Heaven's Gate (film)

Heaven's Gate
Heaven's Gate
	Original theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael Cimino
Written by	Michael Cimino
Produced by	Joann Carelli
Starring	Kris Kristofferson; Christopher Walken; John Hurt; Sam Waterston; Brad Dourif; Isabelle Huppert; Jeff Bridges; Joseph Cotten;
Cinematography	Vilmos Zsigmond
Edited by	Lisa Fruchtman; Gerald Greenberg; William Reynolds; Tom Rolf;
Music by	David Mansfield
Production; company	Partisan Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release dates	November 19, 1980 (New York City); April 24, 1981 (United States);
Running time	219 minutes; (see Alternative versions)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$44 million
Box office	$3.5 million

Heaven's Gate is a 1980 American epic Western film written and directed by Michael Cimino, starring Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston, Brad Dourif, Isabelle Huppert, Jeff Bridges, and Joseph Cotten, and loosely based on the Johnson County War. It revolves around a dispute between land barons and European immigrants in Wyoming in the 1890s.

The film's production faced numerous setbacks, including cost overruns, significant retakes, bad press (including allegations of animal abuse on set), and rumors about Cimino's allegedly authoritarian directorial style. Cimino had an expensive and ambitious vision for the film, pushing it nearly four times over its planned budget.

The film premiered in November 1980 and received significant critical backlash, prompting United Artists to pull it from theaters. In April 1981, a truncated re-cut version was released, though it remained a financial failure, earning only $3.5 million against its $44 million budget. It was subsequently condemned as one of the worst films ever made.^[3] According to some film historians such as Peter Biskind, the film's financial failure resulted in the demise of director-driven film production in the American film industry, steering back toward greater studio control of films.^[4]

In the decades since the release, however, general assessment of Heaven's Gate has become more favorable.^[5] The 1981 re-edit has been characterized as "one of the greatest injustices of cinematic history", while later re-edits have received critical acclaim.^[6] In 2015, BBC Culture ranked Heaven's Gate 98th on its list of the 100 greatest American films of all time.^[7]

^ Hughes, p.170
^ "Heaven's Gate (1980)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
^ Queenan, Joe (March 20, 2008). "From hell". The Guardian.
^ Biskind, Peter (1998). Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-'n'-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. New York City: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-80996-6. pp. 401–403.
^ Cite error: The named reference Doc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Hoyle, Ben (October 1, 2012). "Heaven's Gate: Box Office Turkey That Sank a Studio Is a Modern Masterpiece". The Times. p. 4. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
^ "The 100 greatest American films". BBC Culture. July 20, 2015.

[Hughes170-1] Hughes, p.170

[mojo-2] "Heaven's Gate (1980)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 15, 2011.

[3] Queenan, Joe (March 20, 2008). "From hell". The Guardian.

[4] Biskind, Peter (1998). Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-'n'-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. New York City: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-80996-6. pp. 401–403.

[Doc-5] Cite error: The named reference Doc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2012-times-6] Hoyle, Ben (October 1, 2012). "Heaven's Gate: Box Office Turkey That Sank a Studio Is a Modern Masterpiece". The Times. p. 4. Retrieved October 1, 2012.

[7] "The 100 greatest American films". BBC Culture. July 20, 2015.

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