Heaven's Gate
United Artists | Release Date: November 19, 1980 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
3
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
EmpireIan Freer
In depicting the Johnson County War of 1892 (immigrants versus cattle barons), Michael Cimino delivers soaring ambition and scale, but always syringed with a deep sense of regret. Read full review
100
Time OutTom Huddleston
A grippingly violent parable, a touching, tragic romance and – thanks to legendary cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and an unprecedented attention to historical detail – quite simply one of the most beautiful, immersive films ever made. Read full review
100
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
It's a film of rare beauty and scope, a feast for the eyes and a harrowing, unflinching meditation on the cruelty of capitalism. It rivals William Friedkin's Sorceror in its bone-deep cynicism and eviscerating take on the free market's coal-black heart of darkness. Read full review
100
Film ThreatPhil Hall
Cimino fashioned a deep, multi-textured screenplay rich with fully dimensional characters. His ensemble cast brought the story to vivid life. Kristofferson gave a career peak performance here as a man who seems perpetually out of his element. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
It is a demanding film, without a doubt – but a passionate one. Read full review
80
Total FilmPhilip Kemp
A grandiose Western based on the Johnson County War of 1892, when cattle barons brought in mercenaries to massacre immigrant settlers, it suffers badly from narrative incoherence. But there’s a grand romantic sweep to the action (enacted by a solid cast including Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken and Isabelle Huppert), the set-pieces are majestic and its disenchanted view of the American frontier myth still rings ominously true. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineJoseph Jon Lanthier
To his credit, Cimino renders us helpless not before carnage or greed, but before his epic’s breadth of motivation and circumstance. It’s not the past’s ugliness that terrifies us in Heaven’s Gate, but its far more intimidating immensity. Read full review
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