History Film / HeavenAndEarth

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This film is most notable for telling the story of the war from the Vietnamese perspective, a viewpoint which Stone had been criticized for excluding in his two previous Vietnam films. The movie is VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, being adapted from the memoirs of Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnamese peasant girl who married an American soldier and became a humanitarian in the U.S.

Not to be confused with the Hong Kong film ''Film/TianDi'' which is re-titled ''Heaven and Earth'' in foreign releases.

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: Every side gets at least one. Le Ly is [[ColdBloodedTorture inhumanly tortured]] by the South Vietnamese, [[RapeAsDrama raped]] by the Viet Cong, and prostituted by the Americans.

* EvilVersusEvil: In regards to their cruelty in the war, the Viet Cong, the South Vietnamese government, and the Americans are NotSoDifferent.

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: The Viet Cong, of course. The people in Le Ly's village are very supportive of the V.C. and her brothers go off to fight for them. Ultimately, however, the V.C. are shown to be [[NotSoDifferent just as murderous and despicable as their American enemies]].

* BreakTheCutie: The whole plot, especially in the first half of the movie

* {{Eagleland}}: Most of the American soldiers in Vietnam are very much Flavor 2. When Le Ly actually comes to the United States, it's initially portrayed as Flavor 1, but it later turns out that Flavor 2 is lurking under the surface.

* SemperFi: Averted mercilessly.

* WarIsHell: Oh, yes.

* ShellShockedVeteran: Steve Butler

* CaliforniaDoubling: Vietnam was filmed in Thailand. Stone tried to get permission to film in Vietnam, but the communist government didn't like the scenes which portrayed the Viet Cong unsympathetically, [[CrapsackWorld never mind that every side is portrayed that way]].

Creator/OliverStone[='s=] third film about UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, following ''{{Film/Platoon}}'' and ''Literature/BornOnTheFourthOfJuly''. These three films are often said to form a "trilogy", although they merely share subject matter and do not take place in a shared continuity.

Released in 1993, ''Heaven & Earth'' is most notable for telling the story of the war from the Vietnamese perspective, a viewpoint which Stone had been criticized for excluding in his two previous Vietnam films. The movie is VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, being adapted from the memoirs of Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnamese peasant girl who married an American soldier and became a humanitarian in the U.S.

Released in 1989, ''Heaven & Earth'' is most notable for telling the story of the war from the Vietnamese perspective, a viewpoint which Stone had been criticized for excluding in his two previous Vietnam films. The movie is VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, being adapted from the memoirs of Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnamese peasant girl who married an American soldier and became a humanitarian in the U.S.

Released in 1989, ''Heaven and Earth'' is most notable for telling the story of the war from the Vietnamese perspective, a viewpoint which Stone had been criticized for excluding in his two previous Vietnam films. The movie is VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, being adapted from the memoirs of Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnamese peasant girl who married an American soldier and became a humanitarian in the U.S.

''Heaven and Earth'' is most notable for telling the story of the war from the Vietnamese perspective, a viewpoint which Stone had been criticized for excluding in his two previous Vietnam films. The movie is VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, being adapted from the memoirs of Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnamese peasant girl who married an American soldier and became a humanitarian in the U.S.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hae_2198.jpg]]

* GenreKiller: The 1980s fad of Vietnam War movies came to an end with ''Heaven and Earth'', which either killed the genre or confirmed that it was dead now.

* BillingDisplacement: Creator/TommyLeeJones is first billed, although he does not appear until halfway though the film. Creator/JoanChen, who plays the main character's mother, is billed second. Hiep Thi Le, who plays the actual main character, is billed ''tenth'' (with an [[AndStarring "And Introducing"]] credit).

Creator/OliverStone[='s=] third film about TheVietnamWar, following ''{{Film/Platoon}}'' and ''Literature/BornOnTheFourthOfJuly''. These three films are often said to form a "trilogy", although they merely share subject matter and do not take place in a shared continuity.

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: The Viet Cong, of course. The people in Le Ly's village are very supportive of the V.C. and her brothers go off to fight for them. Ultimately, however, the V.C. are shown to be [[NotSoDifferent just as murderous and despicable as their American enemies]].

* BillingDisplacement: Creator/TommyLeeJones is first billed, although he does not appear until halfway though the film. Hiep Thi Le, who plays the actual main character, is billed ''tenth'' (with an [[AndStarring "And Introducing"]] credit).

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: Every side gets at least one.

* OccupiersoutOfOurCountry: The Americans, of course. Who are, as the film points out, merely the latest in a series of occupiers, following the Chinese, the [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Japanese]], and the [[FrenchJerk French]]. We actually see the end of French rule near the beginning of the film, [[AMinorKidroduction when Le Ly is still a child]].

''Heaven and Earth'' is most notable for telling the story of the war from the Vietnamese perspective, a viewpoint which Stone had been criticized for excluding in his two previous Vietnam films. The movie is VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, being adapted from the memoirs of Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnamese peasant who married an American soldier and became a humanitarian in the U.S.