Michael Cimino, The Deer Hunter / Heaven's Gate Director, Dead at 77

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by npc145, Jul 2, 2016.

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  1. npc145

    npc145 music junkie Thread Starter

  2. guy incognito

    guy incognito Senior Member

    Location:
    Mee-chigan
  3. Monosterio

    Monosterio Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Florida
    Sorry to hear this. I'm a big fan of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot and The Deer Hunter, and even a lesser film like Year of the Dragon was visually brilliant, IMO.

    RIP, Mr. Cimino.
     
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  4. Having watched the uncut Heaven's Gate back in the day it was clear that Cimino was trying to combine the narrative style he developed with that of someone like Terence Malick. I personally think (and thought at the time) that it caught a lot of unnecessary crap. It meanders but it's still a fascinating movie even if the story gets lost in the Director's Cut.

    He went from terse, direct films like Thinderbolt and Lightfoot that to epics like The Deer Hunter in a fast development.

    A talented, egotistic, bombastic but fascinating director. I would have watched him direct a car wreck he was visually that talented.
     
  5. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Sad news. Great director. I love The Deer Hunter and Year of the Dragon. RIP.
     
  6. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I blame Heaven Gate on one of the worst actors of all time: Kris Kristofferson. They guy worked with DeNiro, Streep, and Walken and his next casting choice is Kristofferson? He must have been high.
     
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  7. Rocker

    Rocker Senior Member

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    I know I'm in the minority, but I really enjoyed Heaven's Gate.
    And of course The Deer Hunter is a stone-cold classic.

    RIP. :(
     
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  8. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Help me make it through this film. :)
     
  9. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

  10. jwoverho

    jwoverho Licensed Drug Dealer

    Location:
    Mobile, AL USA
    Year of the Dragon is worthy of reappraisal. Mickey Rourke was terrific.
     
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  11. PNeski@aol.com

    [email protected] Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    he did films before Gate
     
  12. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    That's what I meant. Deerhunter and then Gate? Walken in Kristopherson's role!
     
  13. Kubricker

    Kubricker Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Sad news. Wish they'd included this on the Criterion Bluray:

     
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  14. jojopuppyfish

    jojopuppyfish Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    Heaven's gate is awful
    The Dear Hunter is one of the great films of all time.
    Unfortunately, he never bounced back from Heaven's gate.
    OTOH Steven Bach's book Final Cut is well worth reading
     
  15. I wouldn't disagree that Final Cut is a terrific read but I disagree that Heaven's Gate is awful. Messy, unformed but quote an ambitious vision. Heaven's Gate was a film that got away from him.
     
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  16. jojopuppyfish

    jojopuppyfish Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    My favorite part of Bach's book isn't even about Cimino.
    I love the first chapter on the beginning of United Artists. And I love how Krim and Benjamin took over. Some of the greatest films in cinema history came out of UA.
     
  17. JohnG

    JohnG PROG now in Dolby ATMOS!

    Location:
    Long Island NY
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  18. JohnG

    JohnG PROG now in Dolby ATMOS!

    Location:
    Long Island NY
  19. tommy-thewho

    tommy-thewho Senior Member

    Location:
    detroit, mi
    Loved Deerhunter and Year.

    RIP Michael.

    Need to see Thunderbolt.
     
  20. Alert

    Alert Forum Resident

    Location:
    Great River, NY
    "The Deer Hunter" is a one-of-a-kind film that packs as much of an emotional wallop as any movie I've ever seen.

    The wedding and hunting scenes last approximately an hour before the movie reaches the pivotal sequence in the Vietnamese POW camp. This gives the audience a familiarity with the characters that makes the dramatic events much more powerful. I can't recall any war movie that featured combat scenes where the viewers knew so much about the background of the soldiers (friends, workplace, family, hometown etc).

    Whatever can be said about Cimino's overall movie output -- he made one brilliant, bona-fide classic.
     
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  21. Kubricker

    Kubricker Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…

    Location:
    Atlanta
    So I guess it's quite likely that John Williams will be playing the theme from The Deer Hunter at next years Oscars' In Memoriam....Or maybe they'll just get Dave Grohl again.
     
  22. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Cimino was only 77, but his hair was only about 7...

    [​IMG]

    Strange, strange-looking man.
     
  23. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Another plastic surgery victim, sadly.
     
  24. budwhite

    budwhite Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.

    Location:
    Götaland, Sverige
    Heavens gate - long version by Criterion is a very strong film. I never saw the theatrical cut so I can't compare.
     
  25. Fastnbulbous

    Fastnbulbous Doubleplus Ungood

    Location:
    Washington DC USA
    HG isn't as bad as its reputation would suggest, but even the short version is a bloated mess (you couldn't pay me enough to watch the 5-hour cut) and Cimino's dictatorial style and obsessiveness over trivial details doomed the project.
     
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