Dances With Wolves

In 1863, 1st Lieutenant John J. Dunbar—serving with the Union army—is wounded in a stalemated battle at St. David's Field in Tennessee. The surgeon intends to amputate his leg. Choosing death in battle instead, Dunbar steals a horse and rides in front of Confederate lines unarmed, but miraculously survives his suicide attempt. Union troops take advantage of the distraction to mount a successful attack. Dunbar is given medical care that saves his leg and is awarded "Cisco", the horse he rode during his suicide attempt, along with his choice of posting. He requests a transfer to the American frontier to see it before it disappears.

Dunbar arrives at Fort Hays where its commander, Major Fambrough, assigns him to the furthest outpost under his jurisdiction: Fort Sedgwick. Fambrough, who is mentally ill, kills himself after Dunbar departs. Dunbar travels with Timmons, a foul-mouthed mule-wagon provisioner, and finds the fort deserted. He decides to rebuild the fort, recording his observations in his diary. Timmons is killed by a band of Pawnee while returning to Fort Hays. The deaths of Timmons and Fambrough leave the army unaware of Dunbar's assignment, so no other soldiers arrive to reinforce the post.

Dunbar encounters his Sioux neighbors when they attempt to steal his horse and intimidate him. Wanting to make peace, he seeks out the Sioux camp. {{anchor|standswithafist}}En route, he comes across Stands With A Fist, a white ethnic Sioux woman who was adopted as a girl by the tribe's medicine man, Kicking Bird, after Pawnee killed her family. She is mutilating herself in mourning for her late Sioux husband. Dunbar brings her back to the Sioux to recover. Though the Sioux are initially hostile, Dunbar gradually establishes a rapport with them, notably Kicking Bird, the Sioux fighter Wind In His Hair, and the youth Smiles A Lot. Stands With A Fist acts as an interpreter, speaking Lakota and English.

Dunbar comes to respect and appreciate the Sioux. He is accepted into their group after he tells them of a migrating herd of buffalo and participates in the hunt. He also befriends a wolf he dubs "Two Socks" for his white forepaws. Observing Dunbar and Two Socks chasing each other, he is given a name that translates as Dances With Wolves. Dunbar learns the Lakota language, and he and Stands With A Fist grow close. He gives the Sioux firearms to help them defend against the Pawnee attack. He eventually earns Kicking Bird's approval to marry Stands With A Fist.

Because of the threat of encroaching white settlers, Chief Ten Bears decides to move his group to its winter camp. Dunbar decides to accompany them but first attempts to retrieve his diary from Fort Sedgwick, as it would help the U.S. Army locate the group at its new location. When he arrives, he finds the fort reoccupied by the army. Because of his Sioux clothing, the soldiers open fire, killing Cisco, and capture Dunbar. He cannot prove his story as one of the soldiers had stolen his diary. Refusing to help the army hunt down the Sioux, he is charged with desertion, and the soldiers begin to transport him back east as a prisoner. Two Socks attempts to follow Dunbar but is shot dead by the soldiers.

Dunbar's Sioux friends track and attack the convoy, killing the soldiers and freeing Dunbar. They meet the others at the winter camp. Dunbar leaves with Stands With A Fist because his presence would endanger the group. As they leave, Dunbar and Kicking Bird exchange parting gifts. Smiles A Lot returns the diary he recovered during Dunbar's rescue, and Wind In His Hair proclaims his everlasting friendship to Dunbar.

U.S. troops search the mountains but cannot locate Dunbar or the Sioux. The film's epilogue text states that the last of the free Sioux would surrender at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, 13 years later.

{{div col}}

• Kevin Costner as Lt. John J. Dunbar/Dances With Wolves (Lakota: Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka Ób Wačhí)
• Mary McDonnell as Stands With A Fist (Napépȟeča Nážiŋ Wiŋ)/Christine Gunther
• Annie Costner (Costner's real-life daughter) plays young Christine Gunther
• Graham Greene as Kicking Bird (Ziŋtká Nagwáka)
• Rodney A. Grant as Wind In His Hair (Pȟehíŋ Otȟáte)
• Floyd Westerman as Chief Ten Bears (Matȟó Wikčémna)
• Tantoo Cardinal as Black Shawl (Šiná Sápa Wiŋ)
• Jimmy Herman as Stone Calf (Íŋyaŋ Ptehíŋčala)
• Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse as Smiles A Lot (Iȟá S'a)
• Michael Spears as Otter (Ptáŋ)
• Jason R. Lone Hill as Worm (Waglúla)
• Charles Rocket as Lt. Elgin
• Robert Pastorelli as Timmons
• Tony Pierce as Spivey
• Larry Joshua as Bauer
• Kirk Baltz as Edwards
• Tom Everett as Sergeant Pepper
• Maury Chaykin as Major Fambrough
• Wes Studi as Toughest Pawnee
• Wayne Grace as the Major
• Michael Horton as Captain Cargill (extended version)
• Doris Leader Charge as Pretty Shield, Chief Ten Bears' wife (also credited as Lakota translator and dialogue coach)
• Donald Hotton as General Tide
• Frank P. Costanza as Tucker
• Otakuye Conroy as Kicking Bird's daughter
• Jim Wilson as Doctor (uncredited)

