Rating: 
Summary: Lack of Complete Perspective Mars Story
Review: "Heaven's Gate" is a film that cannot be rented at your local Blockbuster, at least not at mine. I've tried. However, I once caught a glimpse of what I presumed to be the film one afternoon while channel-surfing in search of a golf championship. I watched an effusive Kris Kristofferson burst into a mountain shack, seeking the embrace of an unfamiliar but radiant actress whom I now know to be Isabelle Huppert. I didn't linger to watch the rest of the film, but wish I had; such is the power of this film's infamy. That glimpse I saw made me curious; it told be very little about why this film had been such a magnificent failure. With no immediate means of seeing the whole film, I searched out Steven Bach's book on the making of the film. Ambitious and costly fiascos produced by committees generally have complex reasons for failure and many areas to assign blame, so I expected a compelling portrait of a corporate structure with many and varied weaknesses. Instead, the story is a relatively simple one, one that could have been told in many fewer pages than this book. Perhaps even a pamphlet would suffice. A troika of production executives at United Artists, in the wake of the departure of a legendary and trusted power structure disenchanted with the indifferent corporate ownership, searches for properties that will retain the credibility of the organization in Hollywood. They seize upon the nearest cinematic prize at hand, director Michael Cimino, newly awarded the 1979 Oscar for Best Picture. What they are strangely unprepared for is the arrogance of Cimino, who muscles a contract chock-full of loopholes past the executives, then proceeds to go on an unchecked spending spree on location in Montana, shooting hours and hours of takes and running up massive overtime expenditures for cast and crew. Seeking periodically to curb the spending, the hapless executives seem at a loss as to how to handle the stonewalling and sullen Cimino, and grimly resolve to ride out the ordeal to the bitter end, hoping beyond hope that the film will somehow succeed. The story is not a dynamic one; the only real participants in the conflict seem to be the executives and Cimino, and the results seem pretty one-sided. Bach tries to enliven the story, both with an exhaustive history of United Artists at the beginning of the book, and with somewhat distracting anecdotes involving other films he is involved with at the time "Gate" is bleeding the budget dry. Perhaps it is to show us how badly he needed such distractions at the time. The big mystery of the book is the goings-on on the set, none of which is given in any detail. It is mentioned that Cimino (understandably) would have nothing to do with this book; perhaps another source on the set should have been consulted for this writing. Without any account whatsoever of the actual making of the film, its unchecked growth seems a monolithic constant, failing to add needed interest to the story. Of some interest is Bach's account of his first screening of the five and one-half hour version of the film, in which he at last gives the reader some idea of the film's poor quality: it's unchecked excess of visual spectacle. Bach gives a brief but compelling picture of the dawning horror he experiences when the film begins to numb his senses, and his posterior. Bach notably fails to examine his own role in the failure of the film: though he acknowledges that role ( and reaps the consequences) , one gets no sense of inner conflict in his dealings with Cimino. One is left to assume that Cimino simply intimidates him. Ultimately the fascination of the "Heaven's Gate" fiasco remains intriguing, ( and the film itself elusive ), but with this particular account, the true story must be read between the lines.
