The Deer Hunter reviewed: ‘more a romantic melodrama than a realist document’ – archive, 1979
1 March 1979: Derek Malcolm reviews a film about the impact of the Vietnam war on a group of Pennsylvanian steelworkers
November 2020
Heaven's Gate at 40: how we learned to love a notorious flop
Michael Cimino’s big-budget saga drew caustic reviews on release and limited box office but the years since have seen a reappraisal
June 2020
The classic film I've never seen
I've never seen ... Heaven's Gate
10 of the best ...
From Platoon to Winter Soldier: 10 of the best Vietnam war films
July 2016
Donald Trump taps into manufacturing regions to extract Democratic voters
The Republican appeals to fears over disappearing jobs in coal mines and steel factories of Ohio and Pennsylvania, persuading voters to abandon loyalties
Michael Cimino: a great of a great period in American film
The director of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Deer Hunter and Heaven’s Gate – said to have ended 70s American New Wave – leaves an indelible mark
Michael Cimino, director of The Deer Hunter and Heaven's Gate, dies aged 77
Cannes festival director says film-maker who also wrote and directed Thunderbolt and Lightfoot ‘died in peace, surrounded by friends’
April 2016
Do Louis CK and Kanye West belong in the pantheon of artistic hubris?
Both have ploughed their own money into projects that have yet to pay off, but they’re far from the first (or the worst) offenders … just ask Fleetwood Mac
January 2016
Film blog
The never-ending story: why are Oscar movies often so long?
At 156 minutes, The Revenant is a challenge. At 187 minutes, The Hateful Eight is only to be approached with full stomach and empty bladder. It’s time film-makers realised epic doesn’t have to mean eternal
July 2014
The Deer Hunter review – Cimino's masterpiece of cruelty and horror
Philip French's classic DVD
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot review – Michael Cimino's dark bromance
April 2014
Shortcuts
Six films that could use a good edit
Steven Soderbergh has re-edited the epic failure Heaven's Gate, cutting it by 50%. Steve Rose wonders what other films could benefit from a similarly radical makeover
December 2013
Philip French's classic DVD
Heaven's Gate
Cimino's western, once widely regarded as the biggest turkey of all time, is now available in all its glory in an epic 216-minute version, writes Philip French
August 2013
Heaven's Gate – review
Michael Cimino's three-and-a-half-hour western, now fully restored, puts the grandeur in folie de grandeur, writes Peter Bradshaw
July 2013
Cleopatra and Heaven's Gate: the last of the great Hollywood stinkers?
If Cleopatra signalled the demise of Hollywood epics, Heaven's Gate ended the reign of the all-powerful director. Should these films' reputations be rescued? And has the film industry lost its kamikaze tendency, asks Leo Robson
April 2011
Is a 'director's cut' ever a good idea?
One big self-indulgence, or the chance for an auteur to get his vision across to the public untrammelled by the money men? Ellen E Jones on the director's cut
October 2010
The 25 best action and war films of all time
The Deer Hunter: No 20 best action and war film of all time
The 25 best action and war films of all time
The Deer Hunter: Story of a scene
December 2001
Michael Cimino: war stories
Whatever happened to film director Michael Cimino? He wrote a novel. He tells Geoffrey Macnab why.
