A dramatization of the real-life Johnson County War in 1890 Wyoming, in which a sheriff born into wealth attempts to protect immigrant farmers from rich cattle interests.
“A breathtaking depiction of the promise and perils of America’s western expansion, Heaven’s Gate, directed by Michael Cimino, is among Hollywood’s most ambitious and unorthodox epics. Kris Kristofferson brings his weathered sensuality to the role of a Harvard graduate who relocates to Wyoming as a federal marshal; there, he learns of a government-sanctioned plot by cattle barons to kill the area’s European settlers for their land. The resulting battle is based on the bloody real-life Johnson County War of 1892. Also starring Isabelle Huppert and Christopher Walken, Heaven’s Gate is a savage and ravishingly shot take on western movie lore. ” – Criterion Collection
Starring Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt.
Rated R
Note: This is here not as a best historical drama, but an important one in the history of period dramas. The director’s “insistence on shooting on location and building historically accurate sets and props multiplied the film’s original budget to a then-astronomical $36 million” and crippled United Artists when it was a box office failure. “Heaven’s Gate’s reputation recovered somewhat after its video release, as it garnered praise from some viewers for such visually remarkable sequences as the Harvard dance and the final battle, as well as for David Mansfield’s haunting score.” – Lucia Bozzola