Dances With Wolves

Just four months ago, I purchased this contemporary classic at Wal-Mart for $5 or so. I wasn't expecting much in particular, but ended up enjoying the film very much. It was very nice to see Native Americans portrayed in a humanizing, positive light for once in a blockbuster movie. My limited research has told me that this was a movie of epic proportions back when it came out almost 20 years ago, and that Kevin Costner spent a total of five years crafting, preparing for, and acting out his role. It shows. The production value on this movie is unlike any other from its time, save maybe for Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park - but both of these films came out later than Dances With Wolves and had special effects that were impressive for their time but commonplace now; it isn't often you find a movie with as much attention to detail as Dances With Wolves, even today. Still, as far as Native American period pieces go, I prefer The Last of the Mohicans over this movie, savage stereotypes and all. I can't pinpoint a specific reason, so I'll credit its memorable score - no one who has seen it can ever forget its goosebump-inducing motif - and the fact that it is a full hour shorter than Dances With Wolves, which clocks in at just a hair under three full hours. Now, I'll admit I've done my fair share of griping about lengthy running times lately, but at least Dances With Wolves is the type of movie that can pull off three hours, a length reserved for epics and epics alone. Standard dramas should run no more than two and a quarter. And comedies? An hour forty-five is pushing it. The movie was enjoyable from start to finish, and though parts were slow or sluggish, I never once lost interest entirely. And that's saying something, because I often do exactly that during 180-minute periods of time. Dances With Wolves seems like a timeless treat, but not necessarily one that is teeming with originality or premise-setting qualities. I liked it enough to warrant watching it again, and that can't make it half bad at all, even if it's longer than the average season of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Of course, most importantly, another movie has been stricken from my backlog. I have 33 to go and show no signs of slowing down. Onward!