One of American cinema's greatest tragedies

One of American cinemas greatest tragedies, for Heaven’s Gate was a massive box-office flop on its release, was for a time considered one of the worst films ever made and is said to be one of the reasons producers and studios lost faith in their filmmakers and became more controlling in future projects, and when you watch it, it’s very easy to see why.

You’ve got Michael Cimino here channeling the patience of Andrei Tarkovsky and the spectacle of David Lean to create what is without a doubt the most unorthodox film to have come out of a major studio from American cinema, yet despite all this, Heaven’s Gate truly is a fantastic film and I’m happy that it’s been more positively reevaluated as time has gone on.

It’s slow-burn cinema but Michael Cimino knew exactly what he wanted here and truly directed such an immersive and captivating story. The scope of this is so huge, from the waltz scenes, the war scenes and just that shot alone towards the start of Kris Kristofferson arriving by train at that small Western town and just seeing all the hustle and bustle of people shopping, coaches driving, dust clouds brewing is breathtaking. Not to mention the gunfights and battle scenes in this are just so well choreographed and absolutely brutal and bloody to watch. The cinematography of Wyoming is just absolutely beautiful, never got tired of seeing those huge snowy peaks, green grass and rivers.

The cast is so much fun; Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Jeff Bridges, Brad Dourif, an elderly Joseph Cotten at the start, John Hurt giving a memelord of a performance and Isabelle Huppert being an absolute boss the whole way through.

Although I prefer The Deer Hunter, Michael Cimino really knocked it out of the park with this monster of a film. Truly one of the most underrated and underappreciated films in american cinema.