Heavenly Creatures [Blu-ray]

Loved this movie. Was kinda expensive for a dvd but well worth it. I am a huge Kate Winslet fan and also a great fan of Melanie Lindsey. Would love to see them do another project together. They play off each other wonderfully.

I don't think I can say the book is "good Entertainement", but I am not sorry I read it. Some people will find this story fascinating..

I love this film! This is an older SD copy so it’s low quality but it’s In perfect condition

Excellent movie, based on a true story. Very well made.

I first saw this movie on satellite television and it captivated me. Bases on a true story, it is a great movie with good acting. Why it didn't recieve more attention is strange. Kate and Melanie should have recieved academy award nominations.

BE WARNED! THIS IS NOT THE FILM YOU SAW IN THE THEATRE!Much to my surprise, this arrived with the small words "uncut version" on the cover, and to my dismay, this was not a good thing. Peter Jackson's brilliant film, which gave Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey what may be the two best debut roles ever for young women, was a non-stop roller-coaster ride of mounting hysteria that mirrored the increasing intensity of the girls' relationship. This friendship between Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker, which became deeply emotional, sexual, and ultimately so co-dependent that they simply could not tolerate the notion of separation, culminated in the violent murder of Pauline's mother, with the two girls bashing her head in repeatedly with a brick inside of a stocking(the scene is gruesome, but still understates reality, which is a shocking thing to learn). This crime shocked the quiet community of Christchurch, New Zealand so completely that Jackson starts his film with a propoganda movie the town had made to lure new residents, in order to give us an idea of what sort of place this was. He then begins to fade in screams of the girls, shots of their blood-streaked faces, and we are as shocked by the violence as the town was then (1954). In order to understand and sympathize with these girls, not an easy thing for a director to accomplish given the violence of their crime and the inability of such smart girls to find any other way to deal with their terror of separation, Jackson gets deep inside their heads very effectively, and more than sharing their fantasy world with us, takes us into it. And by keeping the pace of the film pumping along with such speed and focus that we feel the girls' pain, too, and almost in spite of ourselves, are completely in sympathy with their decision (although afterwards, we shake ourselves back into rationality, and wonder why they came to such a desperate conclusion), we accept the racing towards inevitability that they seemed to have felt. The tension and intensity are incredible, and without it, the film would never have worked.The original cut of "Heavenly Creatures" gave us what we needed to maintain within ourselves this hysteria and to see from their points of view without stopping to question. This "uncut version" destroys that completely. It contains a 10-15 minute section that doesn't exist in the theatrical release, and which stops the film dead. The scenes are also longer, there's more dialogue in some, more time in "The Fourth World" (their fantasy world), and the editing is considerably less elegant. While some of these scenes add to our understanding of the girls, especially the rather bizarre details of Juliet's family life, and are therefore interesting to see, it's not the cut I'll watch again and again, as I do the original. It just doesn't work, and sadly, unless you realize that this wasn't the work of genius everyone was raving about, you'll wonder why we were raving about it. I don't believe anyone would have raved about this version, especially as the anguish of the ending is wrecked by an incredibly bad editing decision. Certainly I would not have raved about it, even if I could have seen its potential for genius.It is very frustrating that now one can only get this version--there isn't even a choice between the two. I don't understand why this wasn't released in a two-sided or two-disk "pick a version" manner, or the extended/deleted scenes shown as "deleted scenes" often are on the original DVD. That this is the only choice now is infuriating, especially as, with no warning, one may discover it as I did, watching the opening sequence and thinking, "Wait a minute...I don't remember this..." While not everyone is like me with a photographic memory that genuinely knows films by heart, even noticing a different single edit in a scene if the film shows up on TV, most who loved this film will realize they're watching something different, and probably will only notice it after it's in the DVD player, making getting credit for a return more of a challenge. But the fact that this is not the original version is not, in my opinion, sufficiently explained in the information on the DVD info page. That this is NOT the original version should be shouted, as unlike "Apocalypse Now Redux," it is not re-titled.The comparison to "Apocalypse Now" is actually an appropriate one. In the Redux version, we can see scenes that add background about Vietnam (the presence of old French colonialist families still living there, for example), interesting conversations, etc., but its pace is deadly, and as with "Heavenly Creatures" we need to be on a voyage of inevitability, moving relentlessly towards the mysterious Kurtz. Without this ever-mounting tension, it's not the work of genius that the original cut is. But we have choices between the two, and that's as it should be. Why the extra and extended scenes in "HC" weren't just in a "deleted scenes" section on the original disk is a mystery, but this poor replacement is a disappointment that now is the only version first-time viewers can see without buying second-hand. Bad, bad call.A note: Editing is everything. Everything. I learnt how to build a film from my editing teacher (who became my editor); it's in the editing that the film is either made or broken, and obviously Jackson knew that, and made all the right choices with his editor the first time around. Why he ruined his own work is a question someone should ask him. Please, if you can, check out the documentary, "The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Editing" to see what this final piece of a film project really consists of.

