That's oversimplifying things a bit, esp. as YEAR OF THE DRAGON was highly imitated and his DESPERATE HOURS remake would have gone through the box office roof if MGM/UA had waited until after SILENCE OF THE LAMBS to release it, so he was still making decent films and DRAGON was not a low budget film.
Heaven's Gate was pulled from theaters before it was released. Cimino was hated because The Deer Hunter won Oscars over the over celebrated Heaven Can Wait.
I watched the restored full cut of Heaven's Gate. My eyes hurt it was so bad. It was like the exteriors were filmed with nylons over the lens. The story was incomprehensible. As I remember it had two Russians having a spit fight DURING a cock fight. Not really sure why that was filmed but it was. It is just bad.
I started the original 3 hour-plus version of "Heaven's Gate"... didn't bother finishing it. Even today that would-be epic is a text book example on how NOT to make a movie!
Cimino destroyed Cimino, for sure. Epic movies went down for a while too. After the Heaven's Gate fiasco getting a historical movie made by ANY investor group was impossible. The cheesiness of 1980s movies was his real legacy. Not till Mel Gibson broke the jinx with BRAVEHEART 15 years later did historical epics start making a comeback.
Michael Cimino was one of the "Cool Movie" makers along with the likes of Dino DeLarintis(?) and Michael Mann. He more likely destroyed himself because of the 1980s' excess (drugs and perverse lifestyles) like producer Don Simpson (Top Gun fame).
That's oversimplifying things a bit, esp. as YEAR OF THE DRAGON was highly imitated and his DESPERATE HOURS remake would have gone through the box office roof if MGM/UA had waited until after SILENCE OF THE LAMBS to release it, so he was still making decent films and DRAGON was not a low budget film.
0:01 Michael Cimino destroyed Michael Cimino
Heaven's Gate was pulled from theaters before it was released. Cimino was hated because The Deer Hunter won Oscars over the over celebrated Heaven Can Wait.
I watched the restored full cut of Heaven's Gate. My eyes hurt it was so bad. It was like the exteriors were filmed with nylons over the lens. The story was incomprehensible. As I remember it had two Russians having a spit fight DURING a cock fight. Not really sure why that was filmed but it was. It is just bad.
I started the original 3 hour-plus version of "Heaven's Gate"... didn't bother finishing it. Even today that would-be epic is a text book example on how NOT to make a movie!
michael cimino DESTROYED hollywood and DESTROYED himself.
Cimino destroyed Cimino, for sure. Epic movies went down for a while too. After the Heaven's Gate fiasco getting a historical movie made by ANY investor group was impossible. The cheesiness of 1980s movies was his real legacy. Not till Mel Gibson broke the jinx with BRAVEHEART 15 years later did historical epics start making a comeback.
Michael Cimino was one of the "Cool Movie" makers along with the likes of Dino DeLarintis(?) and Michael Mann. He more likely destroyed himself because of the 1980s' excess (drugs and perverse lifestyles) like producer Don Simpson (Top Gun fame).