History Creator / MichaelCiminoDirector

** Also, there's a lot of very intense debate about the kind of POW conditions depicted in ''Film/TheDeerHunter'', and there aren't any confirmed cases of Russian Roulette being played in that context. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement And we'll leave it at that]].

* OscarBait: ''Film/TheDeerHunter'' was the TropeMaker. The producers, realizing that a [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy dark and psychological three-hour examination of the horrors of the Vietnam War]] probably wouldn't do that well in a year dominated by comparatively fun blockbusters like ''Film/{{Grease}}'' and ''Film/{{Superman}}'', released it in select Los Angeles and New York theatres in late 1978. Once it was nominated for several [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscars]], winning five (including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor for Creator/ChristopherWalken), they capitalized on the Oscar buzz by expanding it to a wide release, and it became the 9th highest-grossing movie of 1978.

After a successful run as a director of television commercials, he moved into feature film in the early 1970s. He began as a co-writer for the films ''Film/SilentRunning'' and ''Film/MagnumForce''. He then made his debut as a director with ''Film/ThunderboltAndLightfoot'', which he had also written the script for. He then directed ''Film/TheDeerHunter'', an epic and gritty film about three American steelworkers who participate in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Despite some [[TroubledProduction delays and cost overruns]], the film was a critical and commercial success. ''The Deer Hunter'' earned five Academy Awards and Cimino gained a reputation for being one of the up-and-coming directors in Hollywood. Cimino was ambitious and the embodiment of ThePerfectionist. His style favored making an EpicMovie with leisurely pacing and an emphasis on the visuals.

But Cimino's career fell even quicker than it rose. His next film, ''Film/HeavensGate'', was fraught with troubled production on a far greater scale. The press picked up stories of Cimino's hyper-perfectionist directing style. Allegedly, he delayed filming on one day until a cloud formation he liked matched what he wanted, ordered the buildings on each side of the set of the town's main street to be torn down and rebuilt three feet back from where they were because the street looked too narrow, even after one crew member pointed out that it would be easier and cheaper to just tear one side down and rebuild it six feet back, and took 36 takes of Creator/ChristopherWalken taking off his hat. After a messy release, the film was a critical and commercial flop. It was a CreatorKiller for both Cimino and Creator/UnitedArtists and a GenreKiller for both TheWestern (at least, for its classic era) and particularly the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era. Never again would studios give directors so much control over the filming process.

Michael Cimino (February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He was best known for directing, producing and co-writing the 1978 UsefulNotes/AcademyAward-winning film ''Film/TheDeerHunter'', and for following it by writing and directing the financial failure ''Film/HeavensGate''.

[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_cimino.jpg]]

-->--From a 2015 interview with ''The Hollywood Reporter''

But Cimino's career fell even quicker than it rose. His next film ''Film/HeavensGate'' was fraught with troubled production on a far greater scale. The press picked up stories of Cimino's hyper-perfectionist directing style. Allegedly, he delayed filming on one day until a cloud formation he liked matched what he wanted, ordered the buildings on each side of the set of the town's main street to be torn down and rebuilt three feet back from where they were because the street looked too narrow, even after one crew member pointed out that it would be easier and cheaper to just tear one side down and rebuild it six feet back, and took 36 takes of Creator/ChristopherWalken taking off his hat. After a messy release, the film was a critical and commercial flop. It was a CreatorKiller for both Cimino and Creator/UnitedArtists and a GenreKiller for both TheWestern (at least, for its classic era) and particularly the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era. Never again would studios give directors so much control over the filming process.

* BoxOfficeBomb: ''Film/HeavensGate'' is the TropeCodifier, one of the biggest bombs in history, which, combined with Creator/FrancisFordCoppola's ''One from the Heart'' and widespread backlash against the indulgences of directors of the time, helped kill Creator/UnitedArtists as a studio and ''[[NiceJobBreakingItHero the entire New Hollywood movement]]''

** 2. The premier cut, screened in an extremely limited release for a single week before being pulled by the studio in response to scathing critical reviews. It ran for 219 minutes, and was later aired on the Z Channel, before receiving a home video release courtesy of [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]] as [[LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition ''The Legendary Uncut Version'']]. This is also the version most of the critics reviewed - but not the one most audiences saw...
** 3. The wide-release cut, a drastically shortened 149-minute version which [[ExecutiveMeddling the studio demanded after the disastrous premier]], released in April 1981. This version has received a home media release.

