Christopher Walken Thinks Heaven's Gate Has More Hate Than It Deserved

Walken would not find his opinions justified until more than 30 years after the film's release in 2012, when Michael Cimino had the chance to recut "Heaven's Gate", bringing it closer to the version that was screened to the disastrous Projection of 1980. It is, indeed, a "good film".

"Heaven's Gate" is bold, muddy and heartbroken, a loose and rambling epic tale of a murky skirmish in late 19th century American frontier history. It deals with non-romantic details of human life that are often overlooked in history books, and it uses every second of its nearly four-hour runtime to help build and deepen its sprawling drama.

The wealth of period detail in its production design is also worth seeing. Walken, infamous for his tendency to steal something here and there from the sets he worked on, reportedly had a busy day. Walken told IndieWire it was "always a great movie to watch," impeccably crafted and shot on location in Glacier Park, Wyoming, with extreme care by top cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond.

Over time, other people who worked on the film have also admitted to having affection for him, showing that even though the film has been called a "disaster", it deserves admiration. In a conversation with the Financial Times promoting the film's cut in 2012, Zsigmond called Cimino "a master painter". In this same article, Isabelle Huppert, who plays a lady named Ella in the film, also claimed to "love the film". Walken is in good company.