{{div col end}}

Originally written as a speculative script by Michael Blake, it went unsold in the mid-1980s. However, Kevin Costner had starred in Blake's only previous film, Stacy's Knights (1983) and encouraged Blake in early 1986 to turn the Western screenplay into a novel to improve its chances of being produced. The novel was rejected by numerous publishers, but finally was published in paperback in 1988. The rights were purchased by Costner, with an eye on directing it.{{cite web |url=http://southdakota.midwestmovies.com/DancesWithWolves |title=Dances With Wolves |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215023418/http://southdakota.midwestmovies.com/DancesWithWolves/ |archive-date=February 15, 2006 |work=South Dakota Midwest Movies |access-date=August 1, 2018}}

Costner and his producing partner, Jim Wilson, had difficulty in raising money for the film. The project was turned down by several studios due to the Western genre no longer being popular, following the disastrous box office of Heaven's Gate (1980), as well as the length of the script. After the project languished at both Nelson Entertainment and Island Pictures, Costner and Wilson sold the foreign rights in several countries and obtained enough money to go into pre-production. The two then made a deal with Orion Pictures, which gave Costner final cut rights.{{Cite web|first=Elaine|last=Dutka|date=November 4, 1990|title=COSTNER TAKES A STAND : He's Made a Western. It's Three Hours Long. It Has Subtitles. And He Likes It Like That.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-04-tm-5551-story.html|access-date=2020-07-04|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|archive-date=July 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200705080511/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-04-tm-5551-story.html|url-status=live}}

Actual production lasted from July 17 or 18 to November 21 or 23, 1989.{{cite web |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/58466 |title=Dances With Wolves, History |author= |website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films |publisher=American Film Institute |access-date=2021-10-04 |quote="Although an 8 Jan 1989 LAT brief reported that principal photography would begin in Mexico in Mar 1989, filming did not take place in Mexico and the start date was pushed back to 17 or 18 Jul 1989, as noted in various sources including production notes in AMPAS library files, the 7 Jun 1989 HR and DV, and the 7 Jul 1989 HR." |archive-date=November 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112182440/https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/58466 |url-status=live }}{{cite web| url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58466-DANCES-WITH-WOLVES?cxt=ymal |title=Dances With Wolves, Details |author= |website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films |publisher=American Film Institute | quote="17 or 18 Jul--21 or 23 Nov 1989" | access-date=2021-10-04}} Most of the movie was filmed on location in South Dakota, mainly on private ranches near Pierre and Rapid City, with a few scenes filmed in Wyoming. Specific locations included the Badlands National Park, the Black Hills, the Sage Creek Wilderness Area, and the Belle Fourche River area. The bison hunt scenes were filmed at the Triple U Buffalo Ranch outside Fort Pierre, South Dakota, as were the Fort Sedgewick scenes on a custom set.

{{as of|2023|12|07}}, the film holds an approval rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 131 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Dances With Wolves suffers from a simplistic view of the culture it attempts to honor, but the end result remains a stirring western whose noble intentions are often matched by its epic grandeur."{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dances_with_wolves/ |title=Dances With Wolves (1990) |publisher=Fandango Media |work=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=2023-12-07 |archive-date=October 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241006010537/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dances_with_wolves |url-status=live }} Metacritic gave the film a score of 72 out of 100 based on 20 critical reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/dances-with-wolves |title=Dances With Wolves Reviews |work=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=2018-03-01 |archive-date=March 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322111224/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/dances-with-wolves |url-status=live }} CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare "A+" grade.{{cite web |url=https://www.cinemascore.com/ |title=CinemaScore |publisher=CinemaScore |access-date=2018-03-01}}

