Heaven's Gate (1980)

Director:

Michael Cimino

Writer:

Michael Cimino (writer)

Release Date:

19 November 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Western

Tagline:

What one loves about life are the things that fade.

Plot:

Michael Cimino's bleak anti-western based on events in 1890s Wyoming. Sheriff James Averill attempts...

Plot Keywords:

Immigrant | Frontier | Battle | 1890s | Hired Gun

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Kris Kristofferson	...	James Averill
Christopher Walken	...	Nathan D. Champion
John Hurt	...	Billy Irvine
Sam Waterston	...	Frank Canton
Brad Dourif	...	Mr. Eggleston
Isabelle Huppert	...	Ella Watson
Joseph Cotten	...	The Reverend Doctor
Jeff Bridges	...	John L. Bridges
Ronnie Hawkins	...	Major Wolcott
Paul Koslo	...	Mayor Charlie Lezak
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Trapper Fred
Richard Masur	...	Cully
Rosie Vela	...	Beautiful girl (as Roseanne Vela)
Mary Catherine Wright	...	Nell (as Mary C. Wright)
Nicholas Woodeson	...	Small man

Also Known As:

Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate (USA) (complete title)
The Johnson County Wars (USA) (original script title)
Das Tor zum Himmel (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Heaven's Gate - Das Tor zum Himmel (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
As Portas do Céu (Portugal) [pt]
Brama nieba (Poland) [pl]
Heaven's Gate (West Germany) [de]
I cancelli del cielo (Italy) [it]
I pyli tis Dyseos (Greece) [el]
La porte du paradis (France) [fr]
La puerta del cielo (Spain) [es]
O Portal do Paraíso (Brazil) [pt]
Portti ikuisuuteen (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

149 min (re-cut) | 219 min (original cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Singapore:M18 | UK:X (original rating) | West Germany:16 (f) | Australia:M | Germany:12 (video rating) | Brazil:14 | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (cut) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Montana, USA

Company:

Partisan Productions

Trivia:

Cimino kept an armed security guard posted outside the editing room during postproduction to keep United Artists executives from interrupting him.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Despite music and a yard full of waltzing couples, several 360-degree panning shots at the Harvard commencement ball show that there is no orchestra.

Quotes:

Wolcott: They're an ignorant, degraded gang of paupers. Their only stock in trade consists of having large numbers of ragged kids.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "St. Elsewhere: Heaven's Skate (#6.13)" (1988)

Soundtrack:

The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Noble effort...but a dusty mess.

I won't entirely pan this movie because I think it was a noble effort. It's basic story is good (based on fact), but it's a loooong haul in steerage. We've heard the stories regarding this movie...the bloated budget, (incidentally the 5 min scene on the yacht at the end supposedly cost 1 million to shoot???) the expensive set that was torn down because of an imperfection, it's infamous New York opening. But as far as the film itself......

It's hard to imagine that a 3hr 40min movie could not generate any memorable characters, but thats what they've done here. There is no one to relate to, everybody seems to have had a lobotomy and is just mouthing their dialogue as if they could care less, which is odd because this film has great actors in it!

The story takes forever to unfold. By the time it really gets going it seems too late. Literally nothing happens in the first 90 minutes! the film feels longer than it actually is and I've heard that originally it was meant to be released at over 5 hours.

Another major problem... and I think Roger Ebert said it the best. "This film opens at Harvard..continues in Wyoming and closes aboard a ship, yet there is a grim industrial pall that hangs low over everything. The film is so foggy, so smoky, so unfocused and so brownish yellow, that you feel like you want to wipe windex on the screen. A director's in very deep trouble when we don't even enjoy the primary act of looking at his movie."

I personally think that Michael Cimino is very talented. Trouble is, thanks to this film and the financial disaster that it became, he has been somewhat branded, and was never really given much control of his projects since (so I've heard). It seems too bad as I think he could have made some great American films.