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Heaven's Gate

1980 · directed by Michael Cimino · 217 min
22,508 feet · Prominence
1,980th of 24,106 films scored
Not coveredNo Rewatchables episode on file.

How this film scores

Draw40

Lifetime worldwide gross $3m, re-releases included; about $14m in 2026 money.

Rank6,536 of 11,051In 198077 of 84

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

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics57 baseAwards5 signal → +1 lift

Oscars1 nominated Production Design
How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. 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 · 874 of 4,039 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, placing it at22,508 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

Kris Kristofferson19,242 ftChristopher Walken18,991 ftIsabelle Huppert18,940 ftJohn Hurt18,455 ftSam Waterston18,442 ftJeff Bridges18,384 ftBrad Dourif18,146 ftJoseph Cotten17,746 ftWillem Dafoe17,651 ftMickey Rourke17,649 ftGeoffrey Lewis17,634 ftRichard Masur17,628 ftCaroline Kava17,624 ft