Dances With Wolves was named one of the top ten films of 1990 by over 115 critics and was named the best film of the year by 19 critics.{{cite web |title=Best Movies of 1990 |url=https://criticstop10.com/best-movies-of-1990/ |website=CriticsTop10 |access-date=August 5, 2020 |archive-date=May 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511234539/https://criticstop10.com/best-movies-of-1990/ |url-status=live}}

Because of the film's popularity and lasting impact on the image of Native Americans, members of the Lakota Sioux Nation held a ceremony in Washington, D.C., "to honor Kevin [Costner] and Mary [McDonnell] and Jim [Wilson] on behalf of the Indian Lakota nation", explained Floyd Westerman (who plays Chief Ten Bears in the movie). Albert Whitehat, a Lakota elder who served as a cultural adviser on the film, adopted Costner into his family, and two other families adopted McDonnell and Wilson. Westerman continued, that this is so "They will all become part of one family."{{cite news | last = Weinraub | first = Judith | title = Costner's Sioux Ceremony | newspaper = Washington Post | date = October 20, 1990 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/10/20/costners-sioux-ceremony/97212524-2825-4227-b4cb-b97e6374046c/ | access-date = October 6, 2021 | archive-date = July 3, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220703092746/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/10/20/costners-sioux-ceremony/97212524-2825-4227-b4cb-b97e6374046c/ | url-status = live }} At the 63rd Academy Awards ceremony in 1991, Dances With Wolves earned 12 Academy Award nominations and won seven, including Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (Michael Blake), Best Director (Costner), and Best Picture. In 2007, the Library of Congress selected Dances With Wolves for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.{{cite web|date=December 27, 2017|title=2007 list|url=https://www.loc.gov/film/nfr2007.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080131121632/http://www.loc.gov/film/nfr2007.html|archive-date=January 31, 2008|access-date=August 1, 2018|work=National Film Registry|publisher=Library of Congress}}

Some of the criticism of the film centered on the lack of authenticity of the Lakota language used in the film, as only one of the actors was a native speaker of the language. Oglala Lakota activist and actor Russell Means was critical of the film's lack of accuracy. In 2009, he said: "Remember Lawrence of Arabia? That was Lawrence of the Plains. The odd thing about making that movie is that they had a woman teaching the actors the Lakota language, but Lakota has a male-gendered language and a female-gendered language. Some of the Natives and Kevin Costner were speaking in the feminine way. When I went to see it with a bunch of Lakota guys, we were laughing."{{cite web |url=http://www.russellmeansfreedom.com/2009/russell-means-interview-with-dan-skye-of-high-times/ |title=Russell Means Interview with Dan Skye of High Times |publisher=Russell Means Freedom |access-date=2011-03-02 |archive-date=July 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715214524/http://www.russellmeansfreedom.com/2009/russell-means-interview-with-dan-skye-of-high-times/ |url-status=dead }}

Michael Smith (Sioux), the director of San Francisco's long-running annual American Indian Film Festival, said that despite criticisms, "there's a lot of good feeling about the film in the Native community, especially among the tribes. I think it's going to be very hard to top this one." However, Blackfeet filmmaker George Budreau countered: "I want to say, 'how nice',... But, no matter how sensitive and wonderful this movie is, you have to ask who's telling the story. It's certainly not an Indian."{{cite book|last=Aleiss|first=Angela|title=Making the White Man's Indian: Native Americans and Hollywood Movies|year=2005|publisher=Praeger|location=Westport, Conn./London|isbn=027598396X|page=[https://archive.org/details/makingwhitemansi00alei/page/146 146]|url=https://archive.org/details/makingwhitemansi00alei/page/146}}

Though promoted as a breakthrough in its use of an indigenous language, earlier English-language films, such as Eskimo (1933), Wagon Master (1950), and The White Dawn (1974) also have native dialogue.{{cite book|last=Aleiss|first=Angela|title=Making the White Man's Indian : Native Americans and Hollywood Movies|year=2005|publisher=Praeger|location=Westport, Conn./London|isbn=027598396X|page=[https://archive.org/details/makingwhitemansi00alei/page/165 165]|url=https://archive.org/details/makingwhitemansi00alei/page/165}}

