Dances with Wolves

Rating:
Summary: AMAZING MOVIE !!!
Review: This movie came out 13 years ago, but I saw it for the very first time, 2 months ago, and I have to say that this is my all-time favorite movie. I give this film 5 out of 5 stars. If I could give it more stars, I would. In the past, if a person asked me what my favorite movie was, I always said to them, that I didn't have a favorite movie. I would tell them that I liked a bunch of films and I couldn't make one of them my favorite. Well, now I can (finally). I have always had a deep interest in Native Americans and their culture. I have merchandise that was made by American Indians, hanging on the walls in my apartment. I have books on them, and I must have already bookmarked over 200 websites, on Native American culture and language. My next door neighbor is 50% Sioux Indian. Her Mother was 100% Sioux Indian. Sioux Indians are the Indians that are depicted in this film. Once a year, her and her children dress up Native American style, and go to the Indian festival at the reservation. Getting back to the movie, this is definitely worth owning on D.V.D., without a doubt. The soundtrack is amazing, especially the instrumental theme, which is continually re-run on the main menu screen. That same instrumental theme, is also played a few times during the film, especially the buffalo scenes. It's also played right near the end of the credits. It's a short segment, but it's powerful. The scenery in this film is breathtaking. It was shot mostly in South Dakota. I won't tell you what the film is about, because you can scroll up, and read the review for yourself, if you want to. Amazing movie.

Rating:
Summary: A celebration of Plains Indian life
Review: I have to tip my hat to Costner, this was a fine film. It is a celebration of the Plains Indian way of life. What I like is that Costner made it a personal story. He wasn't trying to be anyone, and he let the Native Americans shine in this epic revisionist Western. Graham Greene was superb, as were most of the native cast. I got the sense that Costner took a new spin on "The Searchers," in which John Wayne played a disenchanted Confederate soldier who found himself out west. But, whereas "The Searchers" was much more cynical, Costner's film is pure romanticism. The story was "real" enough to draw you into the characters, which is all you can expect from a feature-length film.

Rating:
Summary: To memorize a three-hour movie, it must be good.
Review: This movie dominated in the 1990 Academy Awards; therefore, the movie must be and is a pretty damn good film. I gauruntee no regrets. Enough said.

Rating:
Summary: Great film about past American Indian life
Review: All the scenes when John Dunbar was in Indian country with the Indians makes this film so great. The film is mostly very peaceful but not boring, even though the film is almost 3 hours. The acting, costumes and scenery were fantastic. The film portrays John Dunbar's Indian friends in a very positive light. There is also a neighboring tribe that is more violent and warlike, whom they must battle.
The only drawback I found to the movie were the scenes with the American Army. These scenes seem essential to the story, but the peaceful scenes with the Sioux are what make this movie. Luckily, the scenes out in the wilderness and in the Indian village dominate the movie. This movie is very long, but worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: The Last Frontier
Review: Kevin Kostner does a remarkable job in directing and portraying a Yankee soldier (Lt. John Dunbar) who's in search of the last frontier before it's gone. Lt. Dunbar is assigned to an outpost in the Dakotas during the 1870's. Along the way he meets some interesting characters, but its after he sets up his post that the story begins.
Lt. Dunbar meets members of Sioux Tribe and tries to develop a friendship with them. They struggle with communication until Stands With a Fist (Mary McDonnell) is asked to interpret for them. With her help Lt. Dunbar is able to learn about the indian ways from Kicking Bird (Graham Green II) and in return tell him about the coming of the white man. Lt. Dunbar comes to respect Wind in His Hair (Rodney A. Grant) who teaches him about friendship.
As Lt. Dunbar struggles between his duty to the army and to his new friends he falls in love with Stands With a Fist. As the story unfolds Lt. Dunbar becomes a trusted member of the Sioux Tribe and must decide whether his loyalties lie with the Sioux or the army.
If you want to see how the west really was then you must see this movie. The cinematography is excellent and enables Kostner to capture the realism of the time. I can see why Dances with Wolves won 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture. That's why I gave it five stars!

Rating:
Summary: Dances With Wolves is an AWESOME MOVIE!...
Review: ..., that's not the reason why I like it, it's because it's just an all outstanding movie. Kevin Costner is a great actor! This movie is a MUST SEE MOVIE!... THANKS

Rating:
Summary: The Indians are the good guys
Review: Lt. John Dunbar is sent to an abandon fort on the frontier. While at this outpost he begins a journey of his spirit. He becomes friends with the local Indians and eventually becomes one of them. He meets and marries a white woman called "Stand with fist" whose family was killed by another tribe. She wonders into their tribe and is adopted by the Village chief. Stand with fist becomes a translator between Dunbar and the Native Indians (eventhough she has not spoken these words (English) since she was two).

