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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Not many movies can take credit for bringing about the demise of a movie studio--but Michael Cimino's ego-driven, overblown Western is one of them. These days, its $40 million budget would barely cover the cost of an Adam Sandler film--but in 1981, it virtually put United Artists out of business. Cimino, fresh from an Oscar for The Deer Hunter, spent months assembling this ultimately gorgeous and confusing story of the Johnson County cattle wars of 1881, with a cast that included Kris Kristofferson, Jeff Bridges, John Hurt, Christopher Walken, Isabelle Huppert, and many more. Almost four hours in its original form, the film was cut to less than three for an abortive commercial release, then restored for video. Anyway you look at it, this is a mess better viewed as a curiosity than anything else. --Marshall Fine
Heaven's Gate [Region 2] Reviews:
A memorable but flawed masterpiece 
2009-11-27 - I only saw this film once a quarter of a century ago, yet it's impact has never left me and I can still remember even now my reactions to it.I was mesmerised by the breadth and the sheer beauty of so much of the photography. I was astounded that an American studio could produce such a European film with it's slow pace and its unfocused plot. The lack of any strong characters felt like a flaw but I raged at the completely unnecessary ending on the yacht which seemed as though it was bolted on to give some kind of plot cohesion and which was entirely at odds with the style of the rest of the picture.It was also refreshing to see a western which made no pretence about the brutality and exploitation that so often was the unfortunate detritus of the American Dream.The western scenes and sets also had an authenticity which was entirely new to me and which prefigured the recent Deadwood series.The film was massively cut for the American audience and its my very real wish that in these days of Director's Cuts that Michael Cimino is given the opportunity of a fresh edit in the light of reflection - a cut which could turn this ill fated movie into the masterpiece it had the potential to become
For the record, the U.S. disc IS Anamorphic (16x9 Enhanced) 
2009-11-25 - I've been hesitant to buy this DVD for a while now because every source I could find on the web insisted that it is non-anamorphic. But I've really been itching to see it again, so I figured, what the hell. It's not like Criterion'll ever get the rights to it and put out a decent presentation, so...
Lo and behold, it turns out that the disc IS 16x9. The picture is obviously not up to today's standards of excellence but it could be a lot worse. And on my Oppo upscaling player it looks about as good as I've ever seen it on home video.
The movie was restored in 2004 (many years after this DVD was released), so where's the Special Edition (or -- dare to dream! -- the Blu-ray), MGM? Come on, guys! Don't tell me you're still holding a grudge against this classic because of what happened way back in 1981? Get with it!!!!!!!!!
Factually incorrect but full of attractive men 
2009-09-05 - A mediocre movie overall, in some ways Heaven's Gate was lucky to have gotten so completely slammed back in 1980. If it had received the middle-of-the-road reception it deserved, we'd all have forgotten it by now. But young movie buffs watch it to see if it was really all that awful. And us oldies return to see if we can remember just what the hubbub was all about back in the day. This movie gives us Kris Kristofferson before he ravaged himself and Christopher Walken at the height of his out-of-place ethereal young beauty. Cimino was obviously a director who appreciated attractive, talented young men with a future; also giving us a young Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterston (pre-Law and Order), John Hurt and Brad Dourif, in addition to an unknown Mickey Rourke in a small part and Willem Dafoe as an undcredited extra. So, in my latest viewing of this film, I note the disparity between the treatment of men and women by Cimino. Isabelle Huppert stands out in the only good female part. But, even though she is playing a working girl, Ms. Huppert is left to look drab and virtually make-up free. In scenes with both she and Walken the amount of make-up on the already well-dressed Walken reminds one of silent movie cosmetics. And the scene where Walken takes Kristofferson's hat and eyes himself admiringly in a mirror reinforces one of the ruling errors in the making of this film. The story is laden down with factual errors typical of the average Western. Michael Cimino was more interested in displays of male beauty and Western vistas. Heaven's Gate is a self-indulgent work of art by that helped bring down a studio and, in the long run, hurt thousands of people employed in the film industry by making is harder to get funding to make good films. It is, however, a work of art showing a single artist's world view and, for that reason, worth watching.
A unique movie (You have been warned)
2009-08-20 - Some people might like this movie for its anti-western and realistic view of the Far West. Others might just hate or won't stand its long sequences, its 220 minutes (while Once upon a time in America by Sergio Leone is 229 minutes, and The lord of the Rings 683 minutes), or the truthful exposition of the internal conflicts between the immigrants settlers and the americans. But if you take the time to shut yourself from the press' critics, take an unbiased attitude, and let yourself get engulf by this movie, you will live an adventure; whether or not you will hate it, or love it like I did.
You have been warned. And if you can't stand watching the whole movie in one ride, try watching it like a novel; take a break from time to time.
A good story marred by unnecessary length
2009-06-17 - I have no problem with length in and of itself, and length is sometimes necessary in order to tell a story. However, in this case it just wasn't necessary.
Too many scenes in this film are twice as long as they need to be, with very little happening. Or they involve a lot of singing, dancing, marching, fighting, skating, and whatnot, all of which looks nice but just drags the story out longer and longer without advancing the plot. Cimino apparently could not bear to cut a single second of any of this. Had he done so, the movie would have been more bearable.
Aside from that, the story is quite fascinating, the locations are gorgeous, the sets are authentic-looking, and there is a great cast here. Too bad they were in the hands of a director who just didn't know when to quit or when to edit his own work.
