Happier Abroad Forum Community

I just saw "Dances With Wolves" again, the four hour extended version with an added overture, intermission and extra hour of footage. Wow I'm speechless. It's a lot more than just a movie. It's like a spiritual experience and a great epic as well. Every moment in it is meaningful and moving. And the masterpiece musical score makes every moment moving and soulful as well. I've never seen such a musical score complement a film so well.

What's special and unique about this film is that when the protagonist character John Dunbar (Kevin Costner) slowly transforms into a Native American soul, you (the viewer) feel like you are going through the transformation process along with him. That's what makes it like an experience, rather than just a film.

What's more, if you are a white American guy with a deep observant genuine soul and personality, you will relate to John Dunbar's character - his alienation from his white culture, as well as his connection with the Sioux tribe. (Thus this film has a Happier Abroad theme to it as well) Dunbar is the only deep observation genuine white character in the film, along with his lover, because the rest of the white characters in this epic seem so degenerate and hollow, or robotic, in comparison.

I would try to see this on a big screen though, so you can appreciate the scenery, which most of this film focuses on, even more than the characters. Set aside four hours and dim the lights to see it. Then you will understand what I mean.

I think it's one of the top ten best films of all time. And it's Costner's best role as well. Check out the reviews for it on IMDB. Almost everyone gave it a 10 out of 10.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099348/reviews

Also, on Amazon.com nearly every reviewer gave it 5 stars out of 5 as well.



You can get it from torrent sites, but unless you have a media player or hook up your laptop to the TV, you won't be able to see it on your TV. You can get the DVD version on Amazon.com for 5 dollars (see the link above) or download it from Amazon.com for a few dollars at:



I think it's a Happier Abroad film too because in the story, John Dunbar (Kevin Costner) experiences social connection, harmony and genuineness with the Sioux tribe, and then realizes how hollow and empty his white culture is. His soul slowly becomes Sioux, to the point where he doesn't fit in anymore with American life. The soldiers at the end who capture and persecute him look so degenerate, soulless and depraved compared to the Sioux tribe he joined. Only then do you realize the comparison.

Anyway, this is a must see film. It reflects the spirit and feeling of our movement. Everyone should see it to understand our point of view better.

Yes, I saw it over 20 years ago when it came out at the movies. I thought it was way too long, like "gone with the wind" but I agree it has some H/A themes and overall I liked it.

polya wrote:Yes, I saw it over 20 years ago when it came out at the movies. I thought it was way too long, like "gone with the wind" but I agree it has some H/A themes and overall I liked it.

Well if you saw it that long ago, you should see it again since you probably don't remember much. Since you're older and more mature now, you won't mind that it's long as long as its engaging and captivating. You also see things in great movies when you are older and wiser too. Some films you appreciate more when you watch them again. This is one of them.

Btw, here is another movie that has a similar theme.

A Man Called Horse (1970)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066049/

Plot Summary:

In 1825 an English aristocrat is captured by Indians. He lives with them and begins to understand/accept their lifestyles. Eventually he is accepted as part of the tribe and becomes their leader.

Its sequel.

The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075132/

Plot Summary:

The English gentleman known as Horse, returns to the American west to save his adopted Indian tribe from extinction.

The next sequel.

Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (1983)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084826

Plot Summary:

An Englishman, John Morgan, lives 30 years as a Sioux named Man Called Horse. In 1874, gold is discovered in the Black Hills, on tribal land guaranteed to the Sioux in the Laramie Treaty of 1868. Settlers pour in and White provocateurs try to prompt the Sioux to break the treaty (so that all-out war with the US forces will result in the land no longer being under Sioux control). They murder and make it look like Indians were responsible. Man Called Horse helps maintain calm among the tribe, but when tragedy befalls him, it's left to his son Koda and Koda's lover, a Crow named Red Wing, to devise a strategy to keep the argonauts at bay and the Black Hills sacred.

If you like Dances with Wolves, you will like this Western classic called "Broken Arrow". It's about a kind peace-loving white guy (James Stewart) who tries to make a peace treaty between the Apache Indians in Arizona and the white folks. It glorifies kindness, ethics and good morals, unlike today's movies, and has a great story and message.

Or you can look at DWW as a message that only the strong survive.

Luc Furr wrote:Or you can look at DWW as a message that only the strong survive.

I don't see anything in the movie that has that kind of message.

Perhaps you are thinking of Rambo or The Godfather.

Did you even see DWW all the way through?

It is good that you don't see that Winston. Being 8 months pregnant has your hormones in love, shelter and nursing mode.

The whole epic masterpieces Dances with Wolves is now on YouTube for free, but with ads. It looks like an official legal upload. So YouTube is now allowing whole movies with ads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awXn-EHhC_w

Rewarded for his heroism in the Civil War, Lt. John Dunbar (Kevin Costner) wants to see the American frontier before it is gone. He is assigned to an abandoned fort, where a Sioux tribe is his only neighbor. Overcoming the language barrier and their mutual fear and distrust, Dunbar and the proud Indians gradually become friends. Eventually, he falls in love with the beautiful Stands With a Fist (Mary McDonnell) a white woman raised by the tribe.