Dances with Wolves (1990)

Magnificent Epic...Dubious History
Spectacularly filmed with breathtaking action sequences. A smart, clever, warm-hearted script that pushes all the right buttons. The buffalo hunt scene is alone worth the price of a rental. I enjoy it every time.

As storytelling, Dances W/ Wolves is arguably the high-water mark of late 20th century political correctness. Minorities good, whites bad. That's not necessarily a bad thing, after hundreds of movies portraying native americans as savages, would it absolutely kill Hollywood to turn the other cheek just for once? Apparently not. Hugely successful both in box office and awards, DWW set the standard for epics for the next two decades. Who knows, John Ford might have actually approved. John Wayne would not have.

Once again, for the people in the back row who didn't hear the first thousand times: if you are looking to Hollywood for history lessons, you are fools. Sorry for the name calling but it is what it is. By now, any adult in North America has no excuse for not knowing better than trying to get educated through movie watching. Alas, many reviewers seem to persist in the understanding that the Old West was really like it is portrayed in entertainment. Even the basic premise that an Indian tribe would be so foolhardy as to take a white man, a professional soldier no less, into its community is absurd. Can you say, "begging for trouble?" Conversely, the idea that a white american man of a sound mind from the east in the mid 1800's would be so openminded as to want to "go native" is similarly absurd. Racial harmony was not taught in the classroom in the 1800's. It's a STORY. Enjoy the STORY.

Worth while
Dances with Wolves is a great filM. Kevin Costner does a fabulous job portraying a soldier. I recommend watching it

An American epic classic! Very moving and engaging!
There is good reason this masterpiece film won at the Academy Awards, and good reason it has garnered rave reviews worldwide. 'DWW' is easily one of the best, quality American epic movies ever made. The story and acting is absolutely moving and believable, and the scenery and cinematography stunning to say the least. You have to be an automaton, or someone with a very selfish and/or skewed personal agenda, to dislike this great film. In the end, it was about how we displaced the true natives of North America, mainly the various indian tribes and groups interspersed throughout the continent for thousands of years before we moved here. Moreover, it was the story of an American who learned a lot about himself from his interaction with the Sioux, and who ultimately had to choose between living with his society or that of the Sioux people and be considered a 'traitor'. Powerful and compelling, without a doubt.