10 Criminally Underrated Westerns You Must See Before You Die

5. Heaven's Gate

There are few Westerns as infamous - or in more desperate need of reappraisal - than Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate, once dubbed an "unqualified disaster" upon release.

Heaven's Gate is notorious for a whole host of reasons, including the abuse of animals on set, but most seem to claim that Cimino's film exemplifies the worst of cinematic excess. During its initial run in theatres, Heaven's Gate grossed a dismal $3.5 million at the box office on a budget of $44 million, but there's more to its story than its tragic real-life ending.

By 1980, Cimino was well regarded as one of Hollywood's most promising directors, having recently helmed 1978's Vietnam drama, The Deer Hunter. Heaven's Gate was his next project, an ambitious, epic story based on the Johnson County War of 1889, but the film that released in 1980 wasn't the director's original vision. Today, in the wake of subsequent edits and new cuts, Heaven's Gate is slowly but surely developing a cult following, with Cimino himself having personally presided over a definitive, 'final cut' in 2012.

It's a lengthy watch, but for those able to look past its legacy, Heaven's Gate makes for a uniquely rewarding watch, as one of the most epic stories the genre's ever seen.