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ASIN : B00008PBZZ
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Editorial Reviews
Additional Features
Sadly, the Oscar®-winning cut of Kevin Costner's Western is nowhere to be found on this two-disc set. This "extended version" adds 58 minutes to the three-hour film, most of which was seen in TV airings. The extra hour is unique in the history of new versions of a great film; it neither wastes the viewer's time (JFK) or vastly improves the film (Once Upon a Time in America). There is more character building, but also extends some scenes unnecessarily. Regardless, there's lot more here. The new 81-minute documentary does an excellent job of chronicling the film, from Michael Blake's book to Oscar night with new interviews and vintage behind-the-scenes footage; it's one of the best made-for-DVD retrospectives. There are two commentary tracks, the better one by Costner and producer Jim Wilson, although most of it is from a recording made for the laserdisc. Another nice feature is the presentation of on-set photographs set to John Barry's moving score. --Doug Thomas
Amazon.com Essential Video
Kevin Costner's 1990 epic won a bundle of Oscars for a moving, engrossing story of a white soldier (Costner) who singlehandedly mans a post in the 1870 Dakotas, and becomes a part of the Lakota Sioux community who live nearby. The film may not be a masterpiece, but it is far more than the sum of good intentions. The characters are strong, the development of relationships is both ambitious and careful, the love story between Costner and Mary McDonnell's character is captivating. Only the third-act portrait of white intruders as morons feels overbearing, but even that leads to a terribly moving conclusion. Costner's direction is assured, the balance of action and intimacy is perfect--what more could anyone want outside of an unqualified masterpiece? --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Exquisite masterpiece! (2005-09-04)  This film is very special to me, it touches on everything that is truly important in my life: beautiful love and friendship not just between people but also between people and animals, loyalty & dedication, harmony and victory. The cinematography is breathtaking, the music score is lovely and the cast is absolutely superb, including Cisco and Two Socks. I take my hat off for Kevin Costner's genius as director and actor. The film is difficult one to make, considering the fact that John Dunbar spends a lot of time on his own with no one to talk to, and yet it is very entertaining. The battles are crafted tastefully, the love scenes are stylish with no unnecessary details and the humour is just the right dose. Dances With Wolves is an exquisite masterpiece and the two-disc extended edition is the special treat the film deserves. The transfer is high quality and it comes with stylish, cleverly designed keep case. The personal touch from Kevin Costner and Jim Wilson makes it even more special for every true fan of the movie. Take your time to indulge in this wonderful experience! I had an amazing weekend viewing the video. Had the feeling that Kevin and Jim were in my screening room when their commentary were on and I learned a lot about these remarkable men and what they have to go through to make it happen. I will treasure my old disc and will go back to it often in future but when I need a dose of pure inspiration and motivation, I will play the extended version, listening to the last few words that Kevin says in his commentary. Absolutely fascinating!
Dances with Wolves Earns Lawrence Award (2004-07-11) Dances with Wolves easily earns a position among the all-time-greatest epic motion pictures. Its story and presentation are fresh, honest, real and breathtaking. "Epic" implies the film takes longer to tell its story than the average movie, and that it does. But consider that the correct measure of the length of any film is to track the number of visits your eyes make to your watch during the film. Thus a three-hour movie may seem shorter than a ninety-minute movie. The character development and interaction of this movie invites us to participate, to be there and feel as our hearts share the emotions of characters even as we feel the pleasure from the eye candy provided by the amazing cinematography that takes us across the massive Northern Plaines of the United States. The movie begins in a dramatic scene in which, Kevin Costner, a lieutenant in the Union Army, crawls off the battlefield surgeons table to save his badly injured leg or foot from amputation. Somewhat delirious he takes actions that lead to victory for his troops and ends a deadly stalemate between the two armies. As the hero of the battle the general's surgeon heals his leg and the lieutenant is offered any post he wants. He chooses the most remote post the army has because he wants to see the unspoiled land before it's too late, and the real story begins. A caution to those who think the white man was portrayed unfairly; read unbiased history, then watch the movie again. This movie undertakes allot and it succeeds. This exciting action, drama, western, love-story shows us a great example of a film that can be so absolutely entertaining and educational at the same time. Dances with Wolves entertains as it shows through historical example the importance and consequences of learning about our own preconceptions and learning the potential benefit we may enjoy from learning to respect and accept other beliefs or points of view, to just learning to understand all that we can before making decisions and drawing conclusions in any matter. Dances with Wolves does all that any movie could be asked to do.
Still no definitive version available to the public (2004-07-10)  The reason I have decided to comment on this film is because I want to warn everyone that DANCES WITH WOLVES is available in two different versions and BOTH are inferior. As far as the the extended four-hour DVD goes, I can only say this: Who the heck has FOUR blasted hours to spend on one single movie? Why extend a movie that was already dangerously long? There must have been a little controversy over this matter because shortly after its release to DVD, the original three-hour theatrical version became available (thank God)... but guess what? It's only available in a full screen format, which means that HALF of the movie has been cropped out, and yes, we are literally missing HALF of the movie! It surprises me to see that the studio would so blatently pull an act of butchery to an important film of this stature in a day when full screen formats are quickly fading out for the more pleasing 16:9 ratio, which is obviously the future standard.
MYTHOLOGY (2004-06-08) Indians are a favorite pet of the liberal establishment. "Dances With Wolves" is a fine movie. Most of them are. Nobody ever said these people are not brilliant. There is no real lie in "Dances" that I can see, but it does seem stylized. The Indians are pictured as peaceful, spiritual conservers of the land. Real-life Indians had every potential of being violent savages without anybody's prompting. Just ask the Mexicans who were systematically robbed by them every harvest until American mountain men with guns were recruited to provide a little security. The soldiers are dumbellionites, as are most of the whites that Kevin Costner "escapes" from in his effort to find the real West. While Indians certainly knew how to preserve the land, an act of necessity for them, they took plenty from it without replenishment. Whites stripped and mined the land, but they also came up with ingenious technologies that re-generated the land. STEVEN TRAVERSAUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"STWRITES@AOL.COM
a worthy film to anyone's catalog (2004-06-04) Whether Kevin Costner likes it or not, his career will be inexorably tied to this masterpiece of cinematography. Written as a novel basically just for this film's screenplay by Michael Blake, this is a journey for all ages to see. There are attempts to validate the accuracy of the history or intention of this movie. I believe it would be missing the point. There are no villains or heroes (though Dunbar may be tried to be portrayed in such a light), just a view of how people of a different ethos try to survive amongst each other where suspicions and distrust run high.As an actor, this is Kevin at his best. Though solid in 'Open Range', Dance With Wolves gave Costner more of a spectrum of emotion to handle. He dealt with many situations here with a believable sense of drama. I do have one tiny detail with his character. He speaks his narration like he is proof-reading his junior-high school essay. Very flat and monotone. But maybe it done that way to enhance the onscreen action. Who knows? An intregal element to the movie was to cast exactly the right people to support the film. And no film in recent memory in my opinion handled that privilege better than here. Everyone from Kicking Bird, Stands With a Fist, Wind in His Hair right down to characters such as Smiles-A-Lot, Corporal Spivey and Black Shawl performed without flaw. The script enabled everyone to let their roles come alive. The extended scenes not in the original release, while not essential, do heighten what Blake tried to get across in the story. More importantly, I did not feel the movie dragging with the additions. I like to think of it as more movie for the dollar. The extras on the DVD are standard fare and do not penalize one's interest in the film's production. The people interviewed were frank and fun to listen to. So go ahead and pick up Dances With Wolves. It's a well-paced movie that lets a spare four hours go by regretlessly.
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