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IMDbPro

Dances with Wolves

  • 1990
  • PG-13
  • 3h 1m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
277K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,084
112
Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)
Trailer for Dances With Wolves
Play trailer1:31
1 Video
99+ Photos
AdventureDramaWestern

Lieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.Lieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.Lieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.

  • Director
    • Kevin Costner
  • Writer
    • Michael Blake
  • Stars
    • Kevin Costner
    • Mary McDonnell
    • Graham Greene
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    8.0/10
    277K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,084
    112
    • Director
      • Kevin Costner
    • Writer
      • Michael Blake
    • Stars
      • Kevin Costner
      • Mary McDonnell
      • Graham Greene
    • 588User reviews
    • 96Critic reviews
    • 72Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Top rated movie #250
    • Won 7 Oscars
      • 54 wins & 38 nominations total

    Videos1

    Dances With Wolves: 20th Anniversary Edition
    Trailer 1:31
    Watch Dances With Wolves: 20th Anniversary Edition

    Photos240

    Kevin Costner and Mary McDonnell in Dances with Wolves (1990)
    Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)
    Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)
    Kevin Costner and Mary McDonnell in Dances with Wolves (1990)
    Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)
    Kevin Costner and Graham Greene in Dances with Wolves (1990)
    Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)
    Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)
    Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)
    Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)
    Kevin Costner and Mary McDonnell in Dances with Wolves (1990)
    Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kevin Costner
    Kevin Costner
    • Lieutenant Dunbar
    Mary McDonnell
    Mary McDonnell
    • Stands With A Fist
    Graham Greene
    Graham Greene
    • Kicking Bird
    Rodney A. Grant
    Rodney A. Grant
    • Wind In His Hair
    Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman
    Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman
    • Ten Bears
    • (as Floyd Red Crow Westerman)
    Tantoo Cardinal
    Tantoo Cardinal
    • Black Shawl
    Robert Pastorelli
    Robert Pastorelli
    • Timmons
    Charles Rocket
    Charles Rocket
    • Lieutenant Elgin
    Maury Chaykin
    Maury Chaykin
    • Major Fambrough
    Jimmy Herman
    Jimmy Herman
    • Stone Calf
    Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse
    • Smiles A Lot
    Michael Spears
    Michael Spears
    • Otter
    Jason R. Lone Hill
    • Worm
    Tony Pierce
    • Spivey
    Doris Leader Charge
    • Pretty Shield
    Tom Everett
    Tom Everett
    • Sergeant Pepper
    Larry Joshua
    Larry Joshua
    • Sergeant Bauer
    Kirk Baltz
    Kirk Baltz
    • Edwards
    • Director
      • Kevin Costner
    • Writer
      • Michael Blake
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Because of the film's enormous success and sympathetic treatment of the Native Americans, the Lakota Nation adopted Kevin Costner as an honorary member.
    • Goofs
      Electric power lines are visible during the buffalo hunt.
    • Quotes

      Wind In His Hair: [in Lakota; subtitled] Dances with Wolves! I am Wind In His Hair. Do you see that I am your friend? Can you see that you will always be my friend?

    • Alternate versions
      The 236-minute "extended version" or "Director's Cut" has been released on home video, altering the movie as such:
      • 38 x new scene
      • 15 x extended scene
      • 12 x alternative footage
      • 5 x alternative text
      • 1 x new text
      • 3 x postponed scene
      • 3 x altered arrangement of scenes
      • 3 x shortened scene.
      There is also a 233-minute version which cuts out the 3 minute Intermission at around 133 min featuring John Barry music.
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Jacob's Ladder/Waiting for the Light/Tune in Tomorrow.../Vincent & Theo (1990)
    • Soundtracks
      Fire Dance
      By Peter Buffett

    User reviews588

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    A Moving and Superbly Made Movie
    Like most of the commentators here, I found "Dances With Wolves" to be a moving and superbly made movie. Others have eloquently talked about the wonderful music and score, the very real script, and excellent acting, so there is no need for me to elaborate. But another element of the movie that I found even more notable is its depiction of Native Americans as individuals with feelings, honorable if at the same time frequently peculiar customs, and as human beings with human urges and impulses. What a refreshing contrast to all of the pablum and nonsense that has been the staple of Hollywood and its treatment of "injuns" over the years.

