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Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film that Sank United Artists Paperback – August 16, 1999

by Steven Bach (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 95 ratings
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Heaven's Gate is probably the most discussed, least seen film in modern movie history. Its notoriety is so great that its title has become a generic term for disaster, for ego run rampant, for epic mismanagement, for wanton extravagance. It was also the film that brought down one of Hollywood’s major studios—United Artists, the company founded in 1919 by Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, D. W. Griffith, and Charlie Chaplin. Steven Bach was senior vice president and head of worldwide production for United Artists at the time of the filming of Heaven's Gate, and apart from the director and producer, the only person to witness the film’s evolution from beginning to end. Combining wit, extraordinary anecdotes, and historical perspective, he has produced a landmark book on Hollywood and its people, and in so doing, tells a story of human absurdity that would have made Chaplin proud.

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  1. Print length
    432 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Newmarket Press
  4. Publication date
    August 16, 1999
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.86 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1557043744
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1557043740
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

The best account of American moviemaking in the age of conglomerate control of the studios.

Review

"The best account of American moviemaking in the age of conglomerate control of the studios." -- Pauline Kael, "The New Yorker"

"A landmark book on movies...must reading!" --"Kirkus Reviews"

"A compulsively readable account of adventures in the film trade. An intimate view of what goes on in the corridors of Hollywood power...distinguished by its awesome objectivity." --David Brown, The Zanuck Brown Co.

"Buffs will love this one...inside and fascinating looks at Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Sellers, writer William Goldman, Dino De Laurentiis, Truman Capote, Martin Scorsese, et al." --"Newsday"

"A riveting, witty and essentially heartbreaking chronicle of a catastrophe..." --Peter Bogdanovich, director of "The Last Picture Show"

"One of the few indispensable books about Hollywood." --Jack Kroll, "Newsweek"

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Newmarket Press; Revised edition (August 16, 1999)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1557043744
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1557043740
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.3 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.86 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 95 ratings

About the author

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Steven Bach

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
95 global ratings

Customers say

Customers have mixed opinions about the storytelling. Some find it great and informative, while others say it lacks narrative dynamism and is unfocused. Opinions are mixed on the readability, with some finding it well-executed and detailed, while other say it's shoddy and poorly written.

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StorytellingReadabilityReadableness
11 customers mention "Storytelling"7 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the storytelling of the book. Some mention it's a great book on the inside story of one of the great movie disasters of all time. Others say the book lacks narrative dynamism, is aimless, and unfocused.

"...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...." Read more

"...The author lived in a world of artists and power brokers. The insight was thoughtful, honest and fair to participants...." Read more

"Very informative and entertaining for anyone interested in the impact of the human factor on the multi-million dollar decisions made every day in..." Read more

"...'s "Heaven's Gate" that few people recall the film itself: a bloated, aimless, wandering and unfocused epic about the Johnson County "war" of the..." Read more

7 customers mention "Readability"4 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the readability of the book. Some mention it's nice and well-executed, while others say it'll be a bad read.

"This is one of the best books I have ever read about Hollywood & the making of a movie, in this case, Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate."..." Read more

"...movie because they didn't trust what their eyes told them: the movie was awful...." Read more

"I thought this book was well executed and detailed. The author lived in a world of artists and power brokers...." Read more

"...ought to be ashamed of themselves for selling something this shoddy...." Read more

6 customers mention "Readableness"3 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the readableness of the book. Some mention it's an excellent read, while others say it'd be close to unreadable, too wordy, and overly descriptive.

"...It is written well, and I came away with a much better understanding of the process by which movies get made...." Read more

"There are so many typos in the kindle edition that it is almost unreadable. It's almost as if there was no editing or proofreading." Read more

"...I found myself skipping parts. But, that being said, it's a great read and a fabulous story of hubris and Hollywood finances." Read more

