MovieChat Forums > Heaven's Gate (1981) Discussion > The truth about this film

The truth about this film

posted 10 years ago by jerrynick30
4 replies | jump to latest

I just watched the movie, and I was surprised at how good it was. I expected it to suck as it supposedly destroyed Hollywood, and it was actually quite good. So I watched the making of....

The UA executives admitted they didn't know what they were doing. They sure didn't. They could have told Cimino, you get 12 million dollars, and if you don't finish the film, that's too bad. He would have done it cheaper. He was a talented guy, but he needed a good producer to put him on a leash. So their company was really brought down by incompetent executives. Not wanting to take the blame, they blamed the director, and basically destroyed Hollywood creatively. Look at Hollywood now. Its a joke.

They should have killed the executives off instead of the directors.

[–] ztraybllet 10 years ago

Look at Hollywood now. Its a joke.

In what way is it a joke?

[–] android_movie 10 years ago

Cimino was out of control and was a bomb waiting to explode. If he didn't screw up this movie he surely would have screwed up eventually. Deer Hunter was a lucky shot... look at all the other movies he had directed since Heaven's Gate and they were all crap.

Show me the holes!

[–] jerrynick30 10 years ago

If you can't tell that Hollywood is a joke now then I really can't help you.

[–] Outstandingness 8 years ago

Wrong. Cimino was well aware of his clout after the success of Deer Hunter and took advantage of it. Read the book Final Cut before you make final judgement. They tried everything to make it work and Cimino was an imbecile before filming ever began. The executives can't bail on a movie at the first sign of trouble. It's their job to make it work. Directors show signs of egomania all the time, it's practically in the job description. There was no way they could know how bizarre he'd become.