* ReCut: There are [[UpToEleven ''five'']] different versions of ''Film/HeavensGate'':

* AllStarCast/EnsembleCast: ''Film/HeavensGate'', which features Kris Kristofferson, Creator/ChristopherWalken, Creator/JohnHurt, Sam Waterson, Isabella Huppert, Creator/BradDourif, Creator/JeffBridges, Creator/MickeyRourke and Creator/WillemDafoe, among others.

* UsefulNotes/NewHollywood: Cimino belonged to this generation of [[UsefulNoteThe s/TheAuteurTheory auteur]] directors. In fact, his film ''Film/HeavensGate'', and its major critical and commercial failure, is widely (and not unfairly) credited as a major driving force behind the [[EndOfAnAge end of the New Hollywood Era]].

* UsefulNotes/NewHollywood: Cimino belonged to this generation of [[UsefulNotes/TheAuteurTheory auteur]] directors. In fact, his film ''Film/HeavensGate'', and its major critical and commercial failure, is widely (and not unfairly) credited as a major driving force behind the [[EndOfAnAge end of the New Hollywood Era]].

* CreatorKiller: ''Film/HeavensGate'' was this for Cimino - after its massive critical and commercial failure, Cimino was never again given the same kind of creative control or budgets. Most of his films since have been critically and commercially ignored.

* ProtectionFromEditors: Cimino got it for ''Film/HeavensGate'', and, with complete creative control and no contractual accountability for cost overruns and missed deadlines, the ensuing fallout led to an effective end to the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood generation.
* StarMakingRole: ''Film/ThunderboltAndLightfoot'' was this for Cimino as a writer-director, giving him the clout he needed to make his passion projects ''Film/TheDeerHunter'' and ''Film/HeavensGate''

* VindicatedByHistory: ''Film/HeavensGate'', or at least the various 216-to-219 minute cuts of the film, have started to develop this reputation in recent years, with some critics hailing it as a lost masterpiece.

* VindicatedByHistory: ''Film/HeavensGate'', or at least the various 216-to-219 minute cuts of the film, have started to develop this reputation in recent years, with some critics hailing it as a lost masterpiece.

* CreatorKiller: ''Film/HeavensGate'' was this for Cimino - after its massive critical and commercial failure, Cimino was never again given control of the same sorts of budgets or creative control. Most of his films since have been critically and commercially ignored.

* TheMentor: He viewed Creator/ClintEastwood as this, crediting Eastwood with giving his career the jump start it needed with ''Film/ThunderboltAndLightfoot'', which gave him the cloud he needed to pursue his passion projects. It's notable that Eastwood never did more than than three takes of a seen unless he felt like it was necessary, and notorious [[ThePerfectionist perfectionist]] and [[ControlFreak control freak]] Cimino [[WagTheDirector deferred to him]].

* ''Film/{{Sunchaser}}'' (1996) - director, producer

* ''Film/ThunderboltAndLightfoot'' (1974)
* ''Film/TheDeerHunter'' (1978)
* ''Film/HeavensGate'' (1980)
* ''Film/{{Year of the Dragon}}'' (1985)
* ''Film/TheSicilian'' (1987)
* ''Film/DesperateHours'' (1990)
* ''Film/{{Sunchaser}}'' (1996)

In the early 1970s he began his career in film as a co-writer for the films ''Film/SilentRunning'' and ''Film/MagnumForce''. He then made his debut as a director with ''Film/ThunderboltAndLightfoot'', which he had also written the script for. He then directed ''Film/TheDeerHunter'', an epic and gritty film about three American steelworkers who participate in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Despite some [[TroubledProduction delays and cost overruns]], the film was a critical and commercial success. ''The Deer Hunter'' earned five Academy Awards and Cimino gained a reputation for being one of the up-and-coming directors in Hollywood. Cimino was ambitious and the embodiment of ThePerfectionist. His style favored making an EpicMovie with leisurely pacing and an emphasis on the visuals.

