Heroes

"Heroes" is not as much about Vietnam vets as it is friendship, the human spirit, loss and dreams.

Winkler plays the vet whose simple dream of starting a worm farm sends him off to find four other vets (including Ford). Fields is the girl he meets on a bus trip and who goes along with him on his journey.

I can't say too much about the movie; this is one film best left to experience on one's own. But if you can find it, watch it till the very end - and if you can honestly not watch the final scene then hear Kansas' "Carry On My Wayward Son" and be moved, something is definitely wrong.

The message may not be earth-moving and the way it reaches it may not be original but "Heroes" still stands by one simple truth - nothing is stronger than the human spirit, nor more fragile.

Nine stars. Watch "Heroes" - be moved.

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 ****

This film is a sincere portrayal of a Vietnam Vet's struggle to regain some innocence and happiness after the war. It also shows that Winkler, and to a lesser extent Ford, have more than one dimension to their acting, which pleasantly surprised me. Ford shows a vulnerability which is not apparent in any other of his films I have seen.

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 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."