While this year’s Oscar season has yet to determine a frontrunner, twenty five years ago, Kevin Costner’s “Dances With Wolves” was released on November 21st, starting a campaign that would get the picture seven Oscars. It beat out “Goodfellas,” “Ghost,” “Awakenings,” and “The Godfather Part III” to take Best Picture and also won major prizes for Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director. Audiences lined up to the tune of over $420 million worldwide, and critics were largely taken with the the picture, including “Siskel & Ebert.”
Roger Ebert called it a “sweeping, beautiful, romantic, exciting… epic western,” while Gene Siskel declares it a “great, great film.” Ebert in particular praises the film’s depiction of Native Americans. While there have been some criticisms of the movie in how it handles the portrait of the Sioux and Native language in the film, it’s worth remembering that this was Costner’s first directorial effort, which is pretty remarkable give the scope, scale, and overall ambition.
READ MORE: Kevin Costner Has An Idea For A Western Quadrilogy
Watch their review below, and also in the same episode is an assessment of “The Krays” about the legendary British gangsters, the story being told again in this week’s “Legend” starring Tom Hardy in dual roles.
