Why did Hollywood studios keep greenlighting his projects?
Everything he touched was such a nightmare for the studios from development hell all the way to the box office.
shareEverything? Sure about that?
shareOf course, -The Deer Hunter...yes everything else he touched was a disaster.
It's hard to believe a film like that carried him along.
It happens a lot. Studios bank on the name, experience, skill and history. Cimino had three of those factors. So it probably seemed like a reasonable choice at the time. Plus, difficult/controversial people doesn't seem to phase executives considering the history of Hollywood.
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot was a disaster? That's news to me. And The Deer hunter was a monster success, and won best picture. An instant classic. So that's two hits.
And if you make a movie like The Deer Hunter you get full controll.
After Heaven's Gate people wanted the "Deer Hunter magic", so he was offered gigs.
Heaven's Gate by the way is a great film, if you watch the Criterion 2012 Technicolor version. Too bad he put that awful serpia tone in the original version.
I understand why he got to do Year of the Dragon. Five years had passed, Mickey Rourke was an attractive star, and it was co-written by academy award winner Oliver Stone. How he got to do The Sicilian, Desperate Hours and Sunchaser is still a mystery to be. He basically bankrupted a studio and was a domineering jerk.
shareIt sounds like The Sicillian was even more troublesome than Heaven's Gate. What a nightmare for the studio. Litigation and all.
And all that money spent for Sunchaser and test audiences hated it so much WB decided not release it.
I saw Desperate Hours about a week ago or so and it's so weird to watch on screen because nothing makes sense in it. Obviously hours of footage were not added to the finale release.
The Sicillian sounded like a bad idea. It is based on a true story of a robin hood like figure, but I read part of the book that was written by Mario Puzo and part of it takes place while Michael Corleone is hiding out in Sicily after killing a rival don and police chief. I heard the movie was forced to remove his character and any mention of any of the character's from The Godfather. Also who thought it would be a good idea to cast Christopher Lambert as an Italian? I mean, I like the guy as Raiden on Connor MacLeod, but this dude does not sound, look, or act like his character should.
I saw Desperate Hours years ago and was very underwhelmed. If you read interview by David Morse, he said that Cimino was a tyrant on set and screamed and belittled people, because he was angry at Rourke, but could not yell at him since he was the star, and he ended up taking if out badly on everyone else around him.
I have never seen Sunchaser and judge from the reviews and synopsis, I really don't want to. Kind of a shame since I have like all of Cimino's film's up to Heaven's Gate and I even admired Year of the Dragon. But I do not feel sorry for the guy because he was so full of himself and based on the last interview I saw, claims that the reason Heaven's Gate failed was because the producers put pressure on him to compromise the film towards the end of shooting. He basically bankrupted the studio, if Cimino was given full rein throughout the entire film United Artists would have to be taking out millions dollar loans on behalf of it.
Yes Christopher Lambert was woefully miscast. That was a disaster of a movie through and through.
Desperate Hours at one good LOOKING scene and it is with David Morse when he dies by suicide by cop. However, the scene is so stupid as if we were suppose to have empathy for the character. Which we probably were suppose to, but like all his films most of it wound up on the editing room floor.
Sunchaser, I have never seen like you said. Reviews and it looks stupid.
It's interesting to see BBC trying to resurrect Heaven's Gate as some sorta classic. It is not.
Just curious. Is there anything to recommend about Heaven's Gate? I know it was trashed on release (although, I did hear that some critics were hoping to destroy the film based an Cimino's attitude and arrogance), but it has been receiving better reception over time. At times I am tempted to watch it, but it is very long and want to know if dedicating the time is worth it.
shareyes, it's a masterpiece. It was also, I might add, rightfully acknowledged as such by most reviewers when Criterion released the restoration in 2012.
shareThe Sicilian even more troublesome than Heaven's Gate? It was nowhere near.
sharePress hoopla? NO.
There are zero books written about the troubled production of The Sicilian.
By 1987...nobody really cared about Cimino outside of gossip columnist and papers like Hollywood Reporter and Variety who used to fantasize him as a legend among filmmakers.
He was never really a Spielberg, Coppola, Lucas or even Friedkin.
But the movie [The Sicilian] found itself, as a legitimate case docket; all the way into the U.S. court system.
About it's only known for....and the casting of Christopher Lambert in the lead role.
How's that audiobook going?
You mean the fight over the final cut of the movie? The fight Cimino lost because he cynically delivered a cut where he edited out all the action so the studio would be forced to release his preferred version that was 150 minutes? Something that backfired because he delivered the 120-minute cut without having watched it first? The result being that he lost his final cut privileges.
I thought that was a fight at SAG not the U.S. court system. Anyway, not such a big deal when you compare it to Heaven's Gate - not only the press hoopla - but everything else involved with that film.
Several movies has been to the "court system", by the way. Welcome to Hollywood.
No, he was never a Spielberg, Coppola etc, but that was because after Heaven's Gate he only made what came along. Doing the best with what was available, as he himself said. He never, ever again could do a passion project like The Deer Hunter or Heaven's Gate.
Who knows, he might have become a Spielberg, Coppola or even a Friedkin. Had he been able to do that.
I finished the audibook about a week ago. It was splendid. You can find it here, friend:
https://www.audible.com/pd/Cimino-Audiobook/B09VQWJKBC?qid=1654983762&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=A9XPTG6GASPAP58R43F9
Great post!
Miss the old school movie buffs like yourself.
This guy used to be a really big deal. Still very much is!
He had weird a cinematic frame, I guess it's sad how his career ended?
But he had a lot of big projects with major studios allowing very big budgets.
Which is kinda my point.
The studios kept giving him money and in return all they got were turkey's and lawsuits.
Likewise to yourself. It's fun talking to somebody who knows film, and there are still some great discussions to be had on these boards.
Yeah, he scored a minor cult hit with Year of the Dragon after Heaven's Gate. And that was it. I think he only made 7 movies in total, which is pretty amazing considering how prolific he could have been had things gone differently.
Looking back though, and I'm guessing you don't agree with this: his first three movies are great. Especially The Deer Hunter and Heaven's Gate (2012 restoration). History will judge him better than he was judged back in 1981.