Rating:
Summary: Lack of Complete Perspective Mars Story
Review: "Heaven's Gate" is a film that cannot be rented at your local Blockbuster, at least not at mine. I've tried. However, I once caught a glimpse of what I presumed to be the film one afternoon while channel-surfing in search of a golf championship. I watched an effusive Kris Kristofferson burst into a mountain shack, seeking the embrace of an unfamiliar but radiant actress whom I now know to be Isabelle Huppert. I didn't linger to watch the rest of the film, but wish I had; such is the power of this film's infamy. That glimpse I saw made me curious; it told be very little about why this film had been such a magnificent failure. With no immediate means of seeing the whole film, I searched out Steven Bach's book on the making of the film. Ambitious and costly fiascos produced by committees generally have complex reasons for failure and many areas to assign blame, so I expected a compelling portrait of a corporate structure with many and varied weaknesses. Instead, the story is a relatively simple one, one that could have been told in many fewer pages than this book. Perhaps even a pamphlet would suffice. A troika of production executives at United Artists, in the wake of the departure of a legendary and trusted power structure disenchanted with the indifferent corporate ownership, searches for properties that will retain the credibility of the organization in Hollywood. They seize upon the nearest cinematic prize at hand, director Michael Cimino, newly awarded the 1979 Oscar for Best Picture. What they are strangely unprepared for is the arrogance of Cimino, who muscles a contract chock-full of loopholes past the executives, then proceeds to go on an unchecked spending spree on location in Montana, shooting hours and hours of takes and running up massive overtime expenditures for cast and crew. Seeking periodically to curb the spending, the hapless executives seem at a loss as to how to handle the stonewalling and sullen Cimino, and grimly resolve to ride out the ordeal to the bitter end, hoping beyond hope that the film will somehow succeed. The story is not a dynamic one; the only real participants in the conflict seem to be the executives and Cimino, and the results seem pretty one-sided. Bach tries to enliven the story, both with an exhaustive history of United Artists at the beginning of the book, and with somewhat distracting anecdotes involving other films he is involved with at the time "Gate" is bleeding the budget dry. Perhaps it is to show us how badly he needed such distractions at the time. The big mystery of the book is the goings-on on the set, none of which is given in any detail. It is mentioned that Cimino (understandably) would have nothing to do with this book; perhaps another source on the set should have been consulted for this writing. Without any account whatsoever of the actual making of the film, its unchecked growth seems a monolithic constant, failing to add needed interest to the story. Of some interest is Bach's account of his first screening of the five and one-half hour version of the film, in which he at last gives the reader some idea of the film's poor quality: it's unchecked excess of visual spectacle. Bach gives a brief but compelling picture of the dawning horror he experiences when the film begins to numb his senses, and his posterior. Bach notably fails to examine his own role in the failure of the film: though he acknowledges that role ( and reaps the consequences) , one gets no sense of inner conflict in his dealings with Cimino. One is left to assume that Cimino simply intimidates him. Ultimately the fascination of the "Heaven's Gate" fiasco remains intriguing, ( and the film itself elusive ), but with this particular account, the true story must be read between the lines.
Rating: 
Summary: Studio vs. Artist-no winners here.
Review: ** Author Bach compares the female star of "HEAVEN'S GATE" to the Pillsbury DoughBoy. ** Some mistake surely? ** Huppert is worth 1,000 of any current film actresses.
Rating:
Summary: A BOOK SUITABLE FOR FANS OF ISABELE HUPPERT?
Review: ** Author Bach compares the female star of "HEAVEN'S GATE" to the Pillsbury DoughBoy. ** Some mistake surely? ** Huppert is worth 1,000 of any current film actresses.
Rating: 
Summary: Maybe this book should be titled: The Last Days of UA?
Review: After reading this book I can honestly say that I was a bit dissapointed with the way the story unfolded. Personally I was expecting a book that was from the production perspective, why Heaven's Gate took so long to complete, what problems were encountered during production, what were the arguments that ensued between the director and crewmembers. What Steven Bach gives us though is a top level executive view of the workings of United Artists and of Heavens Gate. We see from a executive producers perspective why certain decisions were made, why Michael Cimono was given certain liberties, why so much money was poured into the production of this movie. What we don't see are the workings behind the scenes at the location of Heavens Gate. Bach checks in every once and a while during the book to see how things are progressing, but most of the book switches back and forth between keeping check on Heavens Gate and Bach's responsibilities at UA. While I did enjoy the book it was too "high level" for my tastes and too much centered on United Artists and not as much on the making of Heavens Gate. It would have been nice for Bach to get some more perspectives from people who were at the location to add some variety to the book.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating account of a filmmaking disaster
