MovieFreak.com - Dances With Wolves Special Edition DVD Review

"The strangeness of this life cannot be measured: in trying to produce my own death, I was elevated to the status of a living hero." - John Dunbar

Lt. John Dunbar (Costner) is dubbed a hero after he accidentally leads Union troops to a victory during the Civil War. He requests a position on the western frontier, but finds it deserted. He soon finds out he is not alone, but meets a wolf he dubs "Two-socks" and a curious Indian tribe. Dunbar quickly makes friends with the tribe and discovers a white woman (McDonnell) raised by the Indians. He steadily earns the respect of these native people and sheds his white-man's ways.

I have not seen Dances With Wolves until now and I have to say I’m impressed. Nevermind the seven Oscars the film received in 1990, the film managed to engage me all the way through and evoke feelings for these characters I didn’t think possible. Kevin Costner’s performance as John Dunbar is nothing short of perfect, but the supporting cast of the film is what makes his performance resonate.

First up is Graham Greene who plays Kicking Bird. Like the rest of his fellow actors, he learned the Indian language. Kicking Bird is a pivotal character in the film and Greene’s performance is great. And then there is Mary McDonnell, Dunbar’s love interest. Her character’s background is quite interesting and the way she handles it, coupled with the character’s recent loss, makes for a really strong performance. There are other characters, such as Wind In His Hair (played by Rodney A. Grant) and Ten Bears (played by Floyd “Red Crow” Westerman), who propel character interactions.

In addition to great performances, the script really takes center stage. Adapted from his own novel, Michael Blake’s storytelling is very well structured. He puts John Dunbar in a deserted place and lets the surroundings keep him busy. In a way, this kind of character-nature interaction is mirrored in Cast Away where Tom Hanks is stranded on an island.

On par with some very creative use of passing time and some fun, intelligent dialogue, Dances With Wolves also moves a little too slow for its own good. I’m not saying the pace destroys the enjoyment of the film, not at all. The three-hour cut pushes the limits of conventional movie making and moves slow, too, yet it’s justifiable. But now, with the nearly four-hour cut of the film presented in this 2-disc special edition, the film moves even slower. Again, I don’t feel it takes away from the enjoyment or experience, but it certainly feels a little too long. Either way, Dances With Wolves is a compelling drama with characters we can really care about.

Produced for about $22 million, Dances With Wolves’ gross is about $180 million. That’s quite a fortune for Mr. Costner who, along with Jim Wilson, produced the film after every major studio passed on the project. But helping the film achieve such a box office take, aside from the Oscars and word of mouth, I’m sure, is the collaboration of the crew.

First up is the incredible costume design by Elsa Zamparelli. Also very noticeable is the work of Production Designer Jeffrey Beecroft. Dean Semler’s cinematography is simply astonishing, not to mention beautiful. The landscapes he captures are simply gorgeous. Neil Travis’ editing is also a work of discipline and art. I already mentioned Michael Blake’s script. And then there’s John Barry whose score is absolutely fabulous. Then there’s Kevin Costner’s direction. The way he takes the script and transforms it into this grand epic is phenomenal. Costner returns to this kind of epic-like story in The Postman, a film received with much less enthusiasm than Dances With Wolves, however, I liked the film a lot.

In the end, Dances With Wolves deserves all the praise. It’s really a great film. Surely, the four-hour cut is enormous. The three-hour version is fine as it is, but the 52 minutes of additional footage is really a tribute to the fans of the film. An interesting thing MGM could have done with this film is if they would have introduced all those scenes through an extended-branching feature. Despite the omission of such a valuable feature, especially in a case like this, Dances With Wolves still deserves the top rating, even it moves slower than ever.

Dances With Wolves is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The transfer looks very nice and is almost devoid of dirt and scratches. The color palette is fleshed out nicely with many different colors gracing the screen, however, color detail is not consistent. There some minor instances when issues with dark tones and black level appear, but overall those issues do not affect the viewing experience. The overall video presentation is clear and shows off Dean Semler’s Award-winning cinematography in a very presentable way.

The previous DVD edition of Dances With Wolves, released by Image, included a DTS sound mix. However, MGM did not include it in this 2-disc special edition. Instead, Dances With Wolves is available in a nice English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. The main concern is the lack of punch the DTS track provided, but the 5.1 Surround handles the film’s sound effects and dialog scenes well enough. John Barry’s Award-winning score is as beautiful as ever and the surround sound gives it a great boost. Surround usage is evident sometimes, but not as consistent as it should be. Overall, Dances With Wolves provides a stable audio presentation that makes for a fine sound experience, despite the lack of sincere surround usage. I mean, for a film that received the Oscar for Best Sound, one could expect a better effort.

Commentary by Dean Semler and Neil Travis – The first track is with these guys and it tends to run on a more technical subject matter, but they also reminiscence on their experience and feelings of the film. At four hours of having to comment on a film, these guys take it slow in some spots and produce moments of silence.

Commentary by Kevin Costner and Producer Jim Wilson – Costner dominates this second track, but Wilson manages to get his comments to the listeners. Basically, this track is much more conversational than the first one. Costner and Wilson engage in some good conversations as they reveal some trivia, character motivations, etc. These guys are good talkers and listening to them for four hours is worth it.

Original Making-of Featurette (~20 mins) – This featurette is found on side two of the first disc. Produced at the time of release, the interviews and behind-the-scenes footage provide an engaging and informative insight into the making of the film. However, the real documentary on the film is found on the second disc.

The Creation of an Epic Retrospective Documentary (~80 mins) – This documentary is on the second disc and divided into seven parts. "Intro" introduces the film and all that good stuff. "Novel to Screen" looks at the process of getting the material prepped for filming. "Actor Becomes the Director" focuses on Kevin Costner’s transformation, if you will, from actor to director and what is involved with serving both of those tasks. "The Buffalo Hunt" inspects the incredible showdown and the making-of this grand scene gives the viewer some cool behind-the-scenes footage and trivia. "The Look and Sound of Dances" examines the landscapes, locations, sets and sounds of the film. "The Art of Composition" reveals the process of putting the film together, such as the scoring and editing. Lastly, "The Success of Dances" is kind of a retrospective on how the film was received, including the numerous (7) awards at the 1990 Oscars. So you can see this documentary is very detailed and covers about every aspect of the film. The good thing is that Creation of an Epic is not only in-depth and informative, but entertaining as well. The structuring and editing is also very good.

Extended Version – The original cut of Dances With Wolves comes in at roughly three hours, while this new cut, produced by Kevin Costner and Jim Wilson, includes 52 minutes of never-before-seen additional scenes. Stated in the introduction to the DVD case, those scenes were difficult to cut in the first place. Basically, Costner and Wilson wanted to enhance the film so that "those who fell in love with the characters and the spectacle on the film could experience more of both."

An original Music Video with music by John Barry, the Dances Photo Montage with an introduction by Ben Glass, a Poster Gallery, the film’s original Theatrical Trailer and TV Spots are also included in this 2-disc special edition. You can select to view the film with optional English, French and Spanish subtitles. The DVD’s menus are animated. The 236-minute feature is organized into thirty-two chapters over two sides of disc 1 (it’s a flipper).

Dances With Wolves is a compelling drama and work of art. The video presentation is handled nicely, but the depth and surround usage of the audio presentation is a little disappointing. The best thing about this 2-disc release is the 80-minute documentary Creation of an Epic, but the second commentary track is also a great addition. This is the definite special edition of this film and therefore it comes highly recommended. Buy it.

THE MOVIE	10
THE VIDEO	8
THE AUDIO	7
THE EXTRAS	8
OVERALL (not an average)	8