Dances With Wolves (1990)
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 55
Fresh: 44 | Rotten: 11
A grand, sweeping epic with inarguably noble intentions and arresting cinematography, but one whose center, arguably, is not as weighty as it should be.
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 3
A grand, sweeping epic with inarguably noble intentions and arresting cinematography, but one whose center, arguably, is not as weighty as it should be.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 186,849
My Rating
Movie Info
A historical drama about the relationship between a Civil War soldier and a band of Sioux Indians, Kevin Costner's directorial debut was also a surprisingly popular hit, considering its length, period setting, and often somber tone. The film opens on a particularly dark note, as melancholy Union lieutenant John W. Dunbar attempts to kill himself on a suicide mission, but instead becomes an unintentional hero. His actions lead to his reassignment to a remote post in remote South Dakota, where he
Nov 9, 1990 Wide
Jun 17, 2003
Orion Pictures
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Kevin Costner
Lt. John W. Dunbar -
Mary McDonnell
Stands With a Fist -
Graham Greene (II)
Kicking Bird -
Rodney A. Grant
Wind in His Hair -
Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerma...
Chief Ten Bears -
Tantoo Cardinal
Black Shawl -
Robert Pastorelli
Timmons -
Charles Rocket
Lieutenant Elgin -
Maury Chaykin
Maj. Fambrough -
Jimmy Herman
Stone Calf -
Nathan Lee Chasing His Ho...
Smiles A Lot -
Kirk Baltz
Edwards -
Maretta Big Crow
Village Mother -
-
Billy Burton
General's Aide -
Steve Chambers
Guard -
Doris Leader Charge
Pretty Shield -
Richard Leader Charge
Pawnee -
Buffalo Child
Pawnee #1 -
Otakuye Conroy
Kicking Bird's Daughter -
Frank P. Costanza
Tucker -
Annie Costner
Christine -
Bill W. Curry
Confederate Cavalryman -
R.L. Curtin
Ambush Wagon Driver -
Elise Daniel
Christine's Mother -
Conor Duffy
Willie -
Tom Everett
Sgt. Pepper -
David J. Fuller
Kicking Bird's Son -
Robert Goldman
Union Soldier -
Wayne Grace
Major -
Carter Hanner
Confederate Soldier -
Kent Hays
Wagon Driver -
Marvin Holy
Sioux Warrior -
Donald Hotton
Gen. Tide -
Larry Joshua
Sgt. Baker -
Jason R. Lone Hill
Worm -
Raymond Newholy
Sioux Courier -
Redwing Ted Nez
Sioux Warrior -
Tony Pierce
Spivey -
Percy White Plume
Big Warrior -
Steve Reevis
Sioux #1/Warrior #1 -
Michael Spears
Otter -
Wes Studi
Toughest Pawnee -
John Tail
Escort Warrior -
Ryan White Bull
Kicking Bird's Eldest S... -
Sheldon Peters Wolfchild
Sioux Warrior -
James Mitchell
Ray -
Chad Dowdell
Young Cavalry Soldier (... -
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All Critics (55) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (11) | DVD (35)
Dances With Wolves is a clear-eyed vision. Authentic as an Edward Curtis photograph, lyrical as a George Catlin oil or a Karl Bodmer landscape, this is a film with a pure ring to it.
Top CriticCostner tells a personal story that never loses touch with the vast Western spaces encompassing and defining it. Dances With Wolves is an epic that breathes. And it's a beauty.
As a director, Costner is alive to the sweep of the country and the expansive spirit of the western-movie tradition.
In his directorial debut, Kevin Costner brings a rare degree of grace and feeling to this elegiac tale.
Sincere, capable, at times moving, but overextended, this picture is seriously hampered by its tendency to linger over everything -- especially landscapes with silhouetted figures, and not excluding its own good intentions.
Once you're sucked into the leisurely narrative, it's hard to resist.
For all its worthiness and pictorial beauty, the narrative is damaged somewhat by Costner's over-cautious, sentimentalised portrait of the Sioux as early eco-warriors.
This is a western in the grand tradition, smoothly directed by Kevin Costner, who also gives a sensitive performance in the leading role. The screenplay is often trite, however.
Costner went for broke with his large-scale, Panavision epic... [Blu-ray]
a nuanced and thoughtful portrayal of cultures both clashing and finding common ground
Dances with Wolves is as genuine an artistic triumph as they come; a spellbinding American classic that tastes the tears of a country in the midst of all its incomparable beauty.
A masterful, painstakingly crafted adventure about the nature of acceptance, and the tragedy of human nature.
A grand, sweeping journey of the heart.
Plodding, simplistic and overlong politically correct Western epic.
The film's real joy rests in Costner's meticulous attention to historical detail, creating a world that is both moving and credible.
The political correctness is so politically correct and sappy and sucky and conscience-appeasing and politically-pacifying and just generally brain-numbing
An epic film that without its lead might have been better.
No one can doubt Kevin Costner's sincerity or vision.
Not a great film by any standard, this is a western for people who are completely ignorant about the genre.
Audience Reviews for Dances With Wolves
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Lt. John W. Dunbar: I've always wanted to see the frontier.
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- Stands With a Fist: You...hear...good.
-
- Lt. John W. Dunbar: Dunbar, not Dumb Bear.
-
- Lt. John W. Dunbar: The strangeness of this life cannot be measured: in trying to produce my own death, I was elevated to the status of a living hero.
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- Lt. John W. Dunbar: The strangeness of this life cannot be measured: in trying to produce my own death, I was elevated to the status of a living hero.
-
- Lt. John W. Dunbar: The strangeness of this life cannot be measured: in trying to produce my own death, I was elevated to the status of a living hero.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Dances With Wolves > Goodfellas and Godfather Part III | 7 days ago | 1 |
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Foreign Titles
- Der mit dem Wolf tanzt (DE)
