Review of Dances with Wolves (1990) by Horse C — 19 Feb 2013

The best Western I've ever seen. One of its greatest strengths is its even handed portrayal of both sides of what was a gruesome bigotry ridden fight for land, opportunity, and way of life, between two very different cultures in the late 1800's.

The Civil Wars' leftovers were a maliciously violent and frighteningly ignorant bunch, pit them against a culture of genuinely primitive & savage people (scalping & yelping pridefully about it - wow) and you have a perfect breeding ground for intolerance, impetuous violence, and never ending retaliatory fighting.

"Dances with Wolves" provides a context for understanding both sides' humanity (for better and for worse) concerning this scar on our nation's history. Said understanding is permitted through an engaging story told on a stunning backdrop of our disappearing plains and enriched with beautifully moving music.

In 2007, "Dances with Wolves" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

" It may drive home the meaning of being human more than any other film I've ever seen. It won 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture 1990; I'm not at all surprised and support the Library of Congress' decision.