MovieChat Forums > Heaven's Gate (1981) Discussion > Not the worst, yet not the epic masterpi...

Not the worst, yet not the epic masterpiece either

posted 8 years ago by Dude-20
1 reply | jump to latest

It looks like many of us caught the TCM airing recently. Finally got to watch it off the DVR. I do feel that whichever print I saw was not the disaster that this films reputation suggests. Yet I also feel it isn't this lost masterpiece awaiting an audience either. It's biggest flaw for me is I didn't feel engaged. I have been thinking all day why this was the case but I have no answer. The performances were fine. Yet I didn't really care about any of the characters. Had I found one of them engaging, I may have not noticed the length of the film.

That being said, it is a beautifully shot film. Man it looks great! The sets, the costumes, the locations, everything looks wonderful.

Who is to blame? It doesn't matter anymore. I will say give this film a shot. Don't let it's reputation dissuade you. Maybe you will love it, maybe hate it. Either way I say again you can't deny it's a pretty film, even if it didn't engage me.

[–] Outstandingness 8 years ago

The main reason it was considered a disaster was because the budget it was given, the freedom the director had, the scale of it, the apparent attempt at some social message. When you consider all the support it was given it was a very bad film. I think people expect to be injected with cancer when they watch HG bc the reputation is so bad but obviously it's not all bad. But I can say that in the end it appears to be made very incompetently.

Some scenes look great, yet others look putrid. The music is very good yet at times the dialogue is inaudible. Cimino wants to be epic yet keeps cutting away from the actual story to keep showing the same shot of distant mountains and sunrises. He wants the audience to sympathize with the immigrants but only portrays them as a mindless blob shuffling and mumbling along in babushkas. Cimino strove for realism yet used a song from the 1950s(?) for the roller skating dance scene.

It was all very strange. I can't help but wonder if cocaine played a part.