MovieChat Forums > Heaven's Gate (1981) Discussion > Did anybody else watch Steven Soderbergh...

Did anybody else watch Steven Soderbergh's 'Butcher's Cut'?

posted 11 years ago by Protozoid
2 replies | jump to latest

Soderbergh did his own cut of this movie and embedded it on his blog. Has anybody here watched it? I watched it the other night but it's been a long time since I saw the full-length cut of Heaven's Gate and I'm not sure what's missing. That's probably a compliment to Soderbergh's editing skills.

There was only one omission that I really, really missed: the original epilogue on the boat. Apparently Soderbergh would rather drop that ending and uses the Harvard prologue as the epilogue! It's a very peculiar decision, but an interesting one. I'm still wondering what it means.

What a strange and wonderful film... and there are seemingly endless versions of it.

http://extension765.com/sdr/16-heavens-gate-the-butchers-cut

[–] redrawn 11 years ago

Thanks for posting this. I'll be sure to check it out. I haven't seen either versions. Is this a good place to start?

[–] Protozoid 11 years ago

I haven't seen either versions. Is this a good place to start?

Good question. I guess I would recommend starting with the long version, first. You kind of haven't seen Heaven's Gate until you've sat through that beast of a film. If the pacing is too slow, then try the Soderbergh one. He certainly "solved" the pacing issues, although I would debate whether or not the slow pacing was integral to director's vision of the past.