Dances with Wolves (1990)

Director:

Kevin Costner

Writers (WGA):

Michael Blake (screenplay)
Michael Blake (novel)

Release Date:

21 November 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Western

Tagline:

Inside everyone is a frontier waiting to be discovered.

Plot:

Lt. John Dunbar, exiled to a remote western Civil War outpost, befriends wolves and Indians, making him an intolerable aberration in the military.

Plot Keywords:

Frontier | Outpost | American Civil War | Wolf | Army

Awards:

Won 7 Oscars. Another 30 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Kevin Costner	...	Lieutenant Dunbar
Mary McDonnell	...	Stands With A Fist
Graham Greene	...	Kicking Bird
Rodney A. Grant	...	Wind In His Hair
Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman	...	Ten Bears (as Floyd Red Crow Westerman)
Tantoo Cardinal	...	Black Shawl
Robert Pastorelli	...	Timmons
Charles Rocket	...	Lieutenant Elgin
Maury Chaykin	...	Major Fambrough
Jimmy Herman	...	Stone Calf
Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse	...	Smiles A Lot
Michael Spears	...	Otter
Jason R. Lone Hill	...	Worm
Tony Pierce	...	Spivey
Doris Leader Charge	...	Pretty Shield

Runtime:

181 min | USA:224 min (extended version) | USA:236 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | Sioux | Pawnee

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Badlands National Park, Interior, South Dakota, USA

Company:

Tig Productions

Trivia:

Graham Greene's first reaction when he learned that most of the film was going to be in Lakota was, "I don't speak that".

Goofs:

Continuity: The window in front of which Fambrough is standing, opens and closes a couple of times before and after he commits suicide.

Quotes:

[Dunbar has found an old skeleton on the prairie]
Timmons: I'll bet someone back east is going, "Now why don't he write?"

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Golden Girls: Older and Wiser (#6.18)" (1991)

Soundtrack:

Fire Dance

magnificent

I like to watch lots of films, pretty much any film in fact, therefore I can tell you i have seen a fair few duds. I have also seen some spectacularly brilliant films. Dances With Wolves is one of them. For me to have the patience to watch a film more than a couple of times then the film needs to make me want to watch it over and over. Let me tell you I have seen this film more than a few times. I think you know when a film is special to you when you watch it and you keep thinking to yourself "oh this scene coming up is great", if you can say that continually whilst watching a film then you know you are watching a great film.

As for the film itself, cinematography has never been bettered, Costners acting is OK but it his presence rather than his acting that has brought gravitas to his movies, you certainly cant argue with his directing, which along with Orson Wells, Tarantino and a few select others must rank alongside as one of the best directorial debuts. The supporting cast is excellent especially Graeme Greene who is the wonderful Kicking Bird and of course Rodney A Grant.

I shamefully dont know too much about the history of the Indian population in America, so I dont know whether the events or portrayals in the film are accurate, however artistic license is surely allowed when making what is first and foremost a piece of entertainment. Being British I have seen many an American film with British stereotypes, not once have I been offended or appalled, as I see them as interpretations, God knows British filmmakers are just as guilty of such generalisations when it comes to "foreign" characters.

Marvel at the wonderful film-making in this film not political inaccuracies after all this is a story, and a damn fine one at that, remember King Kong didnt really climb up the Empire State Building and you dont here gorillas complaining about being misrepresented. This is a point of view expressed in a great film.

Personally films dont get much better than this.