# heaven's gate **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928 "2009-09-05T01:11:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/1 "2009-09-05T01:11:21Z")
Good evening friends, I am watching this for the first time this evening. I admit that I am also drinking a really nice Bordeaux and this could be contributory, but does this movie ever make any sense? ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/2 "2009-09-05T01:24:30Z")
Roller skating cowboys??? WTF!? ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/3 "2009-09-05T01:35:15Z")
So, the roller skating rink is named Heaven’s Gate. I guess drinking wine while watching this interferes with understanding the story line? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/4 "2009-09-05T01:56:54Z")
Heaven’s Gate cost $40 million to produce and brought in less than $3.5 million. It was panned by critics, pretty much destroyed the career of director Michael Cimino and caused Transamerica (owner of United Artists) to get out of the movie business. On top of that, the movie was condemned by the American Humane Association, which had been monitoring the treatment of animals in film since the 1940’s. You’ll need more wine, not less. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/5 "2009-09-05T02:14:26Z")
I tried to watch it, once. And did not succeed. I was curious; and had heard a lot about it. “The Deer Hunter” was very good, and moved me greatly. Other bad movies… I also tried to watch “Ishtar”. And did not finish that one, either. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/6 "2009-09-05T03:58:41Z")
It’s a range war movie pitting the poor immigrants against the big ranchers. Beautifully filmed, but slowly paced. The colors tended to be washed. The movie took wild liberties with the factual history when it made no sense to do so as the true facts were just as outrageous. The sepia toned roller skating scene was the highlight. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/7 "2009-09-05T04:14:56Z")
I liked it. But not the roller skating or the Harvard ball. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/8 "2009-09-05T06:24:14Z")
Is this the one that inspired the song “You Can’t Roller Skate Through a Buffalo Herd”? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/9 "2009-09-05T19:25:40Z")
I watched it, but I fast forwarded those slow parts that are just drawn out for no reason. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/10 "2009-09-05T20:01:33Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > . . . destroyed the career of director Michael Cimino . . . You say that like it’s a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/11 "2009-09-05T20:07:23Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > I watched it, but I fast forwarded those slow parts that are just drawn out for no reason. So, 90% of the movie, eh? And it still took you over an hour… 😛 I’ve seen the much-heralded, epic-length Director’s cut on the big screen and with an open mind and heart (since there are some high-profile defenders of this version). And it is truly, honestly difficult to think of a more self-important movie, drunk on its own ponderousness, bathing in huge swaths of meaningless visual splendour, and without a single relatable, likable, or interesting human being (though Brad Dourif’s character comes closest, largely because his acting isn’t bad, unlike most of his costars). Over the Top had a new bar set for itself with this film, which isn’t bad-bad so much as wholly inconsequential and completely clueless to its own irrelevancy. A titanic waste all around. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/12 "2009-09-05T20:09:37Z")
But you get to see Isabelle Huppert nekkid! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/13 "2009-09-06T10:56:15Z")
I haven’t seen it (yet, anyway). Though I _have_ had the pleasure of catching the documentary about it—[Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven’s Gate](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdcRiPLp4oU&feature=PlayList&p=CD053EC71B857D1D&index=0). Really fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavens-gate/508928/14 "2009-09-06T13:22:47Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > I haven’t seen it (yet, anyway). Though I _have_ had the pleasure of catching the documentary about it—[Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven’s Gate](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdcRiPLp4oU&feature=PlayList&p=CD053EC71B857D1D&index=0). Based on the book by executive Stephen Bach and one of the best tomes about behind-the-scenes Hollywood ever written. A fantastic read.