Dances With Wolves is about a Civil War Lieutenant John Dunbar who after trying to commit suicide is rewarded with a medal and given the choice of where he would like to be stationed at. He chooses a remote post in the west. When he gets there he finds it abandoned and decided to stay and keep the fort operational until others arrive. His only companions at first is his horse and a wolf who he names Two Socks because of his two white feet. When no one comes for a long time he begins to make friends with the nearby Sioux Tribe. At first he sees it as the first steps to being an ambassador but after falling in love with one of the members of the tribe they become his family. The Sioux people begin calling him Dances With Wolves after they see him playing with Two Socks. When the army finally arrives they see him as a traitor who turned his back on his military duty and joined the Indian tribe. They arrest him and after a daring rescue by the Indians he is faced with the decision of where his loyalties lie.
Originally 3 hours long the Blu-Ray Directors cut is almost 4 hours long. While the beginning is slightly boring the movie never really feels long. I always loved the west and wished I could have seen it back then in the wild with the large herds of buffalo so I don't mind the slow sweeping shots of the scenery. The story itself is engrossing. I love how we learn about the Sioux as Dunbar does. At first they are just silent but over time we begin to understand. There are some funny scenes with the tribe where we see they are not much different the us. The movie shows the softer side of Indians and how we have always misunderstood them and just need to look at life from their point of view. It is that idea that the movie is trying to get across and one of the few "message" movies that gets its point across without hitting you over the head with the message. Kevin Costner did a great job directing and acting in the movie. All the members of the tribe were terrific. Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, and Graham Greene all got Nominated for Oscars and all lost. The movie did win a total of 7 awards.
It was odd that a Western won best picture in 1990 since it seemed like it was the year of the gangster flick. The movie was up against The Godfather Part III and Goodfellas for Best Picture also that year Millers Crossing and State of Grace came out but were not nominated for anything. The other movies nominated for Best Picture were Awakenings and Ghost. With Ghost winning Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Whoopi Goldberg. Must have been a bad year for Original Screenplays as I don't think Ghost was that good and I haven't seen any of the other movies nominated. Although Jacobs Ladder and Millers Crossing probably should have been nominated. Maybe one of the biggest surprises of the year was the Best Actress win of Kathy Bates for Misery(who beat Julia Roberts in Pretty Women). Very rarely does acting in a horror movie get recognized. A very deserving win for Joe Pesci in Goodfellas.
Oscar Facts:
Dances with Wolves was only the second Western to win Best Picture the first was Cimarron in 1931,
Kevin Costner became of the few people to direct himself to an Oscar Nomination
With the nomination of The Godfather Part III the Godfather Trilogy became the first to have all three movies nominated for Best Picture.
By the Numbers:
Dances with Wolves was ranked number 75 on AFI's 100 Greatest Films in 1997 but not ranked on their 2007 list.
Goodfellas was ranked number 94 in 1997 and number 92 in 2007 on AFI's 100 Greatest Films list. And is currently ranked number 15 on IMDB Top 250.
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