But Cimino's career fell even quicker than it rose. His next film ''Film/HeavensGate'' was fraught with troubled production on a far greater scale. The press picked up stories of Cimino's hyper-perfectionist directing style. Allegedly, he delayed filming on one day until the cloud formation matched what he wanted and took 36 takes of Creator/ChristopherWalken taking off his hat. After a messy release, the film was a critical and commercial flop. It was a CreatorKiller for both Cimino and Creator/UnitedArtists and a GenreKiller for both TheWestern (at least, for its classic era) and particularly the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era. Never again would studios give directors so much control over the filming process.

-->--'''From a 2015 interview with ''The Hollywood Reporter'''''

->“Your favorite film is always the film you haven’t made yet.”
-->--From a 2015 interview with the Hollywood Reporter

Michael Cimino (February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He was best known for directing, producing and co-writing the 1978 UsefulNotes/AcademyAward-winning film ''Film/TheDeerHunter'' and for following it by writing and directing financial failure ''Film/HeavensGate''.

In the early 1970s he began his career in film as a co-writer for the films ''Film/SilentRunning'' and ''Film/MagnumForce''. He then made his debut as a director with ''Film/ThunderboltAndLightfoot'', which he had also written the script for. He then directed ''Film/TheDeerHunter'', an epic and gritty film about three American steelworkers who participate in the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar. Despite some [[TroubledProduction delays and cost overruns]], the film was a critical and commercial success. ''The Deer Hunter'' earned five Academy Awards and Cimino gained a reputation for being one of the up-and-coming directors in Hollywood. Cimino was ambitious and the embodiment of ThePerfectionist. His style favored making an EpicMovie with leisurely pacing and an emphasis on the visuals.

But Cimino's career fell even quicker than it rose. His next film ''Film/HeavensGate'' was fraught with troubled production on a far greater scale. The press picked up stories of Cimino's hyper-perfectionist directing style. Allegedly, he delayed filming on one day until the cloud formation matched what he wanted and took 36 takes of Creator/ChristopherWalken taking off his hat. After a messy release, the film was a critical and commercial flop. It was a CreatorKiller for both Cimino and Creator/UnitedArtists and a GenreKiller for both TheWestern (at least, for its classic era) and particularly the NewHollywood era. Never again would studios give directors so much control over the filming process.

In the early 1970s he began his career in film as a co-writer for the films ''Film/SilentRunning'' and ''Film/MagnumForce''. He then made his debut as a director with ''Film/ThunderboltAndLightfoot'', which he had also written the script for. He then directed ''Film/TheDeerHunter'', an epic and gritty film about three American steelworkers who participate in the ''UsefulNotes/VietnamWar''. Despite some [[TroubledProduction delays and cost overruns]], the film was a critical and commercial success. ''The Deer Hunter'' earned five Academy Awards and Cimino gained a reputation for being one of the up-and-coming directors in Hollywood. Cimino was ambitious and the embodiment of ThePerfectionist. His style favored making an EpicMovie with leisurely pacing and an emphasis on the visuals.

In the next 16 years, Cimino directed four further films, but his career was punch drunk from ''Heaven's Gate''. He was also hired to direct ''Film/Footloose'' but was fired after four months. He was keen to make the film more epic in scope, but the producers feared a repeat of ''Heaven's Gate''. He had many unrealised ambitions, including interest in adapting ''Literature/CrimeAndPunishment'' and ''Literature/TheFountainhead''. In later years, ''Heaven's Gate'' underwent a partial rehabilitation among critics. In 2012, Cimino attended the premiere of a well-received new edit at the Venice Film Festival.