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Days of Heaven (re-release)
Metascore
95 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 9 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    Above all one of the most beautiful films ever made. Malick's purpose is not to tell a story of melodrama, but one of loss. His tone is elegiac. He evokes the loneliness and beauty of the limitless Texas prairie. (Review of December 7, 1997)
  2. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    100
    It's Malick's best.
  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    100
    The sound alone is astonishing. Morricone's haunting, wistful score adds measurably to the sweep and timelessness of the film. (Review of Original Release)
  4. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Robert Faires
    100
    Some movies are like Dorothy's twister; they just pick you up and whisk you away from the commonplace world you know to a world wondrous and astonishing. Days of Heaven is such a movie. (Review of Original Release)
  5. Variety
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    100
    A dramatically moving and technically breathtaking American art film, one of the great cinematic achievements of the 1970s. (Review of Original Release)
  6. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Dave Kehr
    100
    The result is a film that hovers just beyond our grasp--mysterious, beautiful, and, very possibly, a masterpiece.
  7. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Elvis Mitchell
    90
    As haunting as its vision of a crystal glass dropped into moonlit water. It lives up to its title. (Reviewed in 1999)
  8. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    80
    Almost incontestably the most gorgeously photographed film ever made.
  9. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    63
    The film has too much surface beauty not to earn it a recommendation, but Days of Heaven satisfies only on a sensory level. (Review of Original Release)
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.7 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 32 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. cabrita
    10
    Although the film is mainly dominated by sight and sound the film also delivers an intricate story more than what meets the eye. There are so many allusions present in the film that the story becomes more meeningful and so do it's images. A wonder ful film one of the best of all time.… Full Review »
  2. adhiban
    9
    I can simply say, Music and Cinematography are the major aspects of the film. One can easily mesmerised with Texas prairie's serene beauty. Days of heaven did not seemed to be greatest story, but Terrence Mallick's way of film-making made it so. The entire story narration is clear, articulate and poetic at times.… Full Review »
  3. JMH
    7
    Days of Heaven is a confounding film. One thing it is not is a complete, fully formed masterpiece. Elements of the film are among the most impressive in the history of cinema; notably, the cinematography and the score. On these merits alone, Days of Heaven is in the realm of "must-see" cinema. The film's crutch rests in its narrative, or lack thereof. The plot is a bare-bones outline, plucked all but directly from Henry James' The Wings of the Dove -- a love triangle of a particular sort. Many viewers will likely find themselves asking: (1) whether this bare-bones plot outline amounts to a story, and (2) if it does, whether that story is well told. I'm inclined to answer (1) in the negative, making (2) a moot question. A film can be excellent without a rich plot or deeply mined story in the traditional narrative sense. In this regard, films such as Breathless, The Exterminating Angel, and In the Mood for Love come to mind. Days of Heaven is not among such excellent films. The absence of narrative in Days of Heaven feels, literally, like absence -- a thing missing. And Malick's significant achievements in the film do little if anything to justify or fill this critical gap. Watch the film because too much in it is too good not to see. But don't expect a compelling masterpiece, because Days of Heaven isn't one.… Full Review »
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