Next on my week of movies I have on my hard drive but have never seen before - Dances with Wolves.

Now not only have I never seen Dances with Wolves in any form, the only version I had to watch was the 4-hour extended cut (compared to the 3-hour theatrical). I was a bit wary going into an extended cut without ever seeing the theatrical, but I have to say ...

The film was pretty damned amazing. In fact, in the entire 4 hours, there's only one scene I know I would cut (that is, the soldiers leaving the fort before Dunbar arrives there - I'd remove it to add a sense of mystery as to why the fort was abandoned), and I have no idea if it's still there in the theatrical cut or not. But I can't imagine what else could be cut out of the film. It's that good.

The cinematography is simply stunning, as well. The shots of the frontier make me wish I'd lived in a time when I could have been one of the first to explore it anew. And that buffalo hunt ... holy hell was that intense and amazing.

9/10