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Rating: 4 out of 5
I will start this review with a statement that people might disagree with, but if you watched the movie, you can see significant comparisons to it. The highest-grossing film of all time, Avatar, has the SAME exact theme, premise, and storyline as Dances with Wolves. Before Avatar, the Kevin Costner film graced the big screen and won big at the Academy Awards. When I say it is the same exact film, if you take out all the CGI of Avatar and somewhat being in a strange world, you will get Dances with Wolves. That is probably why I wasn’t too hyped after seeing Avatar because it reminded me so much of Dances with Wolves. Hey, if you going to make a story might as well get inspiration from someone else.
So, what is Dances with Wolves about? First, it is a film that is directed, produced, and stars Kevin Costner. I guess homeboy didn’t have enough work, and to make it even a sense of accomplishment, this was Costner’s directorial debut.
During a US Civil War battle in Tennessee, Union Army Officer Lieutenant John J. Dunbar (Costner) learns that his injured leg is to be amputated. Not accepting his leg being taken, he steals a nearby horse and decides that the best way is for suicide by having the Confederate Soldiers fire at him as he rides by them. The first ride-along doesn’t go as plan as every bullet misses him. While seeing this, the Union soldiers become energized and at the Confederate Army, defeating them. The commanding general rewards Dunbar with a post of his choosing, has his personal surgeon, and allows him to keep the horse. Dunbar is extremely anxious to see the American frontier before it disappears due to mass settlement from the East, requests transfer west. After meeting with a Major who has completely lost his mind, pairs him with teamster who conveys Dunbar to his new post. Upon leaving, the Major commits suicide.
The journey is smooth, with Dunbar arriving with fresh supplies at the desolate Fort Sedgwick, finding it deserted except for a lone wolf that Dunbar later befriends and dubs Two Socks. Dunbar begins his mission and post by bringing order to the fort. Dunbar sends his teamster back home. While returning to his base, the teamster is ambushed and killed by Pawnee Indians. This causes a significant problem for Dunbar as no Union soldiers know of his post, and it isolates him from the world. Unaware of his situation, Dunbar begins writing in his journal and notes how no other soldiers have joined him.
One night, Dunbar’s world changes again as he encounters his Sioux neighbors when a couple of the kids try to steal his horse. Deciding that it is better to be friends than an enemy, Dunbar decides to seek out the Sioux camp and attempt dialogue. On his way, he runs into a white woman named Stands with a Fist and is the adopted daughter of the tribe’s medicine man Kicking Bird. Dunbar brings Stands with a Fist back to the camp after injuring herself while morning her husband’s death. At first, the tribe is hostile to Dunbar, but soon, communication opens as they visit each other camps. As time goes by, Dunbar soon earns respect and admiration of the tribe. Dunbar soon questions his allegiance as the Union Army is slowly taking over the lands. He must decide on whether to stay with the army or fully be one with the tribe.
Once again, if you want to know where Avatar came from, watch this film because it is the same. A soldier goes to a new land and becomes part of the native tribe while fighting off the people he used to work for. It even has both characters doing logs about themselves and their journey.
Now, I am going to be completely honest. Do I think this could’ve happened in real life? Maybe. I have read Thomas Jefferson’s biography and William Henry Harrison. I can tell you that Jefferson didn’t favor Native Americans and pushed them out further and further from their lands. Let’s not even get into what Andrew Jackson did. So trying to see a white man become part of the Native American tribe is pretty tough.
Back in the day, this film was all the rage as Costner’s directorial debut. I am going to say that the film was pretty good but not spectacular. It was quite interesting to see a man from one extreme world entering another. What is highlighted is the long process that the two groups go through to make each other comfortable with each other. Dunbar acts like a buffalo and gives them items like coffee and other things. Even as an outsider, Dunbar slowly moves in favor with the tribe. He entirely becomes one when homeboy goes on a search mission for buffalo. Dunbar kills a few while also saving one of the members of the tribe from being trampled.
The film’s highlight is the two big battles—one when Sioux and Pawnee fight in a battle. The battle is intense but almost quite short as the Sioux know how to use firearms, and they surround the one leader for he is killed. The other scene is when the Sioux saves Dunbar from his own men and takes him back to be court-martialed.
There is also the inevitable love story. How is it the ONE white woman named Stand With A Fist falls in love with the one white man trying to be part of the group? Seems rather a coincidence that this happens somehow. Yet, after time the two fall in love and ride away together.
You want to talk about some good cinematography, then this film has it. Whether it is the scene where Dunbar and the Sioux are walking to find buffalo or when Dunbar having his monologue with the pinkish sky behind him.
I will give credit where it is due and say that Kevin Costner did an outstanding job with this film. The homeboy came out swinging for his first directional picture that won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director. Hell, the film won seven out of twelve awards. Not bad all around. You can enjoy this film and watch where the original concept of Avatar came from.