Review: It was called a "runaway," and never has a term been more appropriate. In this case, it was a movie running millions of dollars over budget with an end nowhere in sight. The 1980 film "Heaven's Gate" has become synonymous with failure, its very name punned whenever big-budget productions flirt with disaster. Steven Bach's "Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film That Sank United Artists" gives a terrific blow-by-blow account of this gargantuan flop. A former producer at United Artist who suffered the ax after "Heaven's Gate," Bach penned this detailed tome a couple of years after fallout. The book should be a fascinating account for film lovers. "Final Cut" details the history of United Artists and filmmaking in the 1970s - a truly golden era. At United Artists, Francis Ford Coppola premieres "Apocalypse Now," Woody Allen helms "Manhattan" and Martin Scorsese prepares "Raging Bull." But the man of the hour in 1978 is a quiet guy named Michael Cimino. He just won an Academy Award for directing "The Deer Hunter," and now he wants to make a western - a big, big western. Bach accurately reveals the difficulties United Artists was going through at this time, losing several long-time executives who jump ship to form the Orion film company. Bach and company, wishing to re-establish United Artists as a major player, take on Cimino's western project. Cimino sets up shop in Montana, the location work a two-hour's drive from the nearest cement road. He ships an antique train across five states to the Montana wilds. He hires over 700 extras. He signs a cast of mainly unknowns including Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Isabelle Huppert, John Hurt and Sam Waterson. And he films only during the twilight hour, a period right before dusk so scenes will have a golden hue. But what terrifies United Artists most is Cimino is filming 50-60 takes per scene, and printing almost every take. Such obsession was unheard of. As Bach reveals in "Final Cut," Cimino's western (now hovering around $25 million) was going to have make blockbuster numbers just to turn a profit, performing in the "Jaws" and "Star Wars" neighborhoods. United Artists attempts to fire Cimino, at one point even asking David Lean to take over. Cimino realizes the dire situation, finally bucks up and finishes the film. With promotional and post-production fees, "Heaven's Gate" cost United Artists $44 million - the most expensive film in history up to that time. Heaven's Gate is premiered in New York, a three-and-a-half hour monstrosity that receives devastatingly bad reviews. It is eventually released to the theaters and makes $1.8 million. It is the biggest bomb in motion picture history (cue dead elephant hitting the cement). Heads roll at the studio, Cimino's career is finished and United Artists, a film company created by Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, is purchased by MGM to disappear forever into the sunset. Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" spelled the end of the free-spirited, amazingly creative decade of the 1970s. Producers and studios took the reins out of the hands of superstar directors (Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" ran a similar "Heaven's Gate" route, but he pulled success from the fires of disaster, perhaps inspiring this debacle as much as anything else). "Final Cut" is a tragedy exposing the end of a golden era of filmmaking and a once-great studio. It's as good as an Irwin Allen disaster film, and a lot cheaper.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating account of a filmmaking disaster
Review: It was called a "runaway," and never has a term been more appropriate. In this case, it was a movie running millions of dollars over budget with an end nowhere in sight. The 1980 film "Heaven's Gate" has become synonymous with failure, its very name punned whenever big-budget productions flirt with disaster. Steven Bach's "Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film That Sank United Artists" gives a terrific blow-by-blow account of this gargantuan flop. A former producer at United Artist who suffered the ax after "Heaven's Gate," Bach penned this detailed tome a couple of years after fallout. The book should be a fascinating account for film lovers. "Final Cut" details the history of United Artists and filmmaking in the 1970s - a truly golden era. At United Artists, Francis Ford Coppola premieres "Apocalypse Now," Woody Allen helms "Manhattan" and Martin Scorsese prepares "Raging Bull." But the man of the hour in 1978 is a quiet guy named Michael Cimino. He just won an Academy Award for directing "The Deer Hunter," and now he wants to make a western - a big, big western. Bach accurately reveals the difficulties United Artists was going through at this time, losing several long-time executives who jump ship to form the Orion film company. Bach and company, wishing to re-establish United Artists as a major player, take on Cimino's western project. Cimino sets up shop in Montana, the location work a two-hour's drive from the nearest cement road. He ships an antique train across five states to the Montana wilds. He hires over 700 extras. He signs a cast of mainly unknowns including Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Isabelle Huppert, John Hurt and Sam Waterson. And he films only during the twilight hour, a period right before dusk so scenes will have a golden hue. But what terrifies United Artists most is Cimino is filming 50-60 takes per scene, and printing almost every take. Such obsession was unheard of. As Bach reveals in "Final Cut," Cimino's western (now hovering around $25 million) was going to have make blockbuster numbers just to turn a profit, performing in the "Jaws" and "Star Wars" neighborhoods. United Artists attempts to fire Cimino, at one point even asking David Lean to take over. Cimino realizes the dire situation, finally bucks up and finishes the film. With promotional and post-production fees, "Heaven's Gate" cost United Artists $44 million - the most expensive film in history up to that time. Heaven's Gate is premiered in New York, a three-and-a-half hour monstrosity that receives devastatingly bad reviews. It is eventually released to the theaters and makes $1.8 million. It is the biggest bomb in motion picture history (cue dead elephant hitting the cement). Heads roll at the studio, Cimino's career is finished and United Artists, a film company created by Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, is purchased by MGM to disappear forever into the sunset. Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" spelled the end of the free-spirited, amazingly creative decade of the 1970s. Producers and studios took the reins out of the hands of superstar directors (Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" ran a similar "Heaven's Gate" route, but he pulled success from the fires of disaster, perhaps inspiring this debacle as much as anything else). "Final Cut" is a tragedy exposing the end of a golden era of filmmaking and a once-great studio. It's as good as an Irwin Allen disaster film, and a lot cheaper.