"...I could not stand the author’s writing style. Too wordy and overly descriptive of everything. It was as though the author was trying too hard...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Nathanael Worthington
5.0 out of 5 stars From Hell's Abyss To Heaven's Gate
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2024
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This is one of the best books I have ever read about Hollywood & the making of a movie, in this case, Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate." I waited until I finished reading the book to watch the movie. Wow. This book delves deep into the making of HG & the mind of Michael Cimino. I am really surprised that a watchable movie was salvaged from this train wreck of a process. Sit back & relax as Steven Bach helps you with your journey from Hell's abyss to Heaven's gate.
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Edward Roberts
4.0 out of 5 stars Self-Perpetuating Fear
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2004
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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).
19 people found this helpful
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Baby Blue
5.0 out of 5 stars Inside the making of a film
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2020
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I thought this book was well executed and detailed. The author lived in a world of artists and power brokers. The insight was thoughtful, honest and fair to participants. I thought he would go on about drugs and wasted lives, but no he presented the directors as simply human. Heavens Gate is a wonderful film and every dollar spent id seen on screen. Michael Cimino had a vision of the film he wanted to make and sometimes that vision conflicted with necessary business side of movie making.
I share the authors enjoyment and appreciation for Woody Allen and every single movie he has ever produced. I fear the world will too soon forgot these characters in this book. Read this one.
3 people found this helpful
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Bob in NH
5.0 out of 5 stars To my suprise one of the best "business" books I have read
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2016
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To my suprise one of the best "business" books I have read. Goes beyond the "glitz" of Hollywood and covers some of the serious people in the business of making movies. Actually purchased to get the full story on Michael Cinimino's Heaven's Gate. It does not disapoint
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R. Gorey
4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile history of eighties Hollywood
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2006
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So much has been written about Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" that few people recall the film itself: a bloated, aimless, wandering and unfocused epic about the Johnson County "war" of the late eighteen hundreds. The book's story of wretched excess, greed, artistic ambition run amok and misguided faith in that ambition mirrors the story of the making of Fox's "Cleopatra" in 1961. Though "Heaven's Gate" has a devoted cult following today, such admiration is common to reviled works: people have a tendency to champion projects that "nobody else got" because it makes them feel elevated from the common wisdom, or a part of an exclusive culture of appreciation. Sadly, Cimino's film doesn't warrant such revisionist thinking. The book explains in excruciating detail the process by which a small, personal project became one of the grandest flops in the history of Hollywood. Equally culpable in this fiasco are the men and women who allowed this director to squander the millions spent, even after it became apparent that the film was a disappointment by the kindest standards. Far from being a lost opportunity (the story of the Johnson County war has been done several times, in films like "Shane") "Heaven's Gate" is probably the best known example of the kind of apalling waste that drove the film industry into the sad state it has fallen to. The author accepts his share of the blame, and is astonishingly fair to Cimino, defending the director's vision, his decisions, and his intentions. But the end result (known to every film buff) hangs over the proceedings like grim death.
18 people found this helpful
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Nukemom1952
5.0 out of 5 stars Good addition to my library
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2019
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Overwhelming circumstances, but an important book for anyone in the industry, or who has family in Hollyweird.
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bailsb
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2013
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Very informative and entertaining for anyone interested in the impact of the human factor on the multi-million dollar decisions made every day in producing Hollywood films.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars Kindle edition is unreadable.
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2023
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There are so many typos in the kindle edition that it is almost unreadable. It's almost as if there was no editing or proofreading.
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Top reviews from other countries

Bookworm72
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in Germany on December 28, 2022
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A great book for those who love the movies and how they were made back when they still made them.
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Anil Kumar Karnal
5.0 out of 5 stars Knowledgeable
Reviewed in India on July 17, 2019
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A beautiful story of failed entrepreneurship
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Ricktu
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book but terrible kindle conversion
Reviewed in Australia on January 20, 2023
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The book itself is well written and extremely interesting. Whoever converted it to kindle format though should be fired immediately. There are three to four conversion errors on almost every page. "I"s showing as "1"s. Words very obviously missread. You are frequently having to stop to work out what a word was supposed to be to make the sentence make sense. This book was obviously passed through some OCR software then published without ever checking if it came out allright.
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Jacob la Cour
2.0 out of 5 stars Like the movie - it just goes on and on and on and on and on and on
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 20, 2024
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Steven Bach does not know how to make short movies - and obviously not how to write short books either!! The book is about Heaven's Gate, but that movie is not mentioned before page 120. And for the rest of the book, there are an EXTREME number of details which are irrelevant. Like the movie, Steven Bach should have trued to cut the book by 50%!
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Andreas Konstas
5.0 out of 5 stars Opinio about Final Cut the book
Reviewed in Germany on June 27, 2018
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Fantastic book, that describes the intricate workings on a movie set in great detail, and in a suspenseful way.
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