Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Heaven's Gate Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 21, 2013

mmNominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" (1980) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Carlotta Films. The supplemental features on this release include a new video introduction by Michael Cimino; new conversation with the American director; new trailer for the recent restoration and reconstruction of the film; new interviews with actors Kris Kristofferson, Isabelle Huppert, Jeff Bridges, and David Mansfield; and restoration demonstration. Also included with this release is the film's entire script, in English, with Michael Cimino's hand-written notes and corrections; a CD with the film's soundtrack; and collector's booklets. In English, with optional French subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Casper, Wyoming

The film opens up with a spectacular graduation ceremony. The year is 1870, the place is Harvard, and the characters followed closely by the camera are young idealists. One of them, Billy Irvine (John Hurt, The Osterman Weekend, Scandal), everyone’s favorite orator, delivers a memorable speech. He praises knowledge and wisdom and then eloquently questions the morality of those who have educated him. James Averill (Kris Kristofferson, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Convoy), one of Billy’s closest friends, looks enormously pleased.

Twenty years later. James, now a man of the law, arrives in Casper, Wyoming. The place is full of European immigrants who have come in search of the American Dream. Most of them look different and barely speak more than a few words of English. They stay in small groups and only occasionally mingle with other immigrants. A few have managed to purchase land outside of the city, but many are poor and waiting to get work, save, and then purchase a piece of land.

The wealthy cattle barons are not pleased with the immigrants that have flooded Casper. Some see in them future competitors, others simply don’t like foreigners. To get things back to normal, the barons have organized themselves and decided to effectively clean up Casper. Their leader, Frank Canton (Sam Waterston, The Great Gatsby, The Killing Fields), and a few of his associates have put together a Death List with the names of 125 immigrants, the overwhelming majority of them men, and hired a gang of mercenaries to kill them. The only member of the Association that does not like what is underway is Billy, but he is rarely sober and no one pays attention to what he has to say.

In Casper’s busiest corner, James meets John Bridges (Jeff Bridges, 8 Million Ways to Die, Blown Away), an old friend who has turned his bar into a gambling saloon. His best customers are immigrants trying to get rich quick who often lose their last savings there, either to him or local scammers. When James reveals to John that he is soon going to lose the majority of his customers, he decides to help him stop the barons.

Soon after, James also meets Nathan Champion (Christopher Walken, King of New York, The Deer Hunter), a fearless immigrant and assassin who has started working for the barons. With the money he is getting paid, Nathan hopes to soon have enough to marry Ella Watson (Isabelle Huppert, La Cérémonie, Going Places), a French beauty running a tiny brothel just outside of Casper and James’ on-again, off-again lover.

Inspired by a true story and one of Hollywood’s most ambitious epics, Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate is a film of startling poetic beauty. There are numerous sequences in it that could easily be compared to some of the greatest sequences from David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago. The emphasis on detail also astonishes - from the costumes to the weapons to the dances and even the unique Slavic expressions the immigrants often utter, everything in the film looks and sounds incredibly authentic.

Those who have spoken against Heaven’s Gate or outright dismissed it as a grandiose failure must have their heads checked. Or admit that they are idiots. Because Heaven’s Gate is easily one of the most straightforward films about the dark side of the American Dream, the one that pro-American films, and especially westerns, rarely, if ever, mention. This isn’t to imply that Heaven’s Gate is a political film, rather to say that it is an honest film that condemns greed and violence, which unfortunately some Americans still worship.

Most of the events in the film are seen through the eyes of Kristofferson’s character, but Cimino never allows the viewer to get too comfortable with him. There are endless other characters that enter the story and then disappear without a trace. This makes the film look rather chaotic at times - but only if one ignores the big picture, which is about the sea of immigrants that are never identified until their names appear on the Death List or the mercenaries begin killing them. Until then they are simply “The Mob”, nameless men and women who have come to Heaven and suddenly discovered that its self-appointed guardians do not want them there.

It is difficult to watch the newly restored director’s cut of Heaven’s Gate and not think about the various events that have rocked America in recent years. The rise of civil disobedience targeting and involving immigrants, the abuse of power by the wealthy, and the desire to justify extremism with patriotism are some of the many serious issues modern America faces. Isn’t it sad to see that they are some of the same issues America struggled with more than a century ago?

Heaven's Gate Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Carlotta Films.

The release uses as a foundation Criterion's new restoration and reconstruction of Heaven's Gate, which was supervised and approved by director Cimino. Unsurprisingly, the presentation is indeed very impressive.

