Baby at some point in the not too distant future.

 

[titch]

This is going to look really smashing with a new 4K scan inserted on a UHD. I saw the blu-ray again not long ago and the transfer looked decidedly dated - not surprising, since the original scan was for the DVD in 2007. This might mean Criterion is thinking about re-issuing their all their Malicks on 4K UHD - I wouldn't complain.

 

[PaulRossen]

To know this film was to have seen it in 70MM! I wish we could all see it that way again.

Home video even 4K UHD can’t compare to the 70mm showings

 

[bujaki]

Ah, yes! I did see it in 70mm back in the day. Can't wait for this 4K release.

 

[MartinP.]

I don't know if it was in 70mm where I first saw it when it came out. I saw it at the Mann's Bruin Theater in Westwood. The theatre on the opposite side of the street to Mann's Village Theatre, where Tarantino filmed scenes for Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood. They're both Regency Theatres now with the same names.

Days of Heaven is "my" pick for the Best Cinematography ever in a film and I've gone to see it in a theatre whenever it's been screened somewhere in Los Angeles. I just found out that it's going to be screened in the 1,000 seat Geffen Theatre at the AMPAS Museum in their Oscar Sundays series on Sunday, October 8th if anyone wants to and is able to go! Info on the website says: 35mm. New print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.

I once went to a screening of Days of Heaven at LACMA's Bing theatre. Before the screening time, the projectionists check out the film prints they've received to make sure they're running properly and such. We were informed that Paramount had sent them the film labeled Days of Heaven, but it was mislabeled and in actuality it was Days of Thunder. They had secured another print of Days of Heaven, the only one to be found in time, but we were told it wasn't optimal, it was faded and such, so we didn't have to stay if we didn't want to. How disappointing! I, and a friend, did stay, mainly because we were in the mood to see the film again, but man.

I was trying to remember the last time I saw it in a theatre. I think it was at an AMPAS Gold Standard monthly screening at their Goldwyn Theatre when Brooke Adams was a guest for a Q&A afterwards as was Haskell Wexler, who is credited as an additional photographer on the film. Sometimes when you love a film, you don't necessarily want to know something like how a scene was filmed or such, and he related one shot that he did, that now, every time I see it, what he said comes to mind.

I have a short list of films that I love to watch, simply because of the cinematography and Days of Heaven is at the top of the list.

Also, if one is so inclined, there's an American Society of Cinematographers interview with Nestor Almendros about Days of Heaven, on their website:

Photographing Days of Heaven - The American Society of Cinematographers (en-US)

theasc.com

 

[Jim*Tod]

Sadly never saw it in 70mm and odds are rather against that being available again. But thrilled we are getting the 4K disc as the current Blu Ray is certainly lacking.

 

[Dick]

Its nice to see Don't Look Now was the start of a trend and not a one off. Hopefully Criterion will reissue Nashville and Rosemary's Baby at some point in the not too distant future.

I have a feeling Paramount will itself undertake 4K restorations for those titles.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

I don't know if it was in 70mm where I first saw it when it came out. I saw it at the Mann's Bruin Theater in Westwood. The theatre on the opposite side of the street to Mann's Village Theatre, where Tarantino filmed scenes for Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood. They're both Regency Theatres now with the same names.

It played for 12 weeks in 70mm at The Bruin.

“Days of Heaven”: The North American 70mm Engagements

in70mm.com

 

[JoshZ]

To be clear, Days of Heaven was photographed in 35mm. Any 70mm prints were blow-ups.

 

[Lord Dalek]

To be clear, Days of Heaven was photographed in 35mm. Any 70mm prints were blow-ups.

Also the DTS-HD MA track was created from the same 4.1 mix that was on those 70mm prints.

 

[Lord Dalek]

The previous transfer was done in 1080 so obviously there is a lot of room for improvement (even though it looked pretty good for the time).

 

[Sultanofcinema]

"Blown up to 70mm for re-release, these prints were accidentally lost when a Paramount in-house memo requesting that surplus copies of Days of Thunder (1990) be destroyed was misinterpreted."

"There are only two 70mm prints of the film in existence. One is available for exhibition, the other has never been allowed to leave Paramount's vaults." As Steve McQueen would say in Bullitt. " How does that grab you".

 

[PaulRossen]

Also the DTS-HD MA track was created from the same 4.1 mix that was on those 70mm prints.

I saw Days of Heaven in 70mm back in the day when it first played. Lots of publicity on this film. I find the DTS tracks on the DVD and Criterion Blu Ray quite poor. And while the 70mm prints were indeed blow ups the one I saw must have been given special care as it was as if one was looking through a window. Presentation was so good I trekked into Manhattan the next day to see it again.

 

[RolandL]

This is where I saw it in 1979.

 

[bujaki]

I saw Days of Heaven in 70mm back in the day when it first played. Lots of publicity on this film. I find the DTS tracks on the DVD and Criterion Blu Ray quite poor. And while the 70mm prints were indeed blow ups the one I saw must have been given special care as it was as if one was looking through a window. Presentation was so good I trekked into Manhattan the next day to see it again.

It played at the Paramount Theater in Manhattan, Columbus Circle. That's where I saw it.
EDIT: My mistake. It didn't play at the Paramount. My memory failed me. It played at the Cinema 1. Thanks for the correction.

 

[PaulRossen]

It played at the Paramount Theater in Manhattan, Columbus Circle. That's where I saw it.

I saw it on east side at the Cinema 1 on Third Ave. Probably the first week it opened.

 

[Lord Dalek]

I find the DTS tracks on the DVD and Criterion Blu Ray quite poor.

Well that's your opinion. Its still the original mix whether you like it or not.