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| Final Cut : Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film That Sank United Artists | 
 enlarge | Author: Steven Bach
Publisher: Newmarket Press
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy New: $11.31
You Save: $7.64 (40%)
Buy New/Used from $2.72
Avg. Customer Rating:  (19 reviews)
Sales Rank: 152289
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 1557043744
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.4372
EAN: 9781557043740
ASIN: 1557043744
Publication Date: September 1, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 The Big Money Movie Business, Blow By Blow August 26, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Wanna detailed blow-by-blow account of the behind-the-scenes business machinations surrounding the production of a big-budget (and bank-breaking) movie at a major Hollywood studio? Look no further than this book!
Perhaps "surrounding" isn't the appropriate term since author Steven Bach, who was head of production at United Artists during the time immediately preceding the original publication of this book (its original title was Final Cut: Dreams and Disaster in the Making of Heaven's Gate), really couldn't get his hands around the major film project which was writer/director Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate.
Following the lengthy but fascinating back history of United Artists, Bach presents a matter-of-fact but truly stomach-churning description of how the elusive sense of creative unity in the sincere quest for timeless cinematic art butts heads with the realities of capitalism. Though he rarely dwells on it as such, Bach gives the reader a visceral sense of the ulcer-inducing frustrations that can befall such a project.
How is it possible that a film's original budget can balloon so exponentially without a clear sense of the market's need or want for such a project? How is it possible that financial disaster can be predicated on the faith afforded in the talents of a single man whose reputation rests solely on a single well-received film? You'll find out by reading this book.
It's perhaps too easy to make Michael Cimino the fall guy in this scenario; there were plenty of corporate politics apart from the Heaven's Gate project, and which Bach thoroughly delineates, which "might" have been circumstantially responsible for UA's downfall. But what Bach rightfully chooses to focus on is that area for which he was ultimately responsible. It's painfully obvious that Cimino's exploits on location in Montana were "allowed" to get out of hand. It was Cimino who formulated the original budget and made certain assurances. It was Cimino who built, destroyed, then rebuilt a large exterior set of late 19th century Casper, Wyoming. It was Cimino who chose to print upwards of fifty takes of scenes. It was Cimino who promised a roughly two-and-a-half hour film that eventually came in at over five hours. These are personal shortcomings which are simply impossible to overlook...up-and-coming Academy Award-winning cinematic genius or not.
Granted, Cimino's own account of the happenings on location are not to be found here. Bach does, however, give accounts of the many meetings and conversations he, the producer, and Cimino had during the entire gut-wrenching process. Perhaps one day Cimino will bravely come forward and explain, in writing or in film, his personal culpability and reasoning. That his career in Hollywood took a downward spiral following this escapade is most unfortunate--he is obviously a director with talent and a vision.
It's well known and understood that in the world of entertainment, luck and timing can count for an inordinate amount toward success or failure. Indeed, success and failure can only be quantified in ways which are hardly tangible apart from dollars and cents. From Bach's account, it's plain to see that with a little judiciousness on the part of many important decision-making people, this financial disaster need not have occurred.
I can't imagine a better read than Final Cut if one wants a detailed dissection of torment in the pursuit of corporate American art.
Fascinating account of a filmmaking disaster July 12, 2004
36 out of 37 found this review helpful
It was called a "runaway," and never has a term been more appropriate. In this case, it was a movie running millions of dollars over budget with an end nowhere in sight. The 1980 film "Heaven's Gate" has become synonymous with failure, its very name punned whenever big-budget productions flirt with disaster. Steven Bach's "Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film That Sank United Artists" gives a terrific blow-by-blow account of this gargantuan flop. A former producer at United Artist who suffered the ax after "Heaven's Gate," Bach penned this detailed tome a couple of years after fallout. The book should be a fascinating account for film lovers. "Final Cut" details the history of United Artists and filmmaking in the 1970s - a truly golden era. At United Artists, Francis Ford Coppola premieres "Apocalypse Now," Woody Allen helms "Manhattan" and Martin Scorsese prepares "Raging Bull." But the man of the hour in 1978 is a quiet guy named Michael Cimino. He just won an Academy Award for directing "The Deer Hunter," and now he wants to make a western - a big, big western. Bach accurately reveals the difficulties United Artists was going through at this time, losing several long-time executives who jump ship to form the Orion film company. Bach and company, wishing to re-establish United Artists as a major player, take on Cimino's western project. Cimino sets up shop in Montana, the location work a two-hour's drive from the nearest cement road. He ships an antique train across five states to the Montana wilds. He hires over 700 extras. He signs a cast of mainly unknowns including Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Isabelle Huppert, John Hurt and Sam Waterson. And he films only during the twilight hour, a period