A visual haiku. This was my first Malick and I can see why he's so reveared. His syntax and story structure are so damn unique.

Everyone of course notes the visuals, which are just incredible; however, I think Linda Manz excellent voice-over work is also a very important factor in making the film as wonderful as it is. So props to her. And everyone involved, really - I dunno, I just think this was perfect.

Visually a superb slice of period life, it has an emotional force that emerges slowly from the conjunction of the vast landscape and its reticent intruders, who have fled from the dark of the city to find no peace in the country.

How can something so beautiful make me care so little about the characters?

Beautiful in a way that only Malick can make it and Morricone's soundtrack only adds pieces to the magnificent puzzle. Can't believe it took me so long to actually watch this one and now I'm just even sadder that he took a break from film making for two decades... What movies me must have missed out on...

"To hell with equivocation or beating around the bush: Terrence Malick's 1978 Days of Heaven is the greatest film ever made." - Nick Schager

Malick here makes tiresome things like film editing and melancholy fresh with seemingly little effort. One of very few movies for me (like Herzog's 'Aguirre') that really do feel like the camera fell out of the sky into the time and place it depicts: like the filming itself dissolves into the narrative and the ambiance, as if the movie is simply an idea, and the film doesn't exist. The intangible qualities of the film as a whole, perhaps, transcend its telling, which must be fine telling indeed.

Ocularly told from the perspective of nature and auditorily told through Linda's beautiful narration. Stunningly told and photographed, easily one of the best films of the 70s. Malick never ceases to impress me.

Oh man, what I would give to of seen this in theaters. The most beautiful cinematography I've ever seen. Do yourself a favor and watch this one LOUD. Turn it up. The music + cinematography are just incredible. The naration works perfectly, from a child witnessing events and translating what is happening from an innocent mind.

Terrence Malick does not intend to just dazzle the audience with superficially pretty photography for lack of substantial text. The images are contrived to please the eye, but also meant to drive the story forward through symbolism. Sadly, the symbolism is crude, and the aestheticism annoys. It is hard to appreciate the plot as an effective example of minimalism. The story is simply slight, and rather boring, and an irrelevant voice-over narration by a very minor character adds confusion.

Beautiful film, simple and real.

Visually stunning, as always, and a different kind of Morricone score than I'm used to, but still beautiful. The story kind of takes a backfoot to it all.

That amazing cinematography makes up for a slightly lightweight story. Absolutely beautiful.

Absolutely gorgeous. The environment truly becomes a character of its own, one that tends to eclipse the actors themselves. Some interesting themes, but the story felt a little light at times. I didn't much care for the epilogue. But still.. absolutely gorgeous.

Jaw-dropping cinematography in this film, and not a bad story either. Morricone's music is a fantastic contribution, although that's pretty much a given with any of his scores. It's visuals and sounds are poetic, lyrical and beautiful, even if the symbolism occasionally trumps the plot.

The rare film that seems more wholly grounded in this world than in any other. Here is Herzog's "ecstatic truth".

One of the most beautifully shot films I have ever seen.

The most beautiful movie you will ever see, almost any frame could be printed and hung on your wall.

Excellent for a number of reasons. But also very rushed. And while my ADD loves a quick film, this could have stretched another 30 minutes, and I wouldn't have been upset.

One of the most poetic films ever made, it carries the it's mood right through to the end. Even Richard Gere, looking like he's wandered in from a different movie, can't break the spell or the deserved classic status.

The truly gorgeous cinematography which peers through the grass below or towers over the characters making them seem small, insignificant. The bittersweet tone showing life in its concurrent joy and pain. The wonderful narration combining a child's eye with a world weary voice. The masterful creation of mood which serves to amplify every little action, every bit of emotion. And yet ultimately the effect this film has is beyond simple words - it is something you can only feel and can't explain.

As always with Malick, the best thing is how the nature reacts to human behavior and emotions. The main thing that kept me awake was the weird narration of that little peasant chick.

So you barely have any plot? Your actors can't act worth shit? Well, don't worry, because symbolism is on sale today! And you're in luck, because it's the big, fat, heavy-handed type! And if you buy a fuckton, we'll throw in a handful of painfully obvious biblical allegories as well! Step right up! You too can imbue your gorgeous nature footage with needless swill that the critics will gobble right up like steaming hot jizz from Antonionis' member! It's your lucky day, Mr. Malick!

Influential to all of my favorite contemporary filmmakers and cinematographers. The narration is one-of-a-kind fantastic and the locust scene is unforgettable.

Feverishly pastoral. A haze of sublime and roving shots, mirroring the flow of wheat in its roll around the characters. The narration is problematic and less poetic than Malick's later work, but ultimately necessary in tempering the languid, omniscient camera with a defined and fallible POV. I kept hoping for a better integration of flora and fauna and landscape, however; all the static closeups of birds and bugs in the fields felt like they were cut in from a different film.

You could watch this movie muted and still be moved.

Very beautiful.