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starring: Tom Berenger, John Lithgow, Daryl Hannah, Aidan Quinn, Tom Waitsdirected by: Hector Babenco
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302359848
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
ISBN: 6302359848
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Universal Studios
Release Date: January 01, 1998
Running Time: 186 minutes
Sales Rank: 1691
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: December 06, 1991
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video:
Missionaries travel to the Brazilian rain forest and make a mess of everything. What else is new? Actually, plenty in this dark but beautifully realized adaptation of Peter Matthiessen's well-regarded novel, directed by Hector Babenco. Aidan Quinn, Daryl Hannah, Kathy Bates, and John Lithgow play the Americans who travel to the Brazilian interior in an effort to do some good. But their definitions of good vary wildly; Bates and Lithgow are old-fashioned puritans who want to convert the heathens to Christianity and remove all traces of their own culture. Quinn and Hannah are more spiritually minded, hoping to make a connection and a cultural exchange with the Indians they encounter. In the end, they're all delusional, trapped in their own preconceptions. Downbeat but magical in its way, with sterling performances all around and amazing scenery, to say the least. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Where Is It?
Where is it? I echo previous reviewers asking why this classic has not been released on DVD. A burnt-out reviewer like Terrence Rafferty (The New Yorker) pans it, but real people who do not live on Manhattan's Upper West Side see virtue in the film. I'm among them and so, happily, is Roger Ebert. Among the many things I like about the film is its portrayal of the wise, patient Catholic priest, who has seen it all yet seems to have retained his faith in a very trying setting and has put his hope where ... Read More
Rating:  - Savagery accelerates, four stars overall
Savagery accelerates. It took European immigrants several centuries to "pacify" - convert, slaughter and segregate - the native populations of North America, but Brazilians have accomplished the same feat in less than 50 years. It is estimated that by the end of the century not a single native in the state of Amazonia will be living under traditional conditions. The issue is almost academic: Thanks to European-introduced diseases, forced relocations and outright genocide, relatively few natives will be ... Read More
Rating: - I have been waiting along time for the DVD
I absolutely love this movie and requested it on DVD along time ago. Why isn't it on DVD yet. There are many movies that aren't even close to being this good on DVD, so whats the deal? If your out there reading this Universal, please put this on DVD.
Rating: - Good Movie
Good to see this hadr-to-find movie again. Slight tracking problem on the VHS in one spot, but didn't detract. Received in good time. Thanks.
Rating: - An above average drama with some reality
Taken from an even lengthier book, "At Play in the Fields of the Lord" is a tale of missionaries that travel to the Amazon, set up shop to convert the heathens to Christianity and make their lives better, and basically end up doing just the opposite. The morality play about the Christian mission achieving the opposite of its intent is a cliche, of course, one that has been played out in film for 50 years.
The rest of the story -- the interactions between missionaries Aidan Quinn, John Lithgow, ... Read More
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