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Yes, apart from being far to long, I think it's actually a good movie
It was a while ago now and I may have watched it it two parts / sittings
Michael Cimino's reputation for being a dictator, and not so much of a director, didn't probably help Heaven's Gate originally. Destroying sets on a whim, not shooting until a cloud he liked rolled by, countless takes of one second shots, Michael Cimino wanted his movie too perfect. True animal abuse probably didn't help either. Cimino apparently to United Artists that he wanted to release the movie at 4 hours, minimum. He really should have just released it as two movies. I remember a quote that during the intermission, Cimino asked why no one was drinking the champagne. His publicist reportedly said, "because they hate the movie, Michael." So it was arguably the original behind the scenes stories that hurt Heaven's Gate, at first release. I got the Michael Cimino book: Cimino: The Deer Hunter, Heaven’s Gate, and the Price of a Vision by Charles Elton. Maybe this will clear up some details about his part in production. We all know how truthful he was about everything, (sarcasm, he always told conflicting stories about everything in particular himself).
Perhaps it now feels self-indulgent, self-important. The characters seemed uninteresting with unfathomable motives. I dunno.
Perhaps it's that the shocking Russian Roulette games were something apparently never witnessed during the Vietnam war..?
Any opinions on this very welcome!
Have to say, I was never really a fan of it! Just never really enjoyed 'The Deer Hunter' ! Not a classic in my book! I think Oliver Stone's 'Platoon' is better movie!
Oh definitely @Mathis1 i think Platoon is one of the best war films ever made. I only recently purchased the special edition Bluray. The authenticity is there because Oliver Stone actually served in Vietnam!
Thinking it over, The Deer Hunter seems to be a case of 'the emperors new clothes' that 50 minute wedding sequence is seriously self indulgent!
I must admit, after this last viewing, neither have i...
Agreed. It’s not a Platoon or Full Metal Jacket in that sense.
Funnily enough, Full Metal Jacket doesn't really ring my bell anymore either...
I’d say it’s like most of Kubrick’s films in the sense it’s difficult to look away from even if it’s not your thing. I like that film though.
I understand that they were necessary at the time but now I wouldn't watch any.
That's why i like Platoon so much. It's a snapshot of what was happening over there from a director who had first hand experience.
I like Kubrick's work a lot. But i just don't find FMJ particularly interesting. It was a latecomer to the surge of Nam' films released in the mid 80's. So it seemed pretty redundant.
It was a latecomer, probably because Kubrick spent so long planning his films by this point! But I do think it stands out quite noticeably from something like Platoon, Deer Hunter, and Apocalypse Now in terms of feel and what it focuses on.
I like Platoon (although I find it a bit 'dramatic' at times for my tastes).
Have you seen Platoon @FoxRox ?
Have not yet, been on my list forever!
Let us know what you think when you do. I think you'll like it a lot...
Cool, thanks! I actually haven’t seen too many Oliver Stone movies, though his Nixon biopic I saw and liked in particular. Might have to be one of the many director marathons I do down the road. I’ve found it to be the most satisfying way to explore new movies lately.
I always look forward to your director marathon reviews. An Oliver Stone one would be very interesting!
I found the first half of "The Deer Hunter" very boring and too "soapy" for the most part.
Then in the second half I felt that more time needed to be devoted to demonstrating how the characters were changed by the day to day effects of being in combat in an very alien environment, whereas the emphasis in the film was more on showing the after effects.
Ironically, the main impression it left on me was the appalling nature of the Pittsburgh steel mill environment, a hell on earth which I, as a pampered suburban and office dweller, found far more Dante-esque and depressing than the Vietnam depicted.
I think living in a heavy industrial steel town would drive me to Russian roulette...
In contrast, I loved "Platoon", which I thought did a much better job of showing the audience the disorienting effect that the claustrophobic jungle environment and unfamiliar Asian culture had on the soldiers, rather than just the "horror" of war itself, whilst also being a more engaging and entertaining story.
"Apocalypse Now" also does a better job of illustrating the disorienting nature of South East Asia as an environment (as compared to say WW2 Europe), along with the added wildcard ingredient of the influence of 1960s Western counter culture. However AP is just too long for me to enjoy in one sitting and is best appreciated, by me at least, as a 3 part "miniseries" ( I watch the restored 3 hour plus version).
I think the first part of "Full Metal Jacket" is great, the training camp part contains a mesmerising tour-de-force performance from R Lee Ermy, ably supported by a young Vincent d'Onofrio, but the second part fails to match it and comes off a bit flat by comparison.
My recollection of it is that it doesn't feature much in the way of jungle environment, which I think is an essential feature of war in SE Asia. Instead it is mainly set in an urban environment, which is not so different from many other wars. Rectangular shapes and clearer lines of sight that are much more familiar and therefore less inherently disorienting for Western minds to cope with.
"Shut your pie hole!"
My recomendation is "Salvador"