True story, Early roles for Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet. This uncut version is even more shocking than the theatrical. Young friendships/obsession can be unbelievably dangerous. I also really enjoyed the look into the 1950s daily life in the beautiful city of Christchurch, New Zealand.

Saw this disturbing yet wildly emotional, imaginative and engrossing 1994 film back in the 90's, and until recently, I never thought I could bear to watch it again due to the vile subject matter of matricide. It's amazingly well-done and the two young leads are incredible actresses. It's directed by Peter Jackson who would go on to do Lord of the Rings. Really. It's one of the better F/F films in our genre out there-- I can't stress this enough.This is based on a true-crime story which goes down in New Zealand in 1954. It follows the obsessively needy and close friendship of teenager Juliet Hulme (Kate Winslet) and her best friend Pauline Rieper/Parker (Melanie Lynskey) who brutally murder Pauline's mother when she tries to keep them apart.The girls are seemingly opposites. Juliet is the beautiful and charming daughter of a brilliant physicist/university rector and an attractive mother who does social work. Pauline is the angry daughter of a fishmonger and a mother who runs a boarding house out of their home. The girls initially bond in school via their shared rebellious natures and the health issues that set them apart from others. Soon enough, their vivid imaginations and writing pursuits isolate them into their own private world.Having read a bit of the case outside of what this movie covers, the girls are convicted and serve less than 6 yrs in separate prisons... then are given new identities and passports upon their release. Pauline would go on to become an anonymous recluse as Hilary Nathan, but Juliet Hulme would go on to become Anne Perry... international bestselling author of crime fiction!Bizarre and fascinating story. I'm glad I decided to see it again... it's as good as ever. Loved revisiting such a young and talented Kate Winslet!!! Recommended.

A fabulously written, directed and acted movie, to say nothing of production values. A film that sucks you into the dreamy, compelling world of the girls, without judging the main protagonists and without falling into over-simplifying traps (e.g by showing bad parents, which would then explain how the girls couldn't help acting the way they did). Both sets of parents are portrayed lucidly and sympathetically (even Juliet's tender but neglectful parents), as is the friendship between Pauline and Juliet. That makes the murder at the end all the more disturbing, as though we, the viewer, were in some way accomplices after the fact - much in the same way as Peter Jackson tempts us with the Ring of Power in the ongoing Lord of the Rings trilogy.Perhaps what does get a rough ride (rightly so) is stifling 1950s Christchurch, with its repressed sexuality and shame-based culture, but the filmmakers haven't over-egged the pudding.Different from all other Peter Jackson movies, yet it bears his stamp (and that of Fran Walsh, Richard Taylor - who gets a good run at creating the girls' invented world - Grant Major, et al.) in terms of quality, love of film and guts at showing its subject-matter to the very edge. The overlaying of the murder scene with the imagined parting of the girls was especially effective, as were all the girls' interactions with the models ("the Saints") out of their fantasyland, cutting seamlessly to interaction between the two girls, or between them and the real world. The film shows, delicately, often wittily, but without concessions, the increasing level of violence and eroticism in their created life spilling over into their "real" lives.Of the actors, I would single out Kate Winslet (in a first starring role) and Melanie Linskey, who bring spirit and sexual tension to the roles of Juliet and Pauline. Sarah Pierse as Pauline's tired, hard-working, loving mother, who is trapped in her own shame and does not understand her daughter's enthrallment with another girl, breaks your heart.I can't say enough about Heavenly Creatures, and I look forward to seeing it many times...

This is well worth spending some time to watch. Peter Jackson has such style and the girls performances are acting master classes.I won't go into reviewing the film deeply. It's been done, but IMO a delicate topic is confronted and handled very well.Two girls obsessive relationship drives them to commit a terrible crime and it's based upon a true story. This makes the film extremely hard hitting.To me, a DVD is nothing without extras and I min used a point for this version because there aren't many. There is only really a short film of three critics discussing their favourite elements of the movie. They talk intelligently and it's interesting, but I was hoping for a commentary.

In my humble, the best film PeterJackson has made. Great story, shocking and intriguing and the first major film for Kate Winslet.

Very happy with service and the condition of my item dvd. Happily use again the buyer

Everything about "Heavenly Creatures" is AMAZING yet also disturbing. I first heard about this movie in summer while watching an episode of "Deadly Women" on Netflix. On a episode it told the story of Juliet Hulme who is now known as Anne Perry who is now a best selling author. And Pauline Parker who currently lives in the UK under a new identity .