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I'm usually a big fan of the Criterion Collection, but Heaven's Gate is easily the worst movie they offer. And remember, there are two Michael Bay titles in there, too!*

*Admittedly, one of those movies is The Rock, Michael Bay's only movie to have a positive RT rating and a good review from Peter Travers! 

Head Razz, I was living with Grandma Bacon in South Gate at the time. South Gate just installed cable TV and I bought the basic package for her and I added the Z Channel. It was 36 channels in the basic tier. Loved Z, very eclectic mix of movies and Z sent out a slick magazine each month. The only drawback--Grandma never let me watch any of those "Nite Owl Movies" at her house 

RESPONSE from Head RAZZberry: WikiPedia (which is not always the most reliable source for such things) claims that the "Uncut HEAVEN'S GATE" debuted on Z Channel in 1982, and that the version they aired was actually the cut that had premiered (to disastrous response) in Manhattan in late 1980 (LINK). The running time of the Z Channel presentation was reportedly 219 minutes, which would gibe w/the "original" Cimino theatrical version... 

RESPONSE from Head RAZZberry: I, too, remember sitting through the "Director's Cut" of HEAVEN'S GATE when it was shown on Z Channel. It was about 70 minutes longer, but had no more substance than the version Michael Cimino insisted UA had "butchered," which ran 2 hours and 29 minutes. That 149-minute version had been nominated for 5 RAZZIE® Awards, including Worst Picture (and had "won" as Worst Director for Cimino).  

1.) To a lot of people, it's a misunderstood masterpiece. ENough people to get it ranked the 535th greatest film ever according to They Shoot Picture Don't They? http://www.theyshootpictures.com/

2.) It's similar to the wedding scene with one massive difference: the wedding scene in The Deer Hunter contrasts how happy they were compared to how miserable they are during the war. The Harvard scene is just pointless and crappy.

3.) There's a lot of Worst Picture nominees/winners that I haven't reviewed.

It's true that many great films were hated in their time. Just look at the most recent Sight & Sound poll: Vertigo: box-office bomb, Citizen Kane: box-office bomb, Tokyo Story: box-office bomb, The Rules Of The Game: box-office bomb, Sunrise: box-office bomb, 2001: A Space Odyssey: critical bomb, The Searchers: critical bomb, The Passion Of Joan Of Arc: box-office bomb, only Man With A Movie Camera and 8 1/2 didn't need vindicating. I say this because today's review subject was hated in its time and many people now consider it a misunderstood masterpiece. After watching Heaven's Gate, I must say that the critics from 1980 were 100% right. It's a disaster, too long by at least an hour, and features some truely awful acting. The only good things in this mess are Christopher Walken and Jeff Bridges. I would say that the cinematography's good, except that...

9.) Everything's too brown: Any enjoyment that can be gleaned from the cinematography is negated by the fact that almost everything in the film is an ugly shade of brown.

8.) The love triangle: The main thrust of the first couple hours of the film is a love triangle between James Averill (played by Kris Kristofferson), Ella Watson (played by Isabelle Huppert), and Nathan D. Champion (played by Walken). The love triangle is uneventful as none of the performers have any chemistry whatsoever.

7.) The Harvard scene: The first 30 minutes of the film are devoted to James and Billy Irvine (played by John Hurt) graduating from Harvard. And good God is it boring. It's a pointless and boring scene that doesn't need to exist, like a lot of the scenes in here.

6.) Kris Kristofferson: Kristofferson earned a very well-earned Razzie nomination for his truely rancid performance in here. The box-office disaster of this film pretty much killed his leading man career, but he seems to be proud of it for some reason.

5.) The length: The "restored" cut of this is nearly four hours long!! The cut that came out in 1981 (and got Razzed) was two and a half hours long. I actually prefer the '81 version because of its length.

4.) Isabelle Huppert: Huppert gives an awful performance as Ella Watson. One of the most baffling things about the film is that her character is supposed to be American. This is baffling because Huppert has an incredibly thick French accent and her dialogue is hard to understand most of the times. Apparantly, the executives wanted a different (presumably one who could pass for an American better) actress for the role. However, Cimino, misunderstood genius that he is, maturely told the executive to: "go f*ck yourself."

3.) Animal cruelty: Several animals were killed during the making of this film. Four horses were killed, with one being blown up, cows were disembowled out, and cock fights were held. Now, some of you are probably wondering why I'm criticizing this film for animal cruelty when one of my top 10 favorite movies (Apocalypse Now) featured an actual water buffalo getting slaughtered on camera. Well, the tribe that they shoot the movie with was going to sacrifice the buffalo anyway and Coppola (who, let's remember, was hopped up on cocaine) thought that it would make for an interesting scene to juxtaposition the slaughter with Willard killing Kurtz. The animals killed for Heaven's Gate probably would have lived if they weren't in the film.

2.) Michael Cimino and his misguided quest for "realness": Cimino won an incredibly well-deserved Worst Director Razzie for this. Cimino's main goal for the film was to be as real as possible and this film shows why that's not always a good thing. See, Cimino cared more about if a scene was realistic then if it was any good. Take, for example, the infamously awful roller-skate scene. Yes, the scene has historical precedence, but it's also a terrible scene. In another infamous scene, Champion writes down a letter before leaving. I should mention that he's in a burning cabin at the time!! This scene is accuarate to history, but it's seems so off, that it would have been better to not include it at all.

1.) Protection from editors: I've criticize a lot of examples of executive meddling gone wrong, but Heaven's Gate is one of the few films were the executives should have meddled! The only instance of the executive's advice being implemented was the length. See, it was originally supposed to be over 5 hours long!!! The lack of executive meddling is the reason why I think so many people have considered a misunderstood classic. It's the director's pure vision. If so, then why hasn't Under The Cherry Moon been subject to critical re-evaluation? That was Prince's pure vision, what's the difference? If the executives interfered, then this film would be shorter, have Americans without thick French accents, no dead animals, and no f*cking roller-skating!!

When I saw this a few months ago, I gave it a D-, after going over it, I relaize now that it deserves a different grade. Grade: F

Next-up: I don't have anything planned, but if any of you have any suggestions, I'd be open.

Originally posted by SchumacherH8ter The film was tailored to star Prince, so it counts as a vehicle.

Sorry, I thought you were talking about HOWARD THE DUCK.

Originally posted by SchumacherH8ter The Tom Jones version actually made a list of worst Rock records, argueing that his baritone is wrong for a lustful song. Here's the link: http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/steveparker/slipped_discs.htm (it's number 29).

That list blows! The lyrics to AMERICAN PIE and MOON SHADOW are supposed to sound ilogical. That's what poetry is about.

SchumacherH8ter: It's good to see your reviews again.