David Sirota of Salon referred to Dances With Wolves as a "white savior" film, as Dunbar "fully embeds himself in the Sioux tribe and quickly becomes its primary protector". He argued that its use of the "noble savage" character type "preemptively blunts criticism of the underlying White Savior story".{{cite web | last = Sirota | first = David | author-link = David Sirota | date = February 21, 2013 | url = http://www.salon.com/2013/02/21/oscar_loves_a_white_savior/ | title = Oscar loves a white savior | website = Salon | access-date = July 11, 2013 | archive-date = April 10, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140410110258/http://www.salon.com/2013/02/21/oscar_loves_a_white_savior/ | url-status = live }}

{{main|List of accolades received by Dances With Wolves}}

In addition to becoming the first Western film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture since 1931's Cimarron,{{cite book| title=1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die |author=Angela Errigo |editor=Steven Jay Schneider |year=2008 |isbn= 978-0-7641-6151-3 |volume=5 |page=786 |location=London |publisher=Quintessence}} Dances With Wolves swept the Motion Picture Academy Awards that year, with a record, for the genre, of seven Oscars (including Best Picture), by far the most of any Western film in history.Urquhart, Jeremy: [https://collider.com/westerns-that-won-oscars/ "10 Great Westerns That Ruled the Oscars,"] February 11, 2024, Collider, retrieved December 14, 2024 It also won a number of additional awards, making it one of the most honored films of 1990.{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1991 |title=The 63rd Academy Awards (1991) Nominees and Winners |access-date=2011-10-20 |work=oscars.org |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004341/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1991 |url-status=live }}

The film was released on home video in the United States in September 1991 by Orion Home Video and beat the rental record set by Ghost, at 649,000 units.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|page=22|date=January 6, 1992|title=Rentals Reap Bulk of 1991 Vid Harvest|last=Berman|first=Marc}} The extended Special Edition was released on DVD on May 20, 2003, in a two-disc set.{{Cite web|title=Dances With Wolves: Special Edition|author=ManaByte|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/05/22/dances-with-wolves-special-edition|date=May 23, 2003|access-date=2023-01-06|website=IGN|language=en|archive-date=January 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106105123/https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/05/22/dances-with-wolves-special-edition|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Dances With Wolves DVD (Special Edition)|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/Dances-with-Wolves-DVD/25315/|access-date=2023-01-06|website=Blu-ray.com|language=en|archive-date=January 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106105123/https://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/Dances-with-Wolves-DVD/25315/|url-status=live}} Dances With Wolves was then released on Blu-ray and DVD on January 11, 2011, and was re-released on Blu-ray on January 13, 2015, and again on November 13, 2018.{{Cite web|title=Dances With Wolves DVD Release Date|url=https://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/604/Dances-with-Wolves-(1990).html|access-date=2021-02-25|website=DVDs Release Dates|language=en|archive-date=January 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126193556/https://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/604/Dances-with-Wolves-(1990).html|url-status=live}}

The Holy Road, a sequel novel by Michael Blake, the author of both the original novel and the movie screenplay, was published in 2001.Blake, Michael (2001). The Holy Road, Random House. {{ISBN|0-375-76040-7}} It picks up 11 years after the events of Dances With Wolves. John Dunbar is still married to Stands With A Fist, and they have three children. Stands With A Fist and one of the children are kidnapped by a party of white rangers, and Dances With Wolves must mount a rescue mission.

Salvador Carrasco was attached to direct the sequel, but the film was not realized.{{Cite web|url=http://alibi.com/film/18933/The-Other-Conquest-Conquers-America.html|publisher=alibi.com|title=The Other Conquest Conquers America|date=May 3, 2007|access-date=November 2, 2022|archive-date=November 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102052325/https://alibi.com/film/18933/The-Other-Conquest-Conquers-America.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://indie-cinema.com/2017/08/interview-director-salvador-carrasco/|publisher=Indie Cinema|title=Interview with director Salvador Carrasco|date=19 August 2017|access-date=November 2, 2022|archive-date=November 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102052951/http://indie-cinema.com/2017/08/interview-director-salvador-carrasco/|url-status=live}} As of 2007, Blake was writing a film adaptation.{{cite web | last = Blake | first = Michael | title = The official website of Michael Blake | publisher = Danceswithwolves.net | url = http://danceswithwolves.net/bio.php | access-date = March 13, 2008 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071011193114/http://danceswithwolves.net/bio.php | archive-date = 2007-10-11 }} However, Costner stated in a 2008 interview that he would "never make a sequel".{{cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title=Kevin Costner: "I'll never make a sequel." |date=July 3, 2008 |website=Roger Ebert |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/kevin-costner-ill-never-make-a-sequel |access-date=2008-07-03 |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511062409/https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/kevin-costner-ill-never-make-a-sequel |url-status=live }} A third book titled The Great Mystery was planned, but Blake died in 2015.

