If we go all the way back to 1980, the classic example is Heaven’s Gate by Deerhunter director Michael Cimino. I was alive but way too young to have bought a ticket. It was a disaster. Cost over $40m and made only $3-4m. Bankrupt United Artists, killed the western genre, was a critical and commercial failure. Pretty much destroyed Cimino’s standing as a director. However, it has since been critical re-evaluated, in part due to a couple of new edits. IMHO it’s alright. A bit long, and no Deerhunter. But it didn’t deserve the reputation.
Fun fact, Heavens Gate contained so much animal cruelty, it’s one of if not the primary cause of the “no animals were harmed in the making of this movie” label we see in movies now a days. Among the list of terrible acts, they killed at least 4 horses, one of which was blown up with dynamite, and they gave many others PTSD. The wiki entry is eye opening.
Yeah that stuff is pretty grim. By all accounts Cimino was unleashed and unhinged on this movie. Some of the egregious scenes of animal cruelty were removed from later edits, for what it’s worth.
If we go all the way back to 1980, the classic example is Heaven’s Gate by Deerhunter director Michael Cimino. I was alive but way too young to have bought a ticket. It was a disaster. Cost over $40m and made only $3-4m. Bankrupt United Artists, killed the western genre, was a critical and commercial failure. Pretty much destroyed Cimino’s standing as a director. However, it has since been critical re-evaluated, in part due to a couple of new edits. IMHO it’s alright. A bit long, and no Deerhunter. But it didn’t deserve the reputation.
Fun fact, Heavens Gate contained so much animal cruelty, it’s one of if not the primary cause of the “no animals were harmed in the making of this movie” label we see in movies now a days. Among the list of terrible acts, they killed at least 4 horses, one of which was blown up with dynamite, and they gave many others PTSD. The wiki entry is eye opening.
That isn’t fun at all :(
Yeah that stuff is pretty grim. By all accounts Cimino was unleashed and unhinged on this movie. Some of the egregious scenes of animal cruelty were removed from later edits, for what it’s worth.