Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven's Gate (Part 3 of 8)

[southerndandy89]

I think Sydney Pollack said it once, in the movie business the word perfectionist it's usually a euphemism for pain in the ass,

[snakes3425]

5 hours and 25 minutes, can you imagine how many blu-ray/DVDs Heaven's Gate's directors cut would take up

[mkendra29]

I would recommend Steven Bach's book about this, "Final Cut," which would clear up anything left unclear by this excellent documentary. UA was having trouble under the Bach/Field regime independent of this picture. As the book shows, UA made many equally bad decisions that ultimately factored in the company being sold to MGM. They still had some very good movies like Raging Bull, The French Lieutenant's Woman and The Tin Drum. I respect the fact that they still gave most directors final cut.

[snakes3425]

Cimino made a 5 hour 25 minute mess about the Johnson County War yet he forgot one crucial part: THE JOHNSON COUNTY WAR!!!!

[drainfunk]

I know that voice, It's Willem Dafoe!

[CelticBadBoyPoet7]

Napoleon Syndrome on Steroids, LMFAO.......

[koln1996]

Some say that a LARGE part of "H.G."'s budget was spent on coke!!!

Ms. Carelli seemed to have been more of a "caterer" than a producer!!!

[Hrehorowful]

Great upload. thanks.

[Hylas19]

I sat through all 4 hours of HEAVEN'S GATE last night, and while it's nowhere near the cinematic disaster (production is another issue) people say, it's NOT a good movie. The actors are all good, but the photography is so absurdly bad, the plot so meandering, that it is incomprehensible in places. There's no reason the movie couldn't have been 110 minutes. That's all the plot there is.

[thedrmat]

@Hylas19

That is EXACTLY my opinion. This type of subject matter didn't need more than 2-2 1/4 hours to be developed (or better said, edited into that running time). Some scenes run for so long that they become pointless; and others had no reason at all to be kept in the final cut, to begin with.

[ieatskotchtape]

he makes boring movies, half of deer hunter could have been cut and it would have still been great

[GTBurns48215]

Cleopatra also created Century City, 20th was so strapped for cash, that they sold off parts of the studio lot to the Country of Los Angeles and they made a city out of it.

[GTBurns48215]

Film require a an Army to make, with any Army you need discipline. Cimino lacked any and the Leadership failed to behave like leaders. That is what led to disaster, if the original EXECS were in charge they would have told Cimino to get lost.

To all artists, sometimes the MAN is the only thing keeping you feet from flying off the ground into the void of insanity.

[Youbian]

see Malick

[Ason1986]

Michael Cimino and Jon Lovitz look exactly the same.

[MeatballsMarlowe]

This is a good documentary, but why wasn't Cimino himself interviewed? So far, they've only shown pre-existing clips of him doing interviews.

[DanielMumby]

@MeatballsMarlowe: He doesn't like doing interviews about it, and rarely gives interviews at all anymore

[MeatballsMarlowe]

@DanielMumby Yeah, when I made the comment, I hadn't seen the documentary all the way to the end. Now that I have, I see it says at the end that he declined to be interviewed.

[JuanMacready]

Heaven's Gate was a piece of fucking crap.

[ninfilms]

I do think that Michael Cimino has been used as an scapegoat for bankrupting a studio United Artists. The problem was that the executive didn't have the balls to tell him he was overspending. Michael's problem was he fell in love with his vision.

[industrialsun]

Another point that becomes clear through this documentary (even though it is not mentioned) is that UA was not as thriving as other studios by 1979. The Woody Allen films were great but never made much money and the Bond films with Roger Moore were less distinguished than those with Sean Connery. UA was in rough shape by that point and lower level, inexperienced guys were put in charge because no powerful, big name exec wanted to take helm of a studio whose glory days were likely over.

[GTBurns48215]

@industrialsun This movie was just a catalyst to a collapse that was probably going to happen. Why do you think the original execs left to start Orion. They knew UA's best days were behind them.

[blackamerican40]

Brad Douriff is also the voice of Chucky. Did you know that?!

[jayarcidiacono]

always tell the studios what they want to hear, and then do what you want to do?

Cimino had no respect for the people pouring millions of dollars into 'Gate.' Frankly, he got what he deserved.

[QuietGiantProduction]

so michael cimino is a poor mans stanley kubrick? but he did a great job on deer hunter.

