Thunderheart
Encyclopedia
Thunderheart is a 1992 American contemporary western mystery film
directed by Michael Apted
from an original screenplay by John Fusco
. The film is a loosely based fictional portrayal of events relating to the Wounded Knee incident
in 1973. Followers of the American Indian Movement
seized the South Dakota town of Wounded Knee
in protest against federal government policy regarding Native Americans
. Incorporated in the plot is the character of Ray Levoi, played by actor Val Kilmer
, as an FBI agent with Sioux heritage investigating a murder on a Native American reservation. Sam Shepard
, Graham Greene
, Fred Ward
and Sheila Tousey
star in principal supporting roles. Also in 1992, Apted had previously directed a documentary surrounding a Native American activist episode involving the murder of FBI agents titled Incident at Oglala
. The documentary depicts the indictment of activist Leonard Peltier
during a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
.
The film was a co-production between the motion picture studios of TriStar Pictures
, Tribeca Productions
and Waterhorse Productions. It was commercially distributed by TriStar Pictures theatrically, and by Columbia TriStar Home Video for home media. Thunderheart explores civil topics, such as discrimination, political activism and murder. Following its cinematic release, the film garnered several award nominations from the Political Film Society
. On November 24, 1992, the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released by the Intrada Records
label. The film score was composed by musician James Horner
.
Thunderheart premiered in theaters in wide release in the United States on April 3, 1992 grossing $22,660,758 in domestic ticket sales. The film was viewed as a minor financial success after its theatrical run, and was met with generally positive critical reviews before its initial screening in cinemas. The widescreen DVD edition of the film featuring scene selections and the theatrical trailer, was released in the United States on September 29, 1998.
) is assigned to aid in the investigation of a political murder; that of Leo Fast Elk (Allan R.J. Joseph), on a Native American reservation in South Dakota. Agent William Dawes (Fred Dalton Thompson
), Levoi's superior, has chosen him for the task due to his mixed Sioux heritage which might assist in the inquiry as they interview local townspeople. Levoi's new partner, agent Frank Coutelle (Sam Shepard
), has diligently worked on the probe looking to apprehend a prime suspect: Aboriginal Rights Movement radical Jimmy Looks Twice (John Trudell
). While helping Coutelle track down the suspect, Levoi gradually becomes sensitized to Indian issues, partially from his attraction to Maggie Eagle Bear (Sheila Tousey
), a political Native American activist and schoolteacher.
Mocked and ridiculed by the locals, including tribal police officer Walter Crow Horse (Graham Greene
), Levoi finds that he has an unaccountable standing with some of the tribal elders such as Grandpa Sam Reaches (Ted Thin Elk
). The natives recognize Levoi as "Thunderheart", a Native American hero slain at the Wounded Knee massacre
in the past, and now reincarnated to deliver them from their current troubles.
Levoi comes to suspect there is a conspiracy and cover-up involving the small town, much to Coutelle's anger. Levoi and Crow Horse later discover that a local government sponsored plan to strip mine uranium on the reservation is at the root of the killings. The mining is polluting the water supply and fueling a bloody conflict between the reservation's anti-government ruling council and the pro-government natives who, led by tribal council president Jack Milton (Fred Ward
), are not above using violence to further their aims. Milton does not own the land where the mining occurs, but gets kickbacks from the leases. Coutelle is later revealed to be part of the scandal to silence the opposition and help broker the land deal. Soon after finding Maggie Eagle Bear and former convict Richard Yellow Hawk (Julius Drum) murdered, a showdown ensues between Coutelle and pro-government collaborators against Levoi, Crow Horse and the anti-government activists. Coutelle becomes outnumbered by the armed resistance and is later investigated on charges of corruption.
. Specific sets included the Pine Ridge Reservation, which was dubbed the Bear Creek Reservation. Other filming locations used were in the Washington, D.C.
area for the opening sequences. The film employed many Indian actors, some of whose screen roles mirror their real lives. The actor John Trudell
, who played an Indian activist suspected of murder in the film inspired by the real life events surrounding Leonard Peltier
, is in fact an Indian activist, as well as a poet and singer. Chief Ted Thin Elk, who played an honored Lakota medicine man, is a Lakota elder himself. Badlands National Park
and Wounded Knee
in South Dakota were also used as backdrop locations for the real life incidents which took place during the 1970s. Filming was done with the support of the Oglala Sioux
people, who trusted Apted and Fusco to express their story.
music label on November 24, 1992. The score for the film was orchestrated by James Horner
, while original songs written by musical artists Bruce Springsteen
, Ali Olmo, and Sonny Lemaire among others, were used in-between dialogue shots throughout the film. Jim Henrikson edited the film's music.
titled Thunderheart based on John Fusco's screenplay, was released on May 28, 1992. The book dramatizes the fictionalized events of the Wounded Knee Incident, as depicted in the film. It expands on the ideas of how an FBI agent's assignment to uncover the truth behind violence on an Indian reservation leads to a wide-range conspiracy.
reported that 87% of 15 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 6.4 out of 10. Following its cinematic release in 1992, Thunderheart received two nominations from the Political Film Society Awards
in the categories of Exposé
and Human Rights
.
