Dances with Wolves (1990)
What is it? Kevin Costner's revisionist Western, about a former Civil War soldier posted to a remote and lonely station, who comes to identify more with his Sioux neighbours than his distant superiors back East.
Why did it win? Western - check. Epic - check. Butt-numbing runtime - check. Addressing issues of concern to liberals - check. And Goodfellas aside, what was the competition? Awakenings (too saccharine); Ghost (ditto) and The Godfather Part III (if not as bad as legend has it, not a patch on the first two either).
Did it deserve to win? Naah - Goodfellas should have taken home the big prize, but the Curse of Scorsese was clearly still in full effect. Still, Dances with Wolves isn't as bad as the gangster fans would have you believe: sure, it's extraordinarily long and rather romanticised, but Costner's rarely given enough credit for taking a risk and making an actionless epic brilliantly.
Worth a look? Yes, give it another go. Better block out a full day in your diary first though.
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