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Heaven's Gate: The Criterion Collection
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Criterion Collection Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (1st March 2013). |
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The Film
 As a student of film one of the most continually intriguing aspects of Hollywood production history is the "flop", I've always been interested in some of Hollywood's biggest mistakes, whether it were linked to inflated budgets, inflated egos, or simply a terrible script, badly directed vanity piece. Whatever the reason (of which there are plenty) as to why a film flops, "Heaven's Gate" has to be one of the most prolific, and for a film so rarely seen, one of the most well known cinematic disasters of all time. For those that have read Steven Bach's excellent chronicle on the making of the film - "Final Cut : Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film That Sank United Artists" (and subsequently the documentary "Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven's Gate" (2004)) many cinephiles will be familiar with the constant trouble this film and its director caused United Artists. Michael Cimino was riding a high at the time, having come off his hugely successful Oscar winning "The Deer Hunter" (1978) , Cimino was the toast of the town, a filmmaker whom every studio was vying for. His follow up project would be a passion project, a film chronicling the Johnson County War, United Artists was willing to give Cimino anything he wanted to realize his vision at their studio. Cimino was paid an incredible $11.6 million and was given a budget of $7.5 million to make his epic western. What United Artists failed to predict was Cimino's controlling and inflated personality and incredible attention to minute detail that drove the production over budget almost immediately. Depending on who's account you read (or believe for that matter) there were plenty of stories relating to Cimino ordering sets to be torn down, rebuilt, constant hiring and firing of crew, arguments were a regular occurrence, production values were extravagant and the production wildly mismanaged, and in the end over 1.5 million feet of film was shot at a final estimated budget of $40 million (a then astronomical sum to spend on a film). The production was compared to a runaway train, a train moving so quickly, and one which the studio was so heavily invested in they kept throwing money at it hoping for the best. When all was said and done, Cimino delivered a 5 hour cut of the film, and studio executives got scared. How could they recoup their $40 million investment in a film that ran 5 hours? (The longer the run time, the fewer the sessions, the fewer the session the fewer a studio stands to make daily in box office). Turns out that didn't even matter, even in a much shorter edit no one went to see "Heaven's Gate" when it finally opened (after several delays) in 1980. The reviews were scathing, and as United Artists tried to "rescue" the film by making editing changes, trimming further and trying their best to market it, it eventually broke them. "Heaven's Gate" bankrupted the studio, it went down in history as one of the most expensive flops of all time and single-handedly put an end to Michael Cimino's career, he made other films after "Heaven's Gate" but none made an impact and Hollywood wasn't knocking on his door anymore. What's sad is that United Artists lost faith in their filmmaker, Cimino's own attitude and ego probably didn't help, but thirty-three years later and an "approved" director's cut version of the film has finally been released, the irony, is that had United Artists let Cimino release the film as he intended (the version on this Criterion release) they would have had an impressive, sprawling, epic western that's both beautiful and violent, a film that I don't believe would not have been such a huge flop. Had United Artists not run away scared, had they backed the vision of their (mostly insane) director and marketed the film in a matter fitting it, who knows what could have happened? Perhaps another sweep of awards? Critical acclaim? Lamentably we'll never know. I've never seen the cut-down-studio-butchered version so I can't really compare (although I've read all about the shorter edits), but what is for certain is that this current version of the film is stunning. It's a true American cinematic masterpiece. "Heaven's Gate" tells the story of Sheriff James Averill (Kris Kristofferson) of Johnson County, Wyoming is caught between the lives of European immigrants whom are accused of rustling cattle and the wealthy cattle farmers trying to protect their stock. The sheriff tries to maintain the peace and avoid bloodshed but the farmers are making thing incredibly hard for him, as they form a vigilante posse sanctioned by the U.S. Government to hunt down the immigrants accused to the crimes. Clashing with them but also with hired gun Nathan Champion (Christopher Walken) over the woman they both love, Ella Watson (Isabelle Huppert). Both men end up questioning their roles in the conflict that climaxes with a brutal and heated gun battle that leaves almost all involved dead. I'm not going to lie, this film is long - at 217 minutes, it does drag out in parts, but if you invest your time in the picture it delivers in spades. What Cimino has created is an engrossing, rich, violent, and complex western epic. The production design makes the price of admission worth it. Cimino's almost insane attention to detail pays off, from the costumes to the period city streets, everything looks incredible and the decision to shoot entirely on location (although an immensely costly decision) also pays dividends as everything within the filmmakers frame looks accurate, real and most importantly - lived in. Adding an