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Movies / On DVD / Dances with Wolves
Dances with Wolves

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Dances with Wolves (1990)

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77 %
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Reviews Counted: 48

Fresh: 37

Rotten:11

Average Rating: 7/10

Consensus: A grand, sweeping epic with inarguably noble intentions and arresting cinematography, but one whose center, arguably, is not as weighty as it should be.

Runtime: 4 hrs

Genre: Westerns

Synopsis: Actor Kevin Costner made his debut behind the camera--and won an Oscar for Best Director--with this celebrated epic. In 1865, Civil War hero Lt. John Dunbar (Costner) asks to be reassigned to the... Actor Kevin Costner made his debut behind the camera--and won an Oscar for Best Director--with this celebrated epic. In 1865, Civil War hero Lt. John Dunbar (Costner) asks to be reassigned to the western frontier before it disappears. At his isolated post he develops a relationship with the peaceful Lakota Sioux and a white woman (an excellent, Oscar-nominated Mary McDonnell) who lives among them, finding greater kinship with them than with his own people. But his life with the Sioux is threatened when the Army appears, and Dunbar must decide where his loyalties truly lie. Co-starring Graham Greene, DANCES WITH WOLVES boasts seven Academy Award wins and another five nominations. [More]

Starring: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant

Starring: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Robert Pastorelli, Wes Studi

Director: Kevin Costner

Director: Kevin Costner
Producer: Jim Wilson, Kevin Costner
Composer: John Barry
Screenwriter: Michael Blake

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jan 22, 2008

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Dances with Wolves

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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As a director, Costner is alive to the sweep of the country and the expansive spirit of the western-movie tradition.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
02/20/09
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Plodding, simplistic and overlong politically correct Western epic.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment 3 Comments
03/02/08
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The film's real joy rests in Costner's meticulous attention to historical detail, creating a world that is both moving and credible.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
02/20/08
Channel 4 Film

In his directorial debut, Kevin Costner brings a rare degree of grace and feeling to this elegiac tale.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
01/28/08
Amy Dawes
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The political correctness is so politically correct and sappy and sucky and conscience-appeasing and politically-pacifying and just generally brain-numbing

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment 5 Comments
05/05/07
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide

No one can doubt Kevin Costner's sincerity or vision.

Full Review Source: Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) | comment Comment
02/10/07
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

An epic film that without its lead might have been better.

Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | comment 1 Comment
02/10/07
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy

Not a great film by any standard, this is a western for people who are completely ignorant about the genre.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment 1 Comment
02/05/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide

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.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 1 Comment
02/05/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the best films of our time. The finest achievement of Kevin Costner's career.

Full Review Source: Moviehole | comment Comment
06/19/06
Clint Morris
Moviehole

While the movie is not really revisionist or a new type of Western, it's a mass-oriented film in its middlebrow sensibility and acceptable message about the co-existence between the White Man and Native Americans.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment 1 Comment
06/10/06
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Once you're sucked into the leisurely narrative, it's hard to resist.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

The high-water mark of Kevin Costner's career.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
08/17/05
Donald J. Levit
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
06/19/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Kevin Costner makes a good movie before falling into a pit of garbage.

comment Comment
06/14/05
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

No review available.

comment Comment
04/08/05
Jon Niccum
Lawrence Journal-World

engagingly personal epic

comment Comment
02/26/05
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

How Costner got an Acting nomination no one will ever understand, but the rest of the film is visually pleasing and can make up for troubled directing and acting.

comment Comment
09/04/04
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy

No review available.

comment Comment
07/13/04
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

No review available.

comment Comment
06/04/04
Sarah Chauncey
Reel.com
 
 
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Latest News for Dances with Wolves

May 09, 2008: Viggo Cutting in on Dances With Wolves Sequel? Opens in new window
Director Simon Wincer is rumored to be working on a sequel to Dances With Wolves -- with Viggo Mortensen the favorite to replace a recalcitrant Kevin Costner. More...

February 26, 2007: How Does "The Departed" Rank Among Oscar's Best?
So Martin Scorsese finally has his long-overdue, much-deserved Oscar. But where does "The Departed" stack up in the annals of Academy history? More...

October 10, 2005: Uwe Boll Talks Dungeon Siege, Bloodrayne, and More.
Director Uwe Boll was kind enough to take time away from filming "Dungeon Siege" to answer a few questions about projects, past, present, and future for Skewed and... More...

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