SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

adam_pittavino Not too long before Dances with Wolves, Hollywood in the 1960's was littered with western movies with stars such as John Wayne, Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood. These tough, big gun actors helped create some of the greatest cowboy flicks we have come to know, the western firmly stamping itself in film history, leaving a legacy far beyond the decade it shot holes in. Kevin Costner has given himself the responsibilities of film making's trifecta with Dances with Wolves, he has directed, produced and starred in one of the most ambitious and impressive debuts since Orson Wells created Citizen Kane. Dances with Wolves opens with Union Army Lieutenant John Dunbar(Costner)miraculously surviving a suicidal charge at Confederate lines, a doomed act he had bravely opted for in favour of the amputation of his wounded leg. As a reward for his heroics, he is given apropriate medical treatment and offered a station of his choosing. He requests an abondoned fort on the Frontier, his only campanions are his loyal mount Cisco, a diary in which he pens his daily duties and a friendly wolf that he names Two Socks. As Dumbar repairs the run down fort, he attracts the curious attention of a local indian tribe, their leader Kicking Bird, played by Graham Green, is caught snooping around the Lieutenant's prized reinforcement. The two continue to meet, firstly out of curiosity and then through a female member of the tribe, Stands with a Fist who Dunbar has become affectionate toward. These encounters are the heart and soul of Dances with Wolves. Many westerns have explored relationships between American Frontiermen and the Native Indians, but none as inquisitively as this one as Costner gives the audience a rare glimpse at the trying fundamentals of human behaviour that is communication. Kicking Bird and the other members of the tribe embrace Dunbar into the camp, the leaders desire to learn about the white man, a perspective far from what we have come to witness in the American western. At this point in the film, Dunbar is completely apart of his new found tribe, his is now known as Dances with Wolves, and his love for Stands with a Fist has now become a celebrated bond under observation and respect from the group. Dances with Wolves is a film about bonds, weather its with another person, a tribe, an army or the land, Kevin Costner explores the frailties between the bonds that through effort and understanding can endure lifes toughest hardships, but are easily broken through ignorance and hate. Dances with Wolves isnt just a magnificent western, but one of the greatest films ever made.

nowego I will preface this review by saying that I have only been able to get though the entirety of Dances With Wolves twice. The original cinema version and the extended Directors Cut. The latter being only 3 hours while the DC is nearly 4 hours long. The DC is the must see version as it was with Avatar, so much more is put into context with the DC over the cinema release.Kevin Costner is one of my favourite actors and I didn't know he was the Director until after I had watched it the first time.Kevin Costner plays the main character, John Dunbar who at the beginning of the movie is about to get his foot amputated. This he objects to and after struggling to get his boot back on, gets on a horse, and charges at the enemy, trying to commit suicide. He fails in his attempts, but helps turn the tide of the battle for the Union soldiers. This gets him in favour with his superior officers and when he asks for a transfer out to the West he is assigned an abandoned prairie post.This is where the movie really starts and ends.Many would find this movie rather boring in places but these have to be endured and overcome or you will miss out on the really good stuff. A wonderful movie that can be watched more than once with ease, even though it is nearly 4 hours long if watching the only version worth watching.

garythomas-32684 Kevin costner is a actor who seems so underated, in this he directs as well as acts and it is the best work he has ever done. Every frame of this movie has had so much care and attention to detail put into it. You find yourself caring about every single character, the score for the film is perect. It's a epic movie with a epic run time but one that flys by and one you don't want to end. If you want a escape from all the cgi and one dimensional charcaters then this movie is a tough one to beat.

SquigglyCrunch Dances with Wolves follows a soldier who is posted in a largely isolated outpost and ultimately befriends the natives living in the area. The actors are all pretty good in their roles. Kevin Costner does really well, although for the first 10 or so minutes he just wanders around with his mouth open as if confused. He sort of portrayed my feelings for the first bit. I had no idea what was going on until a little ways into the movie. Graham Greene and Rodney A. Grant were both quite good in their roles as well, as as much as Costner but pretty close. Mary McDonnell was kind of over-the-top in this role, and while her performance wasn't bad, it wasn't great either. She seemed to be trying to pull off some kind of overdone insanity performance, but it didn't work in the context of the movie or just as a performance overall. The characters are pretty interesting, and it's really cool to see their relationships develop over a long period of time. By the last 1/3 of the movie the audience feels really attached to the characters, and it becomes just that much more investing. And considering the last hour is the best, it gives it a much more effective ending. The movie is, however, 3 hours long, the first 2 of which are the development stages. While it isn't necessarily boring, it's very long and definitely on the slow side. It was needed for the last hour to have the effect that it did, but it probably could have been just a little more engaging, or shorter even. The romantic aspect wasn't something I was very fond of. It came off as very rushed and a little forced, like it was happening simply because that was the expectation for movies. It seems that filmmakers sometimes think that if it's worth seeing, it has a love interest. That seems to be the case a lot of the time, but that doesn't mean that it always works. And in this case it doesn't really. Overall Dances with Wolves is an engaging character study that suffers from being on the slow side for the majority of it's runtime and a forced romance. In the end I'd still recommend this movie.