captivating quality to the film that if done on a lesser budget could have looked cheap and too much like a "set". Length aside my only real criticism is that the film's production is so incredibly rich and complex that it almost distracts from the story and the performances, the scenes do have a "rehearsed" quality to them, Cimino's control would have been tight - telegraphing each scene, each interaction, each camera move etc. It wasn't out of place for him to roll 80+ takes on a single shot. A more naturalistic approach could have benefited the performances and eliminated stiltedness. Despite the controlling nature of the film's production the results aren't that bad, considering that the film's narrative is in the hands of such skilled and talented actors. The film has spent decades gathering dust, largely forgotten aside from it being famous for sinking United Artists, putting an end to Cimino's career and sadly placing the final nail in a tradition of Hollywood producing sprawling and lavish epics. Over three decades later and Cimino is mostly vindicated with the release of his definitive version of the film that reveals itself to be a masterstroke in filmmaking. There were a lot of unknowns when the film was being produced and that eventually frightened the studio, but what is known is that Cimino may have been crazy to mount this effort but the results are immortalized on film in grandiose fashion, for all to revisit and be taken away to a time long lost.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.40:1 mastered in high definition 1080p 24/fps and using AVC MPEG-4 compression. The Criterion Collection has delivered a new, restored transfer which was supervised by the film's director Michael Cimino. The film looks beautiful in its HD image, the epic and grand film's photography has been given a lovingly restored image (which is explored in a restoration demonstration in the supplements). Some shots still look soft, but this may have more to do with the film stock of the era than the transfer itself. The picture is nicely clean, with all the dirt and specs removed, the colors where adjusted for this release and really show off the film's photography. Detail, clarity, and textures look impressive. Black levels are balanced and the film maintains a layer of grain that preserves the filmic quality.
Audio
A newly produced English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is included mixed at 48kHz/24-bit. The new 5.1 surround track was remastered and restored at 24-bit from the original 6-track magnetic mix, also under the supervision of film's director Michael Cimino. The purpose of the new audio track was to mainly improve the audibility of dialogue. For a movie that's over thirty years-old I was surprised how immersive this audio track was, I was expecting a more front heavy audio track. Pleasantly surprised is the best way to describe my experience listening to this surround track. I've read that previously the dialogue wasn't as clear or audible in previous home video releases, I didn't notice too much in terms of that here, the beginning of the film was at times a little hard to make out some background dialogue but it's not consequential to the story. The expansiveness of the audio was what struck me the most, it was broad and nuanced. The score was beautifully mixed amid the 5.1 channels and the film's final act action sequence sounded great with realistic bullets that help boost the scene's impact. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired.
Extras
The Criterion Collection has included four interviews, a restoration demonstration, a teaser trailer, TV spots and a liner notes booklet. Below is a closer look at these extras. DISC ONE: The Film There are no supplements on this disc. All extras are on the second disc. DISC TWO: Supplements The first supplement on this disc is an audio interview with Michael Cimino and producer Joann Carelli which runs for 30 minutes 57 seconds. Recorded exclusively for this release these two offer some excellent insight into the making of the film. The production process, shooting on locations and the challenges faced as a result of that decision. An overall general look at the film's production history is covered in this audio clip, worth exploring. Interview with actor Kris Kristofferson (1080p) runs for 9 minutes 23 seconds, produced exclusively for this release, the film's star comments on the film, working with Cimino and what he thinks of it over thirty years later. Interview (1080p) with soundtrack arranger and performer David Mansfield runs for 8 minutes 45 seconds, Yet another exclusive clip produced for this release, the musician comments on his role in the film as well as his contribution to the creation of the film's score. Interview (1080p) with second assistant director Michael Stevenson runs for 8 minutes 5 seconds, the final of the exclusively recorded interviews, this time with the film's second assistant director. You don't normally see interviews with the second AD, but they are in charge of scheduling and making sure the film's production is on track each day, so this role would have been an interesting one considering the film's turbulent history. He comments on working with the director and the various challenges of the production. Restoration demonstration (1080p) runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds, and is an excellent look at the work that went into restoring the film to it's former glory. Teaser trailer (1080p) is also included which runs for 1 minute 30 seconds. a single TV spot (1080p) which runs for 1 minute 12 seconds. This edition comes with a liner notes booklet featuring an essay by critic and programmer Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan and a 1980 interview with Michael Cimino.
Overall
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