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Heaven's Gate

Heaven's Gate

Drama · Western · History · 1980

Harvard graduate James Averill serves as the sheriff of prosperous Jackson County, Wyoming, standing at the center of a conflict between impoverished immigrants and affluent cattle farmers. Politically connected ranchers enlist mercenary Nathan Champion—who is also vying for the affections of local madam Ella Watson—to combat the immigrant uprising. As tensions escalate, both Averill and Champion start to question their decisions.

Movie details

Heaven's Gate

“What one loves about life are the things that fade.”

1980 Drama · Western · History 3h 37m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.7 / 10

18.7K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

57 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

57 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Harvard graduate James Averill serves as the sheriff of prosperous Jackson County, Wyoming, standing at the center of a conflict between impoverished immigrants and affluent cattle farmers. Politically connected ranchers enlist mercenary Nathan Champion—who is also vying for the affections of local madam Ella Watson—to combat the immigrant uprising. As tensions escalate, both Averill and Champion start to question their decisions.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Heaven's Gate?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Michael Cimino

Written by

Michael Cimino

Kris Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson

James Averill

Christopher Walken

Christopher Walken

Nathan D. Champion

John Hurt

John Hurt

Billy Irvine

Sam Waterston

Sam Waterston

Frank Canton

Brad Dourif

Brad Dourif

Mr. Eggleston

Isabelle Huppert

Isabelle Huppert

Ella Watson

Joseph Cotten

Joseph Cotten

The Reverend Doctor

Court is in session

Put Heaven's Gate on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.