Will there ever be a remaster/special edition of "Heaven's Gate"? (1 Viewer)

[Elijah Sullivan]

I'm watching the current DVD right now and cringing. The video is borderline unwatchable (looks like Last Emperor and with more EE) and the audio is paper-thin. And there's a serious framing issue... I can actually see part of the audio track on the side of the screen in some shots! The first shot after the intermission is also out of focus, for crying out loud. I've never seen such a ridiculous transfer in my life.

Any word on a remaster? It also deserves a special edition, in my opinion... a solid movie with a lot of history and talent involved. I could see a two-disc set with the video split over two discs at intermission, plus a commentary and at least a featurette on the production history. I'd be loving that.

Pretty-pretty-please, MGM!

 

[James David Walley]

Likewise...I'd love to hear a Michael Cimino commentary track. Considering how thoroughly (and unjustifiably, IMHO) villified he was after the film's disastrous premiere, it would be nice to hear his side of the story.

And it really was a very fine film, the critical reaction at the time nonwithstanding...

 

[Charles Ellis]

Given its unique position in Hollywood history (the film that sank the legendary United Artists- the "studio" calling itself UA today is a joke, like MGM), it deserves a deluxe treatment with all found footage, interviews with all involved, and more extras that you can put on a DVD set. This may help the film's reputation. I recently re-watched Fox's Cleopatra, and the film itself isn't bad. My only gripe with the current Cleo DVD is that the 2-hour documentary Cleopatra- The Epic That Changed Hollywood has no chapter stops WHATSOEVER!!!!!

 

[oscar_merkx]

I thoroughly enjoyed his commentary track on UK's R2 The Deerhunter.

I would be very interested in this

 

[James Luckard]

I remember reading about a documentary on the filming a year or so ago. Looking at imdb, it seems to be "Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven's Gate." That ought to be a perfect companion to the film, though I confess I haven't seen either one.

 

[Vincent_P]

That documentary played at the Film Forum in NYC about a year or two ago, coupled with a "restored" print of HEAVEN'S GATE, but that's the last I've heard of it.

Vincent

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

I have read that a SE of this amazing film was planned by late last year, but was put on hold. Cimino was invloved, apparently and was not happy when the project halted. Hopefully, we will still see it.

Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven's Gate was made by Michael Epstein, who was responsible for the documentaries, Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood and The Battle Over Citizen Kane. Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven's Gate runs 78 minutes, so the 219-minute cut plus the documentary would fit on 2 DVD-9s. Where exatly in the film is the intermission? It isn't half-way through, is it?

 

[David (C)]

DVD
LD

Elijah I am not sure how much interest these two links about the MGM transfer will help.