Judith A. Boughter wrote: "The problem with Costner's approach is that all of the Sioux are heroic, while the Pawnees are portrayed as stereotypical villains. Most accounts of Sioux–Pawnee relations see the Pawnees, numbering only 4,000 at that time, as victims of the more powerful Sioux."Judith A. Boughter (2004). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=ym4upG2eexAC&pg=PA105 The Pawnee Nation: An Annotated Research Bibliography]". Scarecrow Press. p.105. {{ISBN|0810849909}}

The history and context of Fort Hays is radically different from that portrayed in the movie. Historic Fort Hays was founded in 1867, with the iconic stone blockhouse being built immediately.{{cite web | title = Fort Hays - Exhibits | publisher = Kansas Historical Society | url = http://www.kshs.org/p/fort-hays-exhibits/11785 | access-date = November 1, 2019 | archive-date = December 15, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191215095345/https://www.kshs.org/p/fort-hays-exhibits/11785 | url-status = live }} Its predecessor, Fort Fletcher (1865–1868), was abandoned for a few months and then relocated a short distance away in 1866.{{cite web | url = http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/fort-hays/11793 | title = Fort Hays | work = Kansapedia | publisher = Kansas Historical Society | date = November 2019 | access-date = November 1, 2019 | archive-date = December 15, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191215135754/https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/fort-hays/11793 | url-status = live }} Fort Hays was founded in Cheyenne territory rather than Sioux. Rather than a desolate site, the fort was host to thousands of soldiers, railroad workers, and settlers from the start. The Kansas Pacific Railway and the settlements of Rome and Hays City were built next to the fort in 1867; each was a perceived violation of Cheyenne and Arapaho territory, resulting in immediate warfare with the Dog Soldiers.{{cite book |author= Collins |title= Kansas Pacific |page= 13 |quote= [After Fort Hays, it] would then enter the country of three nomadic Indian tribes: the Cheyenne, Arapahoe and Kiowa. ... mile and a half per day. ... Then the Indian raids began. }} The fort was Sheridan's headquarters at the center of the 1867–1868 conflict. A historic seasonal Pawnee tipi village had been located only {{convert|9|mi|km}} from Fort Hays, but the Pawnee had been excluded from it by other dominant tribes for some time by the 1860s.{{cite web |author= Howard C. Raynesford |title= The Raynesford Papers: Notes- The Smoky Hill River & Fremont's Indian Village |url= http://www.kancoll.org/articles/raynesford/raynotes.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030123140335/http://www.kancoll.org/articles/raynesford/raynotes.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= January 23, 2003 |year= 1953 |access-date= 2018-08-12 }}{{cite web |author= Carson Bear |title= A Nearly Pristine Pawnee Tipi Ring Site Preserved for More Than a Century |work= National Trust for Historic Preservation |url= https://savingplaces.org/stories/a-nearly-pristine-pawnee-tipi-ring-site-preserved-for-more-than-a-century#.W3DByehKiCi |date= April 4, 2018 |access-date= August 12, 2018 }}

A Christian missionary named John Dunbar worked among the Pawnee in the 1830s and 1840s, and sided with the Native Americans in a dispute with government farmers and a local Indian agent.Waldo R. Wedel, The Dunbar Allis Letters on the Pawnee (New York: Garland Press, 1985). According to screenwriter Michael Blake, the film character's name was chosen at random from lists of Civil War veterans and was merely coincidence.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

The fictional Lieutenant John Dunbar of 1863 is correctly shown in the film wearing a gold bar on his officer shoulder straps, indicating his rank as a first lieutenant. From 1836 to 1872, the rank of first lieutenant was indicated by a gold bar; after 1872, the rank was indicated by a silver bar. Similarly, Captain Cargill is correctly depicted wearing a pair of gold bars, indicating the rank of captain at that time.{{cite web |url=http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/ROTCMiscNGB/Silver%20and%20Gold%20Insignia.htm |work=US Army Institute of Heraldry |title=History of Officer Rank Insignia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504100035/http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/ROTCMiscNGB/Silver%20and%20Gold%20Insignia.htm |archive-date=May 4, 2006 |access-date=August 1, 2018}}

Author and screenwriter Michael Blake said that Stands With A Fist was actually based upon Cynthia Ann Parker, the white girl captured by Comanches and mother of Quanah Parker.Aleiss, Making the White Man's Indian: Native Americans and Hollywood Movies, p. 145.

