Finally saw the 220 minute version
I've waited almost 30 years to see this version and finally I sat and watched it yesterday. While I can't say it is so horrible it should be considered amongst the worst films ever made I did find it a labor to sit through. It opens with a beautiful sequence taking place at Harvard (but shot at Oxford) that culminates in a group waltz. I found this scene lovely and truly began to think that Cimino had made a masterpiece that was somehow mis-understood by critics and the mass. Unfortunately not.
The Bad: ***Spoilers***
1) The film is shot in this Sepia tone of yellow and brown that is so ugly it becomes distracting.
2) The main action of the film - the assassination of immigrants - doesn't take full effect until almost two hours into the movie.
3) Characters are poorly written - Christopher Walken is introduced as a cold blooded killer but ends up having a heart? In the old West? John Hurt is against the committee wanting to kill the immigrants but yet he stands by them during battle. Many characters appear and then disappear for up to two hours and then re-appear just as suddenly. Brad Dourif is given MANY close-ups but little dialogue. Jeff Bridges' character seems unnecessary to the film. During the final battle all he does is scream, "Take cover!"
4) There are MANY crowd scenes where we see sub-titles for dialogue in long shots so we have no clue whatsoever who is saying these lines and why.
5) The final battle is so clumsily photographed, edited and directed it's impossible to make heads or tails of it. There is so much dust you can't see who is who thus blunting any suspense as to whom may live or die. I twice mistakenly believed Jeff Bridges' character had just been killed in the scene.
The Good:
1) There are three lovely scenes in the movie. As I noted the opening scene. I also loved the rollerskating scene in the dance hall. And I loved a quiet little scene with Christopher Walken bringing Isabelle Huppert into his newly wallpapered house. Unfortunately none of these scenes, as beautiful as I thought they were, were necessary to the film. This could have all been removed and no cost to the plot.
2) There is still some lovely photography in the movie - particularly when you can see the snow capped mountains in the distance.
3) The musical score was nice and soothing if not overly memorable.
In the end I found this to be a bad movie but not the disaster I was always led to believe. It does make you wonder about Cimino. His first film was THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT and though Cimino directed, Clint Eastwood often interceded. THE DEER HUNTER was his shining moment and every movie after this one has been bad. Did Cimino only have one masterpiece in him? Hard to say. In the end this is a curio of a movie more than anything. To watch it is to shake your head at the possibilities. How Cimino could release his film with such shoddy moments such as the dust filled frames of the battle is beyond me. Perhaps arrogance blinded his vision.