Rating: 
Summary: A perceptive retelling of a financial and creative nightmare
Review: It's fascinating to read this book with the inevitable hind-sight, and yet appreciate that these people were trying to create a truly wonderful film. The reader is able to identify all the pieces of the machine that eventually destroys United Artists and many careers along with it. Highly recommend - especially for anyone looking for a career in film. It's a rare chance to see the plans, building, launching and subsequent sinking of the cinematic Titanic.
Rating:
Summary: Self-Perpetuating Fear
Review: Steven Bach is correct in using William Goldman's quote about Hollywood in his introduction ("No one knows anything."). What follows with Final Cut happens because the executives took that attitude to heart, and sometimes, for good reason. Cimino maneuvered the UA executives, including Bach, into making a movie they didn't believe in because they didn't believe in their own judgement on the script. They didn't step in when the production got out of control beecause they didn't trust their own judgement on what was happening on location in Montana. They didn't demand a proper edit of the movie because they didn't believe they could find any other talent to solve the problem. They didn't pull the movie because they didn't trust what their eyes told them: the movie was awful. The above paragraph is harsh, and there are examples upon examples of studio heads pulling the plug on what became magnificent movies. These examples, however, are like fortune-tellers proclaiming their successes when they get something right. The fortune-teller did get that one prediction right, but no one remembers the hundreds of times that the fortune-teller was wrong because no one points it out, especially the fortune-teller. In Hollywood, the talent doesn't want the failure pointed out, and the executives don't either since their jobs are on the line. None of the above is a criticism of this book. In fact, it gives a wonderful insight into how disasters like "Heavan's Gate" can happen. It is written well, and I came away with a much better understanding of the process by which movies get made. It also gives insight into the difference between honest artists who sometimes fail (Woody Allen, Martin Scorcese) and poseurs who bluff their way into creating disasters (Cimino).
Rating:
Summary: Self-Perpetuating Fear
Review: Steven Bach is correct in using William Goldman's quote about Hollywood in his introduction ("No one knows anything."). What follows with Final Cut happens because the executives took that attitude to heart, and sometimes, for good reason. Cimino maneuvered the UA executives, including Bach, into making a movie they didn't believe in because they didn't believe in their own judgement on the script. They didn't step in when the production got out of control beecause they didn't trust their own judgement on what was happening on location in Montana. They didn't demand a proper edit of the movie because they didn't believe they could find any other talent to solve the problem. They didn't pull the movie because they didn't trust what their eyes told them: the movie was awful. The above paragraph is harsh, and there are examples upon examples of studio heads pulling the plug on what became magnificent movies. These examples, however, are like fortune-tellers proclaiming their successes when they get something right. The fortune-teller did get that one prediction right, but no one remembers the hundreds of times that the fortune-teller was wrong because no one points it out, especially the fortune-teller. In Hollywood, the talent doesn't want the failure pointed out, and the executives don't either since their jobs are on the line. None of the above is a criticism of this book. In fact, it gives a wonderful insight into how disasters like "Heavan's Gate" can happen. It is written well, and I came away with a much better understanding of the process by which movies get made. It also gives insight into the difference between honest artists who sometimes fail (Woody Allen, Martin Scorcese) and poseurs who bluff their way into creating disasters (Cimino).
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