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Dances With Wolves (1990)

tomatometer

78

Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 51
Fresh: 40 | 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.

70

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 7 | 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.

audience

84

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

PG-13, 3 hr. 1 min.

Western, Drama, Action & Adventure

Michael Blake

Jun 17, 2003

Orion Pictures

Cast

All Critics (51) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (11) | DVD (34)

As a director, Costner is alive to the sweep of the country and the expansive spirit of the western-movie tradition.

February 20, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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

January 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

February 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comments (5)
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Its triumph is that it is never exactly boring, only dulled. It's a movie in acute need of sharpening.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comments (4)
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's a rousing adventure, a touching romance, and a stirring drama.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A simple story, magnificently told.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Costner went for broke with his large-scale, Panavision epic... [Blu-ray]

February 21, 2011 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | Comment

a nuanced and thoughtful portrayal of cultures both clashing and finding common ground

January 22, 2011 Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | Comment
Q Network Film Desk

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.

January 20, 2011 Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | Comment
BrianOrndorf.com

A masterful, painstakingly crafted adventure about the nature of acceptance, and the tragedy of human nature.

January 16, 2011 Full Review Source: IGN DVD | Comment
IGN DVD

A grand, sweeping journey of the heart.

January 2, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

Plodding, simplistic and overlong politically correct Western epic.

March 2, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comments (10)
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.

February 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

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

May 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comments (8)
Apollo Guide

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

February 10, 2007 Comments (4)
Oscar Guy

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

February 10, 2007 Full Review Source: Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) | Comment
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

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

February 5, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comments (4)
TV Guide's Movie Guide

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

June 19, 2006 Full Review Source: Moviehole | Comments (3)
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.

June 10, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comments (3)

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

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Dances With Wolves

Many people think the 1990 Oscar for Best Picture should have gone to GoodFellas; I might have preferred that also, but don't discredit this film for that reason. This is a great film! Along with 92's Unforgiven, Dances With Wolves revamped the Western genre, making it popular again. Nominated for 12 Academy Awards and

August 3, 2010
jamers2011
Jameson Worley

Super Reviewer

It may be a clichéd complaint, but more often than not the Academy has got the Best Picture Oscar dead wrong. Sometimes, as with Crash, their mistake is obvious and the outcry is instant; on other occasions, as with Citizen Kane, both the Academy and the public have taken time to see the error of their ways. And then

December 3, 2011
Daniel Mumby
Daniel Mumby

Super Reviewer

    1. Stands With a Fist: You...hear...good.
    – Submitted by Michael C (37 days ago)
    1. Lt. John W. Dunbar: Dunbar, not Dumb Bear.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)
    1. 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.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)
    1. 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.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)
    1. 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.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)

Latest News for Dances With Wolves

May 9, 2008:
Viggo Cutting in on Dances With Wolves Sequel?
Director Simon Wincer is rumored to be working on a sequel to Dances With Wolves -- with Viggo...

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...

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Foreign Titles

  • Der mit dem Wolf tanzt (DE)
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