Heroes

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.

The song that closes "Heroes" (1977) in its various T.V./video versions is not the same song that was used in its theatrical showing. It would be great if someone would put the original closing theme back in this film because the crappy song that was used as the replacement closing theme spoils the mood of the last few moments, which is better served by the original closing theme.

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.

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."