Hollywood director Michael Cimino died today at the age of 77. Best known for making films in the 1970's and early 80's, most notably Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Deer Hunter, The Rose, Heaven's Gate and Year of the Dragon. He won the Oscar for Best Director for The Deer Hunter, which also won Best Picture in 1979, as one of the most searing films about war ever made, particularly the Vietnam War. His career went largely off course after his follow-up film Heaven's Gate, which has the reputation of being one of the worst financial failures in Hollywood history, and eventually contributed to the collapse of its studio, United Artists, although critical re-assessments of the film have been made in recent years, helping to rehabilitate its image as a movie that was unfairly tarnished in its day.
Original 1978 trailer for The Deer Hunter:
