Heroes

I was a teenager when this movie first came out 1977 and I just HAD to see the Fonz in anything I could. At the time I thought he was just a fox, and then I found he really can act! I actually was fortunate enough to meet him once years later, and I told him that "Heroes" was the best movie I had ever seen him in since "The Lords of Flatbush". I cry every time I watch this movie, but the saddest part is the last scene. Its so sad because its true! I think everyone should go out and rent "Heroes."

When I saw this film I was quite young and it gave me a humanizing portrait of Viet Nam veterans for the first time. Harrison Ford's performance gave a great glimpse into the personal demons of the war, and coupled with Henry Winkler's fellow veteran offered a range of the complexities of the impact of the war and the responses of the public to our soldiers coming back. I thought it was much subtler than some of the other Viet Nam films of the era and portrayed more everyday people. As a kid in the seventies, veterans were always seen as men that were just walking around with the constant threat of exploding, one-dimensional beings of violence. The movie crosses my mind occasionally because of the impact on my youth but also more now because of the large number of veterans that will become a returning part of our society. I wonder if a movie like Heroes will have added significance because it didn't feature 'heroic' war activists but instead the mechanic next door and the kind misfit you meet on a bus.

Disturbed Vietnam veteran escapes from an East Coast institution and travels by bus to Northern California to meet up with his war buddy to start a worm farm; an attractive young woman--and runaway bride!--takes a liking to him after the two share a few calamitous run-ins. Henry Winkler and Sally Field (and Harrison Ford in a small but telling role) excel in one of the odder star-vehicles of the 1970s, more interesting as a serious character piece than as the comedy it often tries to be. Director Jeremy Paul Kagan (who had earlier directed Winkler in the TV movie "Katherine") and screenwriter James Carabatsos (with uncredited help from David Freeman) aren't afraid to pace their film carefully by allowing the characters to talk things out and find each other emotionally (they set the movie's rhythm, not the plot situations). As such, the finale is remarkably sensitive and brave. *** from ****

I was present during the filming of a couple of scenes. In fact I have a blink and you'll miss me part as well. When this was being filmed Henry Winkler was desperate to shed his Fonzie persona. Children would say "Hello Fonzie" and he would say "I am NOT the Fonz!" Sally Field was the real star of the film at the time. And as Star Wars had not yet been released, my only thought was "Harrison Ford? Why does this man have two last names?" The day they filmed the racing scenes there had been a real rain storm. It required a lot of work to get the track ready for the race. During the course of filming his close up scenes in the race car, Henry Winkler spun the car out and they were frantic that the camera had been damaged. That scene, the scene at the bus station, and the scene where Jack meets the parents of his friend were filmed in Petaluma CA.

I'm glad I'm not the only person who remembers the closing scene of this movie as having the song "Carry on Wayward Son" as the music, instead of whatever dreck the edited-for-TV version used. That scene, and this movie, sticks in my mind now almost 30 years later. This movie which starts as a simple comedy gradually transforms into something that offers genuine pathos and commentary about life. You have to see this movie. This movie also features a young Harrison Ford in a small but compelling role.

This movie was, sadly, heavily edited for broadcast and it changed the feeling of the movie in substantial ways. Seek it out in the original movie format and soundtrack and it's quite special.

Just give it a chance and watch it until the end, no fast forwarding. I guarantee you will never listen to that song again without choking up.