In 1870, the two friends Jim Averill and Bill Irvine celebrate their graduation from Harvard. Twenty years later, Averill is the marshall in Johnson County; Irvine drinks and has joined an association of cattle ranchers who are resisting the settlement of a growing number of foreigners. To drive them out of the region for good, the cattle barons draw up a death list with the names of 125 farmers and hire professional killers to carry out the murders. Despite all his efforts, Jim cannot prevent the attacks. His old friend Irvine and Nate Champion, the fiancé of brothel owner Ella Watson, are also killed. When Jim finally wants to leave the region with Ella, she too is shot dead by the cattlemen's henchmen.
"I jumped at the chance to make the complete version of 'Heaven's Gate' available to a new generation of audiences (including critics). Restoring this film has been the most challenging project I've yet worked on – a veritable labour of love. It's been frustrating to deal with surviving picture and sound elements that run the gamut from 'mint condition' to 'barely usable.' However, I feel the film deserves a major re-evaluation and all the time and effort we have spent on the project has been well worth it." John Kirk
Production: United Artists
Screenplay: Michael Cimino
Cinematographer: Vilmos Zsigmond
Soundtrack: David Mansfield, Johann Strauß ("An der Schönen Blauen Donau")
Editors: Lisa Fruchtman, Gerald B. Greenberg, William Reynolds, Tom Rolf
Cast: Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston, Brad Dourif, Isabelle Huppert
Format/screen ratio: 35mm, Cinemascope, Color
Running time: 225 min., 24 frames/sec.
Language: English