John Dunbar begins a transformation were he begins to see these native indians not as savages but as fellow human beings. One day the native people see him Dancing with wolves around a campfire. They then give him his tribal name "Dances with wolves". Overtime Lt. Dunbar becomes completely assimilated into their culture.

Granham Green gives an outstanding performance as the chief. Graham Greenbecomes the first Native American to be nominated for an Academy Award (Best Supporting Actor). Granham also gives a fine performance as Ishi in the movie "Last of his tribe".

One reviewer wrote that this movie tends to romanticize the Indians by portaying them as saintly people. I have had courses in American Indian Studies and I have to confess that it is true. Native Americans have been romanticized in our popular culture. Dances with wolves portray the Indians as good guys and white people as bad guys. This portrayal tends to be one sided. Not all white people were bad. Many wanted to help the Indians. But, because of their short sightedness and lack of understanding of Native American culture, many of their programs ended up hurting the native people. While many movies portray Native Americans are portrayed as Savages, Many Native Americans are also falsley portrayed as great evironmentalists. In fact Native Americans were just as exploitive of their resources as white people. They just didn't create an impact because their numbers were small and their population size was controlled by the carrying capacity of the environment. Many Native American tribes were aggressive and did kill white people with out provocation. Dances with wolves does tend to be one sided and is just as false as any other western that portray Indians as blood thirsty savages.

The story telling was very good and the cinematography was fantasic. The movie really showed the beauty of the western frontier. One needs to look at this movie not as a portrayal of white people or of Indians but, as the Journey of one man's soul.

Rating:
Summary: Not Just A Western
Review: Although this film can be classified as a western, it essentially is a moving story of a peoples' history. Many nations of Native Americans once roamed across the vast prairies of the Old West. In the late ninteenth century, all of that history was erased in an instant.
This film chronicles a soldier named Lt.John Dunbar whom finds himself injured during the Civil War, and wishes to committ suicide. Somehow, he is spared and comes out a hero, only to request to be stationed out into the frontier. When he arrives, he believes that he is truly alone, and that this may not be what he hoped for.
Over the course of this picture, we are left with the impression that Dunbar is, nor was, ever truly happy with whom he was. The scenary is intense, and the message is even more intense. A tribe of Sioux warriors meets up with Dunbar through a series of awkward moments, and soon Dunbar discovers that all of his preconceived notions about "indians" are untrue. The Sioux want to know how many white men are coming to the West, and Dunbar wants to learn their culture. Over time, both realize
how to face each other without hostility, and to give what the other needs. Lt. Dunbar transforms himself into a man whom loves and learns as Dances With Wolves, while the Sioux prepare for the coming of the white men whom will destroy a thousand years of their heritage.
If we watch this film keeping in mind what it means to wipe out an entire culture that existed on land that belonged to no one, we will understand that it doesn't matter who started those conflicts of that time.This movie takes a concise approach at defining what the future meant to the Native Americans, without ever compromising our attention to this daunting epic.

Rating:
Summary: A Tad Romanticized
Review: This was the first time I viewed the entire movie, since my first viewing on the big screen when it first came out. Knowing more about the subject now, than I did then, I am a little more critical.

Visually, this is still stunning and doesn't get boring despite its length. It also still merits praise for being the first movie to cast all American Indians in the American Indian rolls, and to have tried, at least, to show a little bit about the American Indian culture of the time, and to have the Indians play a major roll, beyond simply attacking wagon trains.

However, the story is little romanticized, historically speaking. The impression it gives is that the Lakota (Sioux) were totally isolated from whites at the time, knowing nothing about them, and that the white lieutenant introduces them to guns during their fight with the Pawnee. But judging from the time frame given in the movie (during the Civil War and 13 years before Crazy Horse's surrender) the year would be about 1864. By that time the gun was already in use by the Lakota for quite some time.

As for isolation, the Grattan Fight, usually seen as the beginning of the long hostilities with the Plains Indians, took place in 1854 when the Lakota and some others were camped outside of Fort Laramie waiting for the arrival of annuities agreed upon in an earlier treaty. Indeed trade goods, such as calico for clothing and iron cooking pots would have been much more prevalent than they appeared in the film.

Also, if I remember correctly, in the book, the lieutenant actually stays with the Cheyenne, not Lakota, which would explain some references that seemed out of place in this context.

Of course one criticism I had the first time I saw this, and that still remains, is Kevin Costner's voice. While he looked the part, and did a pretty good acting job, to me he always sounds like a twelve-year-old, and with a movie that depended so much on narration, that was a big draw back.

In all, the movie still merits watching. However, viewers should keep in mind that, historically, at least, it is not totally correct.

Rating:
Summary: Special Edition coming soon
Review: The studio is currently working on a 2 disc special edition for this movie,the dvd should br released sometime in early 2003.The rumour is that it will contain the 181 minute verion and the 237 minute version.It will also have documentaries on the making of the film,production notes,trailers,commentary and many more special features.