A classic

The 70’s are usually considered the Golden Age of American cinema and, at the time, the studios were willing to give a lot of money and some amazing amount of freedom to directors such as Francis Ford Coppola to do whatever they wanted. Well, Michael Cimino managed to single-handedly halt this blessed period with ‘Heaven’s Gate’ which turned out to be a disaster, financially and critically. His career would never recover and since then the American movie production has been ruled by blockbusters and it won’t change anytime soon. It is a real shame because the movie he made before, the movie he should be remembered for, was an amazing piece of work. Indeed, it is easily belongs to the best movies about the Vietnam war like ‘Apocalypse Now’, ‘Platoon’ and ‘Full Metal Jacket’. Basically, even though the scope and amount of details were quite impressive, Cimino managed to keep an amazing rhythm. After re-watching it again after so many years, I was impressed about its perfect flow, how it takes the time to show the life of these young men living a simple but happy and carefree life. Then, they were thrown in an alien land and basically go through hell. Obviously, the Russian roulette scenes have become really iconic and you can literally see Christopher Walken’s character mentally melting down in front of you. To conclude, it is a great movie, a classic, and a must see for any decent movie lover.

8/10