10 Times Film-Makers Ruined Their Own Damn Movies

Heaven’s Gate might’ve been reassessed as a masterpiece by some, but for those not so prone to retrospective glorification the Western remains the over-bloated vanity project it was back in 1980.

Hot on the coattails of The Deer Hunter and presumably buoyed by everyone hailing him as a genius, one-time wunderkind Cimino looked set to repeat his success armed with an engaging story inspired by an interesting part of American history, a generous budget and almost total creative control over the project.

But by the time Heaven’s Gate was finally finished, Cimino had ruined not only the movie but also practically bankrupted its studio United Artists while effectively putting an end to both his own career.

Cimino’s obsessive devotion to detail – which included six weeks roller skating training for his actors, handpicking extras for each scene, insisting on a ridiculous number of takes for certain shots and, at one point, demanding cast and crew wait until the perfect cloud rolled into take – meant the production was massively delayed and over budget.

Cimino ended up amassing almost 220 hours of footage, which was eventually edited down to three hours and 39 minutes for the theatrical cut (a mere wisp compared to Cimino’s five-and-a-half-hour-long work print), but still proved overlong for many.

In the process of favouring detail above all else, Cimino forgot to craft a film with compelling characters and plot which is kind of what makes a film worth watching. With a little more self-restraint, Heaven’s Gate could’ve been amazing but instead Cimino took his ego and ran with it, ruining both the film and his career in the process.