Heaven's Gate

Heaven’s Gate (1980)

Barbed wire and women are the two greatest civilising agents in the world.

Heaven’s Gate is written and directed by Michael Cimino and stars Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Isabelle Huppert, Jeff Bridges, John Hurt and Sam Waterston. Music is by David Mansfield and...

Cimino’s epic Western about the Johnson County War, unjustly lambasted by critics

With the government’s blessing, cattle barons in Wyoming circa 1890 hire an army of mercenaries to kill claimed rustlers who, in many cases, are innocent settlers. A marshal born into wealth (Kris Kristofferso...

Has any film undergone the level of critical turnaround afforded HEAVEN'S GATE (1980) since its initial banishment and failure? Nearly four decades removed from the vitriol and scorn heaped upon, not only the film, but the hubris of its director and the perceived wastefulness of an out-of-control pr...

"Averill" (Kris Kristofferson) is from wealthy stock, a Harvard graduate, and a decent man who takes up a job as a sheriff in rural Wyoming. Most of the town's population have fled persecution and poverty in Europe, and want to start afresh with their families. They are not afraid of hard work, but ...