One year after the original theatrical release of Dances With Wolves, a four-hour version of the film opened at select cinemas in London. This longer cut was titled Dances With Wolves: The Special Edition, and it restored nearly an hour's worth of scenes that had been removed to keep the original film's running time under three hours.[http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=1186797 Dances With Wolves (Comparison: Theatrical vs. Extended Version)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729024020/http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=1186797 |date=July 29, 2014 }}. Movie-Censorship.com In a letter to British film reviewers, Kevin Costner and producer Jim Wilson addressed their reasons for presenting a longer version of the film:

{{blockquote|Why add another hour to a film that by most standards pushes the time limit of conventional movie making? The 52 additional minutes that represent this "new" version were difficult to cut in the first place, and ... the opportunity to introduce them to audiences is compelling.

We have received countless letters from people worldwide asking when or if a sequel would be made, so it seemed like a logical step to enhance our film with existing footage ... making an extended version is by no means to imply that the original Dances With Wolves was unfinished or incomplete; rather, it creates an opportunity for those who fell in love with the characters and the spectacle of the film to experience more of both.{{cite web |last=Gritten |first=David |title=Dances With Wolves - The Really Long Version |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-20-ca-409-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=December 20, 1991 |access-date=January 23, 2017 |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331065448/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-20-ca-409-story.html |url-status=live }}}}

The genesis of the four-hour version of the film was further explained in an article for Entertainment Weekly that appeared ten months after the premiere of the original film. "While the small screen has come to serve as a second chance for filmmakers who can't seem to let their babies go, Kevin Costner and his producing partner, Jim Wilson, hope that their newly completed version will hit theater screens first."

{{blockquote|"I spent seven months working on it", Wilson says of the expanded Wolves. He's quick to defend the Oscar-winning version as "the best picture we had in us at the time", yet Wilson also says he's "ecstatic" over the recut. "It's a brand-new picture", he insists. "There's now more of a relationship between Kevin and Stands With A Fist, more with the wolf, more with the Indians—stuff that's integral all through the story."

Of course, exhibitors may not want a longer version of an already widely seen movie, but Wilson remains optimistic. "I don't think the time is now", he acknowledges, "but ideally, there is a point at which it would come out with an intermission, booked into the very best venues in America."{{cite magazine |last=Daly |first=Steven |url=https://ew.com/article/1991/08/30/dances-wolves-directors-cut/ |title=Dances With Wolves: Director's cut |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=August 30, 1991 |access-date=November 22, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801080923/https://ew.com/article/1991/08/30/dances-wolves-directors-cut/ |archive-date=August 1, 2020}}}}

Costner later stated that he did not work on the creation of the Special Edition at all.{{cite magazine |last=Willman |first=Chris |title=True Western |url=https://ew.com/article/2004/01/23/true-western/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=January 23, 2004 |access-date=2021-12-25 |archive-date=December 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226024836/https://ew.com/article/2004/01/23/true-western/ |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Dances with Wolves (soundtrack)}}

• John Barry composed the Oscar-winning score. It was issued in 1990, initially, and again in 1995 with bonus tracks and in 2004 with the score "in its entirety".
• Peter Buffett scored the "Fire Dance" scene.

• A Man Called Horse
• Avatar
• Red Scorpion
• Run of the Arrow
• Survival film

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Blake|first=Michael|title=Dances With Wolves|year=1997|publisher=Ballantine Books|isbn=0-449-00075-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Blake|first=Michael|title=The Holy Road|date=July 9, 2011|publisher=ZOVA Books|isbn=978-0-615-51057-6}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• [https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/dances_with_wolves. Dances With Wolves essay] by Angela Aleiss National Film Registry
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC Dances With Wolves essay] by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pp. 803–804
• {{AFI film|id=58466|title=Dances With Wolves}}
• {{IMDb title|0099348|Dances With Wolves}}

{{Kevin Costner}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for Dances With Wolves

|list =

{{AcademyAwardBestPicture 1981-2000}}

{{Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Film}}

{{GoldenGlobeBestMotionPictureDrama 1981-2000}}

{{Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Foreign Language Film}}

{{Mainichi Film Award for Foreign Film Best One Award}}

{{National Board of Review Award for Best Film}}

{{Nikkan Sports Film Award for Best Foreign Film}}

{{Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

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