Customer Reviews

Dances with Wolves (Full Screen Theatrical Edition)

5 star:		(125)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

No movie before or since has gotten to me the way "Dances With Wolves" has (it would have been even better if some guy in the theater hadn't blurted out the climax: "Hey, this is the part where..." UGH!). Though not without its flaws (the idea of a white cavalry officer deserting to join a Sioux Indian tribe--and then actually succeeding--is a bit of a stretch in the historical context) the movie is so good that you don't care! This is what movie magic is all about, the suspension of disbelief, and Costner is a master here. The photography is breathtaking, the acting outstanding, and the musical score...well, I think it speaks for itself (BRILLIANT!).

A truly remarkable picture, and when one considers this as Costner's directorial debut...WOW! Is it any wonder everything he has made since, regardless of its quality, has seemed anti-climactic? If you love epic tales that don't put you to sleep, this is the one. Also, if you haven't seen the Expanded Edition at 237 minutes you are truly missing out. I hope it is released on DVD soon.

If this movie doesn't bring a tear to your eye then you need your heart examined! Five stars.

The studio is currently working on a 2 disc special edition for this movie,the dvd should br released sometime in early 2003.The rumour is that it will contain the 181 minute verion and the 237 minute version.It will also have documentaries on the making of the film,production notes,trailers,commentary and many more special features.

First off, let me say that this is a "five-star" film for me. My rating is based on Amazon's incorrect information on the product page.

The product being offered here by Amazon.com is the UK Region-free Blu-ray. It is NOT the long version as stated, but rather the theatrical release at 181 minutes' running time. I verified this by ordering the Blu-ray, then actually seeing the correct information on the back of the case.

The back of the case also says "letterbox," whereas on the Amazon.com product page the aspect ratio is given as "1.78:1". However, 1.78:1 fills a 16x9 widescreen TV's screen completely, so it cannot be "letterbox," i.e. with the black bars on the top and bottom of the picture. I returned the Blu-ray without opening it, so I don't know which it actually is.

Even after I called Amazon Customer Service and pointed out their mistakes on the product page, they have yet to correct the errors after a weeks' time! Shame on them!

If you want the full-length, i.e. 4-hour extended cut, on Blu-ray, you need to get the French version (region-free, with French nonforced subtitles only), or the German version, which is locked to Region B and thus will most likely not play on standard U.S. Blu-ray players.

This film is breathtaking. There are so many scenes in it which you can watch over and over again.

The colour and picture quality are probably the best I have ever seen on DVD and the sound is also excellent.

It is a very introspective film and if you aren't one for epic movies then give this a miss. If however you don't mind watching a movie for a really long time you will be rewarded by experiencing a truly classic film.

This review refers to the DVD edition(Image Entertainment) of "Dances With Wolves"....

This film has everything you could ever want to be thoroughly swept away to antoher time and place. A period piece, set during the time of the Civil War, it has action, romance, adventure, a marvelous script,mesmerizing cinematography, and a score that will take your breath away. It's a three hour epic tale, that you may wish would never end.

Kevin Costner leads a fine cast as Lt. John Dunbar, who's dreams of seeing the frontier before it vanishes is realized when he is assigned a deserted post with only a tribe of Sioux Indians as his neighbors. Dunbar and this tribe of peaceful and proud Sioux, are at first wary of each other, but eventually he is taken into the fold and becomes very much a part of their lives. The deep friendships and bonding that evolve, and the romance with "Stands With Fist"(Mary McDonell), a white woman raised by the tribe and is now very much a Sioux, are touching, poignant and even sometimes a little humorous. The adventures, and the heroism of both Dunbar and his new family will keep you involved the entire length of the film.

The film won seven Academy Awards in 1990, including Best Picture and Best Director(Costner). The sweeping score by John Barry is so beautiful, you may just want to order the soundtrack as well.Dean Semler's photography are visions you won't soon forget(both of these also with Oscars for their work on the film). Fine performances by Graham Greene,Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman,Rodney Grant,Tantoo Cardinal really add to the authenticity of the time and place, and Maury Chaykin's appearance is always a welcome addition to any film.

This DVD edition by Image presents a beautiful picture in widescreen and fabulous sound in Dolby Dig 5.1. There are subtitles throughout the film, as a good part of the dialouge spoken is Sioux, and the titles are clear and distinguishable. This edition does not include any special features, but there is also a special edition out that has many features and there is also an edition that is recorded in DTS. At this time, this one is only available through the merchants, the special edition is not too much more pricewise for what you get..but the choices are there for you.

