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Editorial Reviews
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Heaven's Gate has entered Hollywood terminology as a definition for an unbelievably huge disaster--critically and financially. Many movies have lost more money than this 1980 film, but it has the unprecedented repercussion of sinking an entire studio (United Artists). Although some elements of Michael Cimino's laborious 219- minute saga do resonate, there are only two aspects that are consistently impressive: the look of the film and the soundtrack. In his early 20s, David Mansfield won a role in the band that played in the movie (he's the fiddler). A musical prodigy--he has played with Bob Dylan and Bruce Hornsby & the Range-- Mansfield scored the movie when more famous composers did not sign. Now available for the first time on CD--and expanded to nearly an hour --Mansfield's evocative music is better than ever. Much like the score for Ken Burns's The Civil War, strings are prevalent; the mandolin and violin receive most the exposure. The "Heaven Gate's Waltz" is a catchy tune that immediately makes your feet want to swing into action. Mansfield also does some impressive adaptation, turning the "Blue Danube" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" into folk tunes that put you right back to the time when dirt roads and crowded dance halls dotted the open West. --Doug Thomas
From the Label
Heaven's Gate (for those of you too young to remember) was perhaps the most celebrated flop in modern cinema (until Ishtar anyway), a film that was hammered by critics while still in production and which, on it's initial limited release, closed after one day. Most of their barbs were directed at the film's director Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter), who was allowed to run wildly over budget with his extravagant, obsessively detailed story of a little known piece of American history, The Johnson County War (although it was really more of a small skirmish or a large fist-fight). Set in 1890s Wyoming, the film tells the story of established cattlemen attempting to block European immigrants from settling on the ranges. And that's it really, except that Cimino (in his first cut of the movie) took over four hours to tell the story and spent $36 million on a film originally budgeted at $7.5 million. The film effectively sank United Artists as the glorius production and distribution entity that it had been for over 50 years, as it was sold following the HG debacle by its then owners Transamerica to MGM.
In the years since its release, the film has grown significantly in stature, and has been rediscovered to the point that some now feel it is a 'lost' masterpiece. It really is a visually stunning film, with many grand setpieces, including one set in Harvard yard (remember the wonderful wedding party in The Deer Hunter?). It has a great cast, including Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Jeff Bridges and Isabelle Huppert. And it also has a beautiful score….
The score for HG is an outstanding work, blending lush but intimate orchestral pieces with adaptations of classic Americana and Eastern European music of the period. The score is by musician/composer David Mansfield, who was hired to to appear in the film as a member of the Heaven's Gate Band after a five year stint touring with Bob Dylan. Mansfield was a child prodigy, the son of professional musicians who recorded as part of a group for Warner Bros. before he was out of High School. John Williams (see above!) was originally signed to do the score, but bowed out to do the Boston Pops. While they looked for another big name to score the picture, Mansfield anonymously submitted arrangements of Eastern European folk songs to the cutting room to be used as a temp track. The director was impressed, and when he found out that this 'kid' was doing the adaptations, he stopped his search for a name composer and hired Mansfield to do the entire score over the objections of UA (not that he listened to them about anything else either!).
David Mansfield is compiling approximately twenty minutes of bonus music that our CD debut of the score will feature, and he gave an excellent interview for the liner notes (which in fact is almost entirely comprised of his very lucid comments).
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Heaven's Gate
Original Soundtrack Manufacturer: Rykodisc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  Movie Soundtracks
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ASIN: B00000J7YQ Release Date: 1999-06-08 |
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Amazon.com
Heaven's Gate has entered Hollywood terminology as a definition for an unbelievably huge disaster--critically and financially. Many movies have lost more money than this 1980 film, but it has the unprecedented repercussion of sinking an entire studio (United Artists). Although some elements of Michael Cimino's laborious 219- minute saga do resonate, there are only two aspects that are consistently impressive: the look of the film and the soundtrack. In his early 20s, David Mansfield won a role in the band that played in the movie (he's the fiddler). A musical prodigy--he has played with Bob Dylan and Bruce Hornsby & the Range-- Mansfield scored the movie when more famous composers did not sign. Now available for the first time on CD--and expanded to nearly an hour --Mansfield's evocative music is better than ever. Much like the score for Ken Burns's The Civil War, strings are prevalent; the mandolin and violin receive most the exposure. The "Heaven Gate's Waltz" is a catchy tune that immediately makes your feet want to swing into action. Mansfield also does some impressive adaptation, turning the "Blue Danube" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" into folk tunes that put you right back to the time when dirt roads and crowded dance halls dotted the open West. --Doug ThomasCustomer Reviews:
Unbelievable.......2006-02-07
Incredibly Beautiful!.......2004-06-27
The exquisite blend of Eastern European folk melodies and Western music that permeates this soundtrack make it a joy to listen to. Particularly noteworthy are the accoustic guitar version of Strauss's Blue Danube Waltz as well as Doug Kershaw's Mamou Two Step, a piece that Kershaw fortunately chose to make available on some of his CDs. If you can't locate this soundtrack at least listen to that piece. I'm pretty sure you'll be sold on the artistic merits of this CD if you do.
Great music, lousy movie.......2004-04-13
Beautiful Americana.......2000-06-23
GREAT album.......1999-06-09
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