Film buffs LOVE Heaven's Gate. United Artists was a sinking ship before they invested on Cimino's grand vision and they blamed the demise of the studio on this distended, revisionist, spectacular western released when the genre did not have enough of a following to justify the expense. If JAWS marked the beginning of the blockbuster era, then HEAVEN'S GATE signaled that the era of courageous Hollywood investment on artistically challenging, visionary films had come to an end.