right before dusk so scenes will have a golden hue. But what terrifies United Artists most is Cimino is filming 50-60 takes per scene, and printing almost every take. Such obsession was unheard of. As Bach reveals in "Final Cut," Cimino's western (now hovering around $25 million) was going to have make blockbuster numbers just to turn a profit, performing in the "Jaws" and "Star Wars" neighborhoods. United Artists attempts to fire Cimino, at one point even asking David Lean to take over. Cimino realizes the dire situation, finally bucks up and finishes the film. With promotional and post-production fees, "Heaven's Gate" cost United Artists $44 million - the most expensive film in history up to that time. Heaven's Gate is premiered in New York, a three-and-a-half hour monstrosity that receives devastatingly bad reviews. It is eventually released to the theaters and makes $1.8 million. It is the biggest bomb in motion picture history (cue dead elephant hitting the cement). Heads roll at the studio, Cimino's career is finished and United Artists, a film company created by Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, is purchased by MGM to disappear forever into the sunset. Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" spelled the end of the free-spirited, amazingly creative decade of the 1970s. Producers and studios took the reins out of the hands of superstar directors (Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" ran a similar "Heaven's Gate" route, but he pulled success from the fires of disaster, perhaps inspiring this debacle as much as anything else). "Final Cut" is a tragedy exposing the end of a golden era of filmmaking and a once-great studio. It's as good as an Irwin Allen disaster film, and a lot cheaper.
Self-Perpetuating Fear February 18, 2004
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Steven Bach is correct in using William Goldman's quote about Hollywood in his introduction ("No one knows anything."). What follows with Final Cut happens because the executives took that attitude to heart, and sometimes, for good reason. Cimino maneuvered the UA executives, including Bach, into making a movie they didn't believe in because they didn't believe in their own judgement on the script. They didn't step in when the production got out of control beecause they didn't trust their own judgement on what was happening on location in Montana. They didn't demand a proper edit of the movie because they didn't believe they could find any other talent to solve the problem. They didn't pull the movie because they didn't trust what their eyes told them: the movie was awful. The above paragraph is harsh, and there are examples upon examples of studio heads pulling the plug on what became magnificent movies. These examples, however, are like fortune-tellers proclaiming their successes when they get something right. The fortune-teller did get that one prediction right, but no one remembers the hundreds of times that the fortune-teller was wrong because no one points it out, especially the fortune-teller. In Hollywood, the talent doesn't want the failure pointed out, and the executives don't either since their jobs are on the line. None of the above is a criticism of this book. In fact, it gives a wonderful insight into how disasters like "Heavan's Gate" can happen. It is written well, and I came away with a much better understanding of the process by which movies get made. It also gives insight into the difference between honest artists who sometimes fail (Woody Allen, Martin Scorcese) and poseurs who bluff their way into creating disasters (Cimino).
 Maybe this book should be titled: The Last Days of UA? December 28, 2002
11 out of 14 found this review helpful
After reading this book I can honestly say that I was a bit dissapointed with the way the story unfolded. Personally I was expecting a book that was from the production perspective, why Heaven's Gate took so long to complete, what problems were encountered during production, what were the arguments that ensued between the director and crewmembers. What Steven Bach gives us though is a top level executive view of the workings of United Artists and of Heavens Gate. We see from a executive producers perspective why certain decisions were made, why Michael Cimono was given certain liberties, why so much money was poured into the production of this movie. What we don't see are the workings behind the scenes at the location of Heavens Gate. Bach checks in every once and a while during the book to see how things are progressing, but most of the book switches back and forth between keeping check on Heavens Gate and Bach's responsibilities at UA. While I did enjoy the book it was too "high level" for my tastes and too much centered on United Artists and not as much on the making of Heavens Gate. It would have been nice for Bach to get some more perspectives from people who were at the location to add some variety to the book.
Watching a Studio Wreck July 7, 2001
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is a book I can't put down once I start reading it, and I re-read it every few years. It starts when a new management team takes over United Artists. They have to put together a slate of films. "Heaven's Gate" is one of their choices, and we see how this film moves from one choice among many to the behemoth that wrecks the studio. Contrary to some of the reviewers who say the book doesn't get to "Heaven's Gate" soon enough, I think the book is well-structured.I also like the way Bach displays three different directors: Cimino, Scorsese and Woody Allen. Cimino is obviously the egomaniac out of control. Allen comes across as the "good director," always conscious that he is working with somebody else's money. Scorsese comes out between the two extremes. Hey, if this book were only about "Heaven's Gate," I wouldn't like it so much, but we also get some insight into "Manhattan" and "Raging Bull," two much better movies.
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