67
w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m
Much of the failure of Heaven's Gate can probably be at-
tributed to the fact that long before anyone even saw the
film, it had become notorious as an example of overspend-
ing. By the time it made its first appearance, after Cimino
finally cut it down to two and a half hours under the threat
of being fired, people were almost prepared to hate it. The
initial response was so bad that the studio pulled it out of
theaters after only one day. Cimino cut it again, and it was
released for a very short run a few months later, when it
again got scathing reviews.
Over time, it has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance, and for
good reason. European audiences, who tend to appreciate
films that don't fall into a typical narrative form, showed a
particular appreciation for the film in later years, with the
Venice Film Festival awarding Cimino a lifetime achieve-
ment award in 2012.
After watching the two-and-a-half-hour version, which
is a mess, I was able to track down the three-and-a-half-
( 4 0 6 ) 4 4 6 - 3 3 3 3
w w w. r e d l o d g e p i z z a c o . c o m
1 1 5 S . B r o a d w a y Av e , R e d L o d g e , M T
M o n t a n a w h e a t c r u s t
m a d e f r e s h d a i l y
H o u s e - m a d e s a u c e s
a n d f r e s h l y c h o p p e d t o p p i n g s
L o c a l l y s o u r c e d b e e f
f r o m G a l l a g h e r ' s R a n c h
F u l l b a r w i t h e x t e n s i v e
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