34 Years Later, This Kevin Costner Film Is Still the 2nd Highest Grossing Western
Some things are just timeless.
Like classical music or literature, some movies have long since earned the right to be called classics. No matter how long ago they were released, and no matter how outdated they may be from a technical standpoint, they will forever remain relevant in terms of writing, acting, and directing.
While films in genres such as sci-fi and fantasy still run the risk of showing their age and not being to the taste of all fans of the most advanced CGI technologies, historical dramas, westerns and other stories that refer to traditional American topics live longer and remain very popular.
Thus, the epic Western written, produced and directed by Kevin Costner in 1990 is still among the most popular films of this genre. The commercial success of this movie was so enormous that even 34 years later it has only been surpassed once, by Quentin Tarantino ’s Django Unchained.
What Dances with Wolves Is About?
Adapted from the 1988 novel Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake, the film of the same name tells the story of Union Army Lieutenant John J. Dunbar, portrayed by Kevin Costner himself. Dunbar travels to the American frontier to find a military post and meets a group of Lakota along the way.
With an 87% rating from both critics and audiences, the film receives well-deserved praise for its thorough research and true-to-life portrayal of Lakota culture, attention to detail in the writing and scenery, and Kevin Costner's fantastic work in every single aspect of the movie he's working on.
Even though Costner and Orion Pictures didn't have a lot of money to spend on the production, and the whole movie was shot on a tight budget of $22 million, the commercial and critical success easily compensated for it.
Not only did Dances with Wolves become the highest-grossing Western in more than two decades, grossing $424 million upon its international release, but it also earned Costner a great deal of recognition.
The actor's directorial debut earned the entire team behind the production 12 nominations at the 63rd Academy Awards, winning 7 of them, including such major awards as Best Picture, Best Director for Costner, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing and Best Cinematography.
The only downside to Dances with Wolves is that it's not currently available for streaming on any platform. However, you can still buy or rent Kevin Costner's 1990s western hit on Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV.