Wing Commander Movie Night: Heaven's Gate

It's time to bite the bullet and watch the longest and most controversial movie in our queue: Heaven's Gate (1980), Michael Cimino's deeply troubled, sprawling western. At the time of release, Heaven's Gate's massive budget, troubled production and hasty after-release recut earned it the title of the worst movie ever made… but today opinions differ greatly, with many critics now seeing it as a true masterpiece. We will be watching the commonly available Director's Cut, which is extremely similar to the original version of the film that was withdrawn from theaters. Because Heaven's Gate is a very long movie, 218 minutes, we will be starting an hour early at 9 PM Eastern this week. You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.

Most Wing Commander fans will see the Heaven's Gate reference straight off: it's the name of Wing Commander II's fifth series' star system and the infamous captured starbase therein that Spirit kills herself destroying. (Although the notorious Heaven's Gate cult existed during the making of Wing Commander II, it was not widely known until 1994, three years later.)

Heaven's Gate also stars two of Privateer 2's leading men! Christopher Walken (Commander Hassan) plays Nate Champion and John Hurt (Joe the Bartender) is Billy Irvine.

Finally: the movie's director, Michael Cimino, gets a callout in the second of Wing Commander Prophecy's simulator missions. For our purposes, we'll count that separately like we do star systems named after directors and watch The Deer Hunter down the road!

Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?

Heaven's Gate is available to purchase on the standard streaming services. We will be watching the commonly available Director's Cut which is the version that is 218 minutes long. If you are not able to locate a copy please stop by the Discord and ping a CIC staff member before Friday's showing.

How do we watch the movie together?

It's pretty low tech! Simply join the Wing Commander CIC Discord on Friday and we will be chatting (in text) along with the film in the main channel. Everyone who wants to join in should bring their own copy and we will count down to play them together at 9 PM EST. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone! Note that this week's movie will start one hour earlier than the usual showing.

How can I help pick future movie club movies?

The movie club movies are voted on each week by the Wing Commander Discord. The poll is typically posted 24 hours before each week's screening and the next movie is announced at the end. The choices for the poll come from a master pool of Wing Commander-related movies. If you would like to suggest a film for inclusion in that pool you can post it to this thread.