    So it comes as no surprise that some of the criticisms here come from people who believe the movie is anti-white or anti-army or glorifies Native Americans. But I believe these comments completely miss the mark. First off, Costner in the movie himself portrays an army figure--the movie is trying to show that not all people in the army are beasts. This is again brought out by the young leader of the troops attempting to arrest Costner and bring him back to trial; this soldier is depicted as a fair and honest young man put in a difficult spot.

    Perhaps one of the reasons for the shortsightedness of some of the movie critics is their lack of understanding of the terrible plight faced by native Americans and the awful, holocaust-like consequences of the policy that was known as "Indian Removal." And yes, I am a professor who knows something about the subject and who uses this film in class (and I am not afraid to admit it). Please have a look at "As Long as Grass Grows or Water Runs" a chapter in Howard Zinn's famous book, "A People's History of the United States." It uses many primary sources to describe exactly what happened; the phrase, by the way, was a promise made by Andrew Jackson (later President Jackson) to Cherokee Indians if they would relocate (a promise later broken, of course). Jackson, by the way, refused to enforce a court order from the Supreme Court in the case of Worcester v. Georgia involving an individual sentenced to prison for questioning the legitimacy of laws repressing the Cherokees. Jackson also fought the Creeks killing hundreds of them and later boasted, "the truth is, the (Creeks) did not respect the power of the United States...We bleed our enemies in such cases to give them their senses." From 1814 to 1824, Jackson was instrumental in fashioning a series of treaties that deprived Indians of over 3/4 of Alabama and Florida, one-third of Tennessee, one-fifth of Georgia and Mississippi, and parts of Kentucky and North Carolina. These treaties were little more than land grabs and Jackson is widely known to have practiced extensive bribery and other dirty tricks in securing them. At the same time, Jackson and his friends and relatives received many patronage appointments as land agents, traders etc (I guess he would have gotten along well with Dick Chenney and Bush) and of course, he and his friends bought up much of this land that became suddenly available.

    Another good source for what happened to the Indians is the eyewitness account of a soldier who served in the mounted infantry. John G. Burnett in 1890 published his reminiscences, "The Cherokee Removal through the Eyes of a Private Soldier". "I was sent as interpreter into the Smoky Mountain Country in May, 1838, and witnessed the execution of the most brutal order in the History of American Warfare. I saw the helpless Cherokees arrested and dragged from their homes, and driven at the bayonet point into the stockades. And in the chill of a drizzling rain on an October morning, I saw them loaded like cattle or sheep into 645 wagons and started toward the West." This evokes images not unlike those showing S.S. officers putting Jews in railroad cars. "At this time, 1890," continues Burnett, "we are too near the removal of the Cherokees for our young people to fully understand the enormity of the crime that was committed against a helpless race. Truth is, the facts are being concealed from the young people of today." Burnett later describes the "streams of blood that flowed in the Indian country in the summer of 1838" and the "4000 silent graves that mark the trail of the Cherokees to their exile", again very much like a World War II death march. So what I find shocking about "Dances With Wolves" is that it shows, to a great extent, the brutality of the conflict between "settlers" from one civilization, and the people who already lived on the land. This stands as a testament to Costner and his willingness to take this brave position. It is precisely because this subject has become taboo and because most Americans haven't a clue as to their own history, because their image of America is similar to Pleasantville (before colorization), that many people find this movie revolting and unacceptable. Hence, they prefer to shoot the messenger of the "bad" news-- Costner.

    Finally, as others have pointed out, the movie does not glorify all Native Americans. It shows that there is a spectrum of behavior amongst them, and also shows that many of their customs (eating fresh meat from just-killed animals, for example) are shocking and barbaric to us today.
    helpful•41
    5
    • wordsmith100
    • Jun 14, 2006

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    FAQ9

    • Is this based on any real facts? Did any European person live with natives as one of them?
    • Is it true that around that time the Sioux tribe was finished? Are the buffalo extinct?
    • Why did Major Fambrough act so strangely?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 21, 1990 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • United Kingdom
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • English
      • Sioux
      • Pawnee
    • Also known as
      • Khiêu Vũ Với Bầy Sói
    • Filming locations
      • Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA(Fort Hays to Fort Sedgewick Wagon journey)
    • Production companies
      • Tig Productions
      • Majestic Films International
      • Allied Filmmakers
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $22,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $184,208,848
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $598,257
      • Nov 11, 1990
    • Gross worldwide
      • $424,208,848
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      3 hours 1 minute
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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