← Apex Mountain

Heaven's Gate

1980 · directed by Michael Cimino · 217 min
22,321 feet · Prominence
1,579th of 15,261 films scored
Not coveredNo Rewatchables episode on file.

How this film scores

Draw40

$3m worldwide in 1980 — $14m in today's money.

As released$3mIn 2026 money$14mRank5,582 of 8,589In 198070 of 75

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise58

Critics 57, awards 5. Half each, so Praise lands at 58.

Critics57 → 28Awards5 → 2

Oscars1 nominated Production Design
How Praise works

Half critics, half a tiered award record where Picture and Directing carry most of the weight. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy55

Judged directly: Legendary disaster that ended New Hollywood.

Verdict55 of 100IMDb6.7 from 19kWikipedia31k views a monthAge46 years

On the listsCriterion Collectionevidence, not an input to the score
Scored beside it · 705 of 3,430 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 40 praise 58 legacy 55averages 51, which places it at22,321 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

In these careers — elevation for this film

Jeff Bridges21,576 ftWillem Dafoe21,571 ft