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.

abraham-59605 This is simply a masterpiece. The story of an outsider joining a indigenous community is not a new one, but this would have to be the greatest iteration of that tale. How Kevin Coaster pulled off directing, producing and starring in such a big film is amazing. The epic canvas that this period film is set is so beautifully captured by Dean Semler's cinematography and enhanced by the music of John Barry. I have seen the film no less than a dozen times. A must for high definition viewing.

brawnerbandwidth What to say about this film in particular? I first saw this movie as a class project in grade 7 (1991). I enjoyed it then and I must say that I enjoy it 26 years later even more than ever. The depth and sensitivity with detail was beyond my juvenile understanding. While I recommend the uncut version, the theater version is more than an ample story of love, friendship, hate, and change in a strange time. Kevin Costner may have had career missteps, but this is his Magnum Opus. Graham Greene, Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman, and Mary McDonnell with a swell and superb supporting cast tells the story of change in North America. The maturity and sensitivity of indigenous folk is top notch. As a pre-pubescent 12 year old, I did not quite understand the entire story, but I did see this as a very important milestone in film making. Years of marinating and quite a large amount of thought has confirmed this as my favorite film of all time (Shawshank Redemption, a close number 2). The music, the scenery, the culture clash and ultimate mixing was superb. The white man's self appointed superiority without communication with the native Sioux (and Pawnee with many other tribes assuredly represented) here is the stuff of legends. I did not know this won awards as a kid. I only thought this was the coolest 3+ hour class I'd ever had. I passed the test from viewing this film. In Canada, relations still seem restrained between the First Nations people and the 'newcomers'. Truth be told, without plot details, this is a very good movie. I am reluctant to critique the age from which this film is depicting. Nothing can change what happened. I hope, as I think Mr. Kevin Costner does, that this is a very sensitive movie with action, some cultural difference, humour (who can deny the humour in the 'Good Trade' argument after the buffalo hunt?), and a great plot. If I had a picture or film to take with me to a desert island, or an abandoned camp on the frontier as described, this is the film. Although I am sentimental at heart, nothing has shaken my view of this film in 26 years. This hasn't aged and is timeless. Understandably, there are people who will disagree on varying levels. It made me appreciate the wars of the past and how ignorant previous societies were. It also showed me how far we still have to go in the way of understanding people who come from a different place or culture than what we grew up with. An eye-opening film and, in my opinion, the best film I have seen to date. The uncut version shows more detail and is recommended highly. In short, this is a lesson in how people are all fundamentally the same. We are conditioned within our own culture, more-so back in those 'Cowboy & Indian' ways/days. This film is an education piece. It also is the most entertaining education I have received (by film) to this date. 10/10

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.