A great way to warm up for the upcoming Oscar season..enjoy...Laurie

I can appreciate the idea that "Dances with Wolves" is an example of cinematic revisionist history, if not an outright case of affirmative action that instantiates the idea of the "noble savage" that once held sway among the European settlers of the New World. But Hollywood has been reinterpreting the Old West in light of changing socio-political beliefs for decades. Just look at the changing story of Custer at the Little Big Horn from "Them Died With Their Boots On" to "Little Big Man" to "Son of the Morning Star." With Kevin Costner's film the Western was elevated to a level that hitherto had not been approached in American cinema.

It is "Little Big Man," along with "A Man Called Horse," that are clearly the cinematic ancestors of "Dances with Wolves." All three deal with a white man who finds a home among a Native American tribe, but where this 1990 film differs is that it is also an epic, at which point we are talking "How the West Was Won" and "Once Upon a Time in the West." Yet "Dances With Wolves" is a significant step beyond all of those films. "Little Big Man" was a black comedy and not an epic, "A Man Called Horse" was about an English aristocrat and not an American soldier, "How the West Was Won" was about Manifest Destiny and not the destruction of an indigenous culture, and "Once Upon a Time in the West" was operatic and not grounded in history, albiet a romanticized one.

Michael Blake's screenplay is based on his novel, and it is the film's prologue that I find most problematic. The idea is to establish Costner's John Dunbar as being someone special from the start, so that the Union soldier who could survive a hail of Confederate bullets becomes the man that could befriend a wild wolf on the Plains. It is also establishes Dunbar as a man who is searching for something, and not merely an alternative to the horrors of war but more importantly a reason for living. Whereas the rest of the film takes its time to develop things this initial part is relatively rushed, but the excuse for putting Dunbar in the middle of the Dakotas on a deserted military post is secondary to what happens once he is there.

The greatest strength of "Dances with Wolves" is that Dunbar's interactions with the Sioux (really the Lakotas, but the film uses the more familiar but erroneous name for these Native Americans), are defined by a series of relationships with clearly defined characters. Although his romance with Stands With A Fist (Mary McDonnell) is a major plot line, and her being a white woman raised by the tribe a useful contrivance for allowing the two sides to communicate, the relationship that really stands out is between Dunbar and Kicking Bird (Graham Greene). This is because the two are kindred spirits, each willing to be open to the other and committed to understanding the other on his own terms. The opposite position is taken by Wind In His Hair (Rodney A. Grant), but even he forges a relationship with the man who is given the Sioux name Dances With Wolves.

Then there are the relationships with both the tribal elders, such as Chief Ten Bears (Floyd Red Crow Westerman), and the youngsters, including Smiles a Lot (Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse). What makes these characters so compelling is that they are utterly devoid of caricature and that the performances seem so real and provide such a sense of dignity. There are moments of warmth and humor throughout the film, both springing from this same source. It is ironic that while the film won seven Oscars, none of them were for acting (Costner, Greene, and McDonnell were all nominated).

Because Dunbar is all alone at his post, he begins keeping a journal. This simple device allows the film to take advantage of Dunbar's narration to advance both the story and the message. What would seem stilted as a monologue works perfectly well in the context of a written journal entry. In the last act of the film the journal becomes part of the story as well, not only as a symbol of the disdain most white men have for the Indians and their culture, but as a testament to what is being lost. Dunbar decides to come West because he wants to see it before it is gone (even though the time frame here is the 1860s and the Civil War), and the final point of the film is that the Sioux were only years away from being herded to reservations. One of the great ironies of the story is that it is Dunbar, the only white man the Sioux have ever known, who gives them their death sentence when he tells them that as many white as there are stars in the sky are coming.

There are two major action sequences in the film, the buffalo hunt and Pawnee attack, but they are really not the most impressive parts of the film. That Dunbar would be invited to go on the hunt or that he would organize the defense of the village, are ultimately more important in the film. Dunbar is heroic because he is, in the best meaning of the term, human. Costner won the Oscar for best director, but clearly his strength is in telling the story and keeping the characters real rather than in coming up with pretty pictures, althought Australian cinematographer Dean Semler comes up with plenty of those, especially when he takes advantage of a brilliant sunset as a backdrop. "Dances with Wolves" is epic in its scope, but it has an attention to detail that few Westerns can rival, which it why it was the first film since "Cimarron" in 1931 to win the Best Picture Oscar.