Image depth, clarity and most importantly color reproduction are virtually identical to those observed on the Criterion Blu-ray release. The various close-ups impress with terrific depth, while the larger panoramic shots boast excellent fluidity (see screencaptures #4 and 14). There are no traces of problematic degraining and sharpening corrections. Image stability is also outstanding. Encoding and compression are also as satisfying as they are on the Criterion release. Finally, there are absolutely no damage marks, scratches, debris, cuts, stains, or warps to report in this review. To sum all up, this is indeed a beautiful presentation of Heaven's Gate, and there is no doubt in my mind that fans of the film in Region-B territories will be enormously pleased with it. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Heaven's Gate Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Carlotta Films have provided optional French subtitles for the main feature.

The new lossless audio mix, which was also supervised by Michael Cimino, is also very impressive. Depth, clarity, and especially dynamic intensity are outstanding. The big battle scene in the final third of the film, in particular, sounds terrific. David Mansfield's epic soundtrack also benefits tremendously from the lossless treatment. The music is crisp, well rounded, and always well balanced (there are no sudden spikes or drops in dynamic activity). The dialog is stable, free of background hiss, and very easy to follow.

Heaven's Gate Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Blu-ray Disc One

• Introduction de Michael Cimino - director Michael Cimino introduces the new restoration and reconstruction of Heaven's Gate. Mr. Cimino notes that this version of the film, which was produced by Joann Carelli and Peter Becker (from The Criterion Collection), is the only version that has his "unequivocal approval". Mr. Cimino also notes that it took Mrs. Carelli and Mr. Becker ten years to secure the rights to the film, and that he worked close to a year to complete the restoration of Heaven's Gate. In English, with optional French subtitles. (2 min).

• Bande-annonce 2013 - the new Cannes trailer for the restored version of Heaven's Gate. In English, with optional French subtitles. (2 min).

• Bande-annnonce d'epoque - original vintage United Artists trailer for Heaven's Gate. In English, with optional French subtitles. (2 min).

Blu-ray Disc Two

• Retour au Paradis/Return to Paradise - an absolutely fascinating conversation with Michael Cimino moderated by Michael Henry Wilson. The director discusses American Cinema and the system some of the great American directors were part of years ago, the complex choreographic structure of some of the mass scenes in Heaven's Gate, the music in the film, some popular misconceptions about the film, etc. The conversation was filmed in the summer of 2013, and is presented here courtesy of Allerton Films. In English, with optional French subtitles. (51 min).

• Entretiens/Interviews - presented here are four new interviews with actors Kris Kristofferson, Isabelle Huppert, Jeff Bridges, and David Mansfield.
  
  1. Kris Kristofferson. In English, with optional French subtitles. The interview is also included on the Criterion release. (10 min).
  
  2. Isabelle Huppert. In French, not subtitled. (25 min).
  
  3. Jeff Bridges. In English, with optional French subtitles. (18 min).
  
  4. David Mansfield. In English, with optional French subtitles. The same interview also appears on the Criterion release. (9 min).

• La Restauration - a short restoration demonstration with selected clips and information about the restoration and reconstruction of Heaven's Gate. Music only. The demonstration also appears on the Criterion release. The English text descriptions are offered with optional French subtitles. (3 min).

• Script - Carlotta Films have included the entire script for Heaven's Gate, as a book, in English (135 pages), with Michael Cimino's hand-written notes and corrections. Please take a look at the screencaptures provided with this review to see the script/book.

• Portfolio - this booklet contains production photographs taken near Glacier Park, Montana during the spring, summer, and fall of 1979. All photographs were taken by Susan Geston Bridges, Jeff Bridges' wife. The booket contains opening notes in English and French.

• La Porte du Paradis: A propos du film - 55-page collector's booklet with writings on the film, in French, and archival photographs.

• Booklet - second booklet with archival stills and quotes in English and French.

• Soundtrack - the soundtrack for Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate, placed on a separate CD.
  
  1. Slow Water
  2. Song of '70s
  3. Heaven's Gate Waltz
  4. Snowfall
  5. Blue Danube
  6. Battle Hymn
  7. Ella's Waltz
  8. Sweet Breeze
  9. Mamou Two-Step
  10. Moonlight
  11. Morning Star
  12. Village Dance
  13. The Long Road

Heaven's Gate Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

French label Carlotta Films' Limited Edition Blu-ray release of Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate is a thing of beauty. It is the most elegant Blu- ray release I have seen produced in any region. I think that fans of the film residing in Region-B territories who could not take advantage of Criterion's release will be very pleased once they see what Carlotta Films have done to celebrate and promote the film's recent restoration and reconstruction. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.