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56 Counties: Heaven's Gate

Cimino: The Deer Hunter, Heaven's Gate, and the Price of a Vision (left), and
Cimino by Charles Elton (left) and Final Cut by Steven Bach

In 1979, an army of people took over the Outlaw Inn in Kalispell, Montana, led by a man who had just won two Academy Awards for what would eventually become known as the pinnacle of his career: The Deer Hunter. Michael Cimino would spend the next eight months shooting a film that sent one of the most highly respected film studios into bankruptcy. Heaven's Gate is considered to this day one of the biggest financial disasters in the history of film, despite some of the most stunning scenery ever brought to the screen.

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