*BUYER BEWARE!*

For those of you who enjoy or love this film and have been reading the glowing reviews look again, at the fine print. You have been deliberately misled by Amazon into thinking that this IMPORTED release is of the same quality and caliber as previous releases. It is not the extended version as stated but the theatrical release and not letter-boxed as promoted. If you want to read reviews for this INFERIOR RELEASE, you have to search through ALL the reviews to find them, well buried. In effect, you have been deliberately duped, again by Amazon into buying this product based on the reviews of other, superior releases. And this is not the first time that Amazon has shown its' true colors.

As a film lover and collector, I have seen many times the disreputable, misleading and outright dishonest business practices of this company, time and again. If you want to buy from Amazon you cannot trust that they will do the right thing and operate in a straight up manner. You are forced to be wary, carefully read the fine print, the reviews and be on the lookout for inferior offshore product being misrepresented so they can make even bigger profit.

Dances With Wolves [IMPORT] [Blu-ray]I don't know about your thoughts but as for myself, well I am sick and tired of self serving corporations whose SOLE purpose is profit, profit and more profit.

I loved this movie so when I saw it available for DTS I scooped it up right quick, the effects are awesome if you have DTS equipment BUY this, you won't be dissapointed.

This is a historically inaccurate, unbalanced portrayal of Native Americans. The film not only drips in political correctness, but it is offensive in its portrayal of Whites (except for the sensitive Kevin). The white men are fat, drunk, farting, pants-pissing oafs. The Sioux are beautiful, intelligent, dignified, and full of wisdom. These Sioux know nothing about whites until Kevin comes tripping in? Come on, there was a major Sioux - White conflict in Minnesota during 1862. Three hundred and fifty setlers were killed; hundreds of Sioux were arrested and 38 were hanged. You don't think this news didn't spread to other bands of Sioux? And that Winchestor rifle Kevin uses to slay the buffalo -- it hadn't been invented yet. Please see the superior 'Black Robe'(1991) by Bruce Beresford for a balanced presentation of the clash of two disparate cultures. I also recommend the wonderful 'Broken Arrow' (1950) by Delmer Daves for a moving portrayal of Whites and Native American trying to work out peace.

For once I agree with the critics. "Dances with Wolves" is brilliant. I walked out of the cinema after seeing this film and felt like I had gone through a religious revelation. I was glad to live in a world which could make movies such as this.

OK, that sounds a little over the top but that is how I felt at the time. I pity those people who didn't get to see "Dances with Wolves" on a big screen. Video just does not do it justice. I own both the standard three hour wide screen version laser disc of "Dances with Wolves" as well as the special four hour edition. Despite the movie being terrific it is difficult for me to sit down for four straight hours. For that reason I have to split it over two sessions. The original edition is for visitors to watch.

Before I got the longer edition I was curious as to whether it was better or just a watered down version of the first cut. Well it is definitely better. There are so many new scenes that it would be too much effort to list them. The major difference for me though was a section in the middle where Dunbar, (Kevin Costner), has a moment of doubt about his newfound friends. It occurs right before the buffalo hunt when he finds them all celebrating their slaughter of the white buffalo hunters who were responsible for the waste of so many fine animals. Even if it is justice he is not comfortable with their evident joy at such an inherently brutal act. 'Nough said about the differences.

The core story is short but the telling is rich in nuance. We meet the wounded hero, Lieutenant Dunbar, in a American civil war hospital tent. He is about to have his leg amputated. While the doctors are having a smoke break he decides to rejoin his regiment and break a long standing stale mate by riding to his death across the enemy lines. It doesn't go quite as planned however and he ends up being the hero that turned the tide of battle. As a reward, he is given the use of the best doctor and an unlimited choice of duty.

His choice is to go west to the Indian frontier. Unfortunately his superior officer at his eventual posting, Major Fambrough, is mad. Just before his suicide the Major sends Dunbar out to a new base right in the frontier. When he get's there, the camp is deserted and unbeknownst to Dunbar the Major has not filed his final order, meaning that no one knows the whereabouts of Dunbar.

Only a little perturbed, Dunbar decides to clean up the camp and wait for reinforcements. It isn't long before the local Indians turn up to make his life more interesting. Over the course of time he is drawn more and more into their community. Eventually his is forced to take the side of the Indians over that of his fellow soldiers. A situation which leads to his arrest. The only other major factor in the film is his romance with a white woman who has been raised in the tribe since she was a young girl. She is responsible in no small part for Dunbar switching sides.

The message we are left with at the end of the film is that there need not have been any SIDES in the first place.