Really liked Deer Hunter and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Unfortunately for him, he’ll be best known for directing a movie (Heaven’s Gate) that led to the death of both a major studio (United Artists) and the “New Hollywood” era of the late 60s and 70s.
but way more people saw the Deer Hunter than Heaven’s gate so most people think of Deer Hunter first.
So, will the funeral be long, pointless, and overbudget?
some critics say the shorter version of Heaven’s 's Gate was good but due to all the problems very few people have seen it.
I also said this in another RIP Cimino threat at another web site. I highly recommend former UA executive Steven Bach’s “Final Cut” which provides an in-person perspective of the production of Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate and the New Hollywood era. Also, in my unprofessional medical opinion, I would not be surprised if Cimino suffered from OCD.
I liked Heaven’s Gate.
I haven’t seen much of his work, but *The Sicilian *is an amazing movie.
That’s long been my impression, too. That or the similar OCPD.
I was reading recently about Cimino’s decision not to direct “The Pope of Greenwich Village”. He came to the meeting with notes all over the script in tiny handwriting. It took six hours(!) for him to go through the notes and explain why he’d turn down the job. The author noted “he was the ultimate perfectionist. There was not a single detail he hadn’t worried to death.”
He would have made a great director of photography.
I bought The Deer Hunter on DVD a few years ago. Haven’t gotten around to watching it. Guess I need to.
I read some reviews of the movie. All positive, but they keep mentioning the “Russian Roulette scene.” We often watch movies with our teenage children, so I have a question: is this movie appropriate for teenagers, IYO?
(And sorry for the hijack.)
It is pretty intense in places, yes. More so than a Tarantino film, since there’s no intended comedic element.
“Streets of gold are nice, but too narrow. The buildings on both sides need to be torn down and rebuilt three feet further back.”
“No, you can’t just move one side six feet. That would spoil the esthetic.”
Most teenagers have seen far gorier movies than this. I guess most people find the Russian Roulette intense. But I found that the gigantic plot hole concerning the whole scenario so distracting that it ruined the whole movie for me.
Watch the scene yourself and make up your own mind:
Loved The Deer Hunter. It was filmed here in Thailand. The POW Russian-roulette scenes were filmed in Kanchanaburi, on the Burmese border and near the legendary Bridge on the River Kwai. Bangkok starred as Saigon. In the sport Russian-roulette scenes at the end, the referee or whatever he is was a renowned old Thai actor. That’s actually Thai he’s speaking, not Vietnamese.
The bar scene was shot in the Patpong red-light area, and the bar was the Mississippi Queen. I think you can even see the bar name in the window. The girl who went upstairs in the bar was not an actress but an actual bargirl/prostitute who worked right there in that bar. And that was the Mississippi Queen De Niro was in front of in a later outdoor nighttime scene. There’s a nice overview of the place here. The owner of the bar is on record somewhere as saying De Niro was very nice in person. Said Cimino was very demanding but paid well and in cash for the three nights of shooting.
The Mississippi Queen turned into Goldfinger Bar in the 1980s and then for about 25 years was managed by an ex-US Marine named Randy. A really nice guy, and there was a cadre of loyal followers. I meticulously avoided becoming a regular, it would have been just too easy to go drink the night away every single night with those guys, but I did spend some eventful evenings there. Then Randy left a year or two ago to manage a cigar bar somewhere, and the place went rapidly downhill, finally closing a couple of months ago. Meanwhile, the Mississippi Queen’s sister bar, the Tahitian Queen, is alive and well in Pattaya, that Sin City over on our Eastern Seaboard.
RIP, Michael. 
EDIT: I think the Russian-roulette scenes are okay for teens. They see much gorier today. I feel the tension and anticipation to be more gut-wrenching.
The usual argument amongst the critics who defend the film is that United Artists cutting it into the short version for release is what wrecked it. They consequently argue that it’s people who subsequently got to see Cimino’s longer version who prompted its re-evaluation. That said, it’s surely only a tiny minority of those who’ve seen the film who have seen it in the short version. The long versions have been readily available for decades and that’s almost invariably what’s been sold or programmed since the early Eighties.
Personally? Having sat through the long version a couple of times, once on the big screen, there’s some good stuff in there, but it fully lives up to its original reputation as a dud.
Another shout out for Bach’s Final Cut.
Aside from the early successes, I must also confess to remembering quite liking Year of the Dragon when it came out. Might have to re-visit it to see if it stands up.