[brabon1]

dourif ended up being in one of the greatest westerns ever made...deadwood

[jonathanmelia]

@brabon1 Dead right! Great character actor, also as Wormtongue in LOTR and Billy in "...CUCKOO'S NEST"....

[JepMasta]

On the multiple takes. I have a funny story about them. I forget who but one of the actors did a scene in Gate where he had to drop his pants. He did so for about 40 takes and finally exasperated he asked Cimino "how many times can a man drop his

Pants?!"

[TheGatorfan93]

Barry lyndon and full metal jacket are considered weak films?Says who? I believe there in the top 250 of all-time films,voted by critics and fans.Full metal jacket NOW is more highly regarded then platoon(which has aged poorly,with conventional,melodramatic themes and characters).Barry lyndon was nominated for most major awards,and is considered the best film about that period ever..

[Jimbothy]

DOURIFF'D !!!!

[ufuckfacesonofabitch]

Cimino sounds like a massive cockhead!

[blackamerican40]

57 takes? A minimum of 42 takes. What a mad man!!

[thegirl44]

I agree with Dourif; The parctice of many takes displaying many different emotions shows that the film had no direction.

[scottmanduzy]

now cimino looks like an old shriveled woman

[amaxamon]

I LOVE Jeff Bridges - he never has a single negative word to say abt any film he's ever made...!

[bsjt]

I think Cimino is the extreme shadow side of many other brilliant filmmakers; he has great ability, but supreme ego and self-absorption, which was evident in a lot of his self-made mythomania regarding this and "Deer Hunter." And now he physically is this ruin of a man, like a caricature, monstrous "dark half" of guys like Coppola or Scorsese with similar tendencies, but which are not as fullblown and nasty as Cimino.

[Anynom]

Difference being Wyler made good movies.

Seriously,the guy makes Stanley Kubrick look loose in filmmaking.

[ibanezman1025]

Other difference being that despite Kubrick's perfectionism, every Kubrick film is considered a masterpiece.

[BufordStone]

Hardly. It was downhill after "A Clockwork Orange".

[ibanezman1025]

Are you talking about critical reception? No way Barry Lyndon is downhill. That's probably Kubrick's best work ever.

[TheGatorfan93]

it was downhill after ''a clockwork orange''

i remember my first beer

[amaxamon]

@ibanezman1025 not true. Lolita, Barry Lyndon, Full Metal Jacket & Eyes Wide Shut are all considered (generally) to be weak films. Personally I lobe BL & FMJ, but opinion doesn't make it a masterpiece.

[EricAKATheBelgianGuy]

@Anynom Exactly right. Wyler is fantastic.

Cimino isn't even a poor man's Kubrick- he's a rich man's Shyamalan.

[Fawksian21]

I honestly don't think Cimino will ever direct again. Reading over his recent interviews, it sounds like he's still the self-indulgent person who ruined United Artists.

[almanacofsleep]

He was kicked off of Footloose because he was creating overly expensive sets.

[Fawksian21]

Makes sense. He did the exact same thing with the sets on "Heaven's Gate," like spending a million dollars moving the whole town set a few feet.

[EricAKATheBelgianGuy]

@Fawksian21 They also said he waited nearly three hours on one day before he started shooting, all because he liked the look of a certain cloud and wanted it to pass through frame. A cloud.

[ibanezman1025]

I think I read that he was fired from Footloose before it even began production, as he asked for more money and more time or something extravagent.

[MandysEvilTwin]

He was hired to direct Footloose with the warning that if he went one cent over budget it would come out of his own pocket. However when he demanded to rewrite the script himself and said that he would require production to be delayed accordingly he was fired.

[GratefulVince]

@Fawksian21 - Say what u will I think Cimino is a genius. Even his weak 80's movies have incredible moments of pure cinema. The directing style of "Year of The Dragon" for example. If any other filmmaker had made that movie people would have said he was incredible and a talent to look for, but because it was a Cimino film it got totally panned.

[snakes3425]

@GratefulVince

It's the price you pay in Hollywood. You can create masterpieces but when you have your name plastered all over a movie that is the biggest flop ever made, your career is ruined

[BannerBombers]

Sounds as if Cimino was like WIlliam Wyler in the multiple take aspect.