Legendary Disaster
Heaven's Gate (1980)
Inducted 2017
Last year's legendary disaster almost brought down its studio. This year's inductee actually accomplished the feat. When United Artists handed Michael Cimino the approval to make Heaven's Gate, it had visions of another Deer Hunter on its mind. The modestly budgeted Deer Hunter had turned a huge profit. This hot new director would certainly turn in another success, right?
It should have been obvious from the beginning that this would be a bad idea. Mr. Cimino chose to film in a distant location, far away from the scrutiny of UA's bean counters. The director switched from acting like an indie Hollywood outsider to a budget busting director whose bloated production quickly spiraled out of control. At the time, United Artists was a division of Transamerica, the insurance company. The executives at Transamerica were getting antsy over their ongoing Hollywood adventure and they were looking for a reason to divest themselves of a business they hadn't successfully cracked. Michael Cimino would give them an excellent excuse.
Heaven's Gate was supposed to be an epic look at the taming of the west. Instead, it was a five hour snooze fest. Cimino proved incapable of editing his vision down to a coherent story. No expense was spared in bringing his vision to the screen, regardless of the cost or ridiculousness. A street set built to Cimino's specifications was dismantled and rebuilt because it didn't "look right". Trees and scenery were removed and replanted at great expense. Even worse, the animals used in the production were subject to terrible abuse. Horses were tripped and killed. A cockfighting scene featured real life cockfighting. Animal rights activists protested at theaters exhibiting the film and the controversy caused the industry to allow humane society oversight.
The film couldn't overcome its length and faults. After spending $45 Million, United Artists would only get back $3.5 Million. Transamerica would sell United Artists to MGM, effectively ending the studio's autonomy. Michael Cimino would become a laughingstock, never to be trusted with a film again. In many respects, the fallout from this debacle would be much worse than that of last year's dishonoree.