Chris Hicks, writing in the Deseret News, said screenwriter Fusco and director Apted created a "rich backdrop, with fascinating character development and a serious focus on the spirituality of Indian beliefs." He went further commenting that "There's a lot more going on in 'Thunderheart' that makes it well worth the trip — not the least of which is the performance of co-star Graham Greene, fresh from his Oscar-nominated 'Dances With Wolves
' triumph, wonderful as a wise-cracking American Indian cop." In a mixed review, the Variety staff
believed the film found "a lively platform for its essential view that the old ways were far wiser and better." However, they did note that actor Kilmer "holds the screen strongly in an intense young Turk role, but when script calls for him to transform into a mythical Indian savior, he doesn't quite fill the moccasins." Roger Ebert
in the Chicago Sun-Times
offered an almost entirely positive review recalling how he thought "What's most absorbing about 'Thunderheart' is its sense of place and time. Apted makes documentaries as well as fiction films, and in such features as 'Coal Miner's Daughter
' and 'Gorillas in the Mist' and such documentaries as '35 Up' he pays great attention to the people themselves - not just what they do, and how that pushes things along."
Janet Maslin
writing in The New York Times
saw the film as having "the shape of a thriller" while also pointing out that it had "a documentary's attentiveness to detail." She expressed her satisfaction with the supporting acting saying that "The film's outstanding performance comes from Graham Greene, an Oscar nominee for 'Dances With Wolves,' a film that looks like an utter confection beside this plainer, harder-hitting drama. In the role of a tribal police officer, serving as Roy's wry tour guide through various Indian rituals, Mr. Greene proves himself a naturally magnetic actor who deserves to be seen in other, more varied roles." Critic Kathleen Maher, writing for The Austin Chronicle viewed Thunderheart as an "element of misty romanticism about Native Americans that Apted just doesn't manage to pull off. His yarn, however, is a good one even if it could be told a little better." She bluntly exclaimed, "Apted manages to say a lot by cutting between the squalor of life on the reservation to the magnificence of the land around it. Unfortunately, when the characters speak for themselves, they are often forced to deliver lines that are unspeakable." Owen Gleiberman
of Entertainment Weekly
gave the film a C rating calling it "hokey" and "laborious". He viewed the film as being a "leftover 1970s conspiracy thriller were it not for the novelty of its setting: a modern Indian reservaton — which, as the movie reveals, is by now a fancy word for slum." He did however compliment actor Greene, calling his performance — the film's "one redeeming feature". Author C.M. of Time Out commented that "Apted and cinematographer Roger Deakins focus unblinkingly on the poverty endemic to the reservation. This directness, however, contrasts with an over-complicated script by John Fusco". But he positively acknowledged that "the story boasts integrity and serves as a forceful indictment of on-going injustice."
Sean Axmaker of Turner Classic Movies
boasted on the film's merits by declaring, "Thunderheart dispenses with clichés of Indian culture while respectfully showing the traditions kept alive on the reservation and exposing conditions on the reservation, all within the conventions of an entertaining and involving Hollywood murder mystery with a message." Rating the film with 3 Stars, film critic Leonard Maltin
wrote that the film was an "Engrossing thriller" that is "notable for its keen attention to detail regarding Sioux customs and spirituality, and its enlightened point of view."
came in first place during that weekend grossing $10,188,583. The film's revenue dropped by 26% in its second week of release, earning $3,324,500. For that particular weekend, the film fell to 8th place screening in 1,090 theaters. The film Sleepwalkers
, unseated White Men Can't Jump to open in first place grossing $10,017,354 in box office revenue. During its final weekend in release, Thunderheart opened in a distant 14th place with $1,111,110 in revenue. The film went on to top out domestically at $22,660,758 in total ticket sales through a 6-week theatrical run. For 1992 as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 55.
video format on July 8, 1994. The Region 1 Code
widescreen
edition of the film was released on DVD
in the United States on September 29, 1998. Special features for the DVD include; scene selections and the theatrical trailer. Currently, there is no scheduled release date set for a future Blu-ray Disc
version of the film, although it is available in other media formats such as Video on demand
.
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
directed by Michael Apted
Michael Apted
Michael David Apted, CMG is an English director, producer, writer and actor. He is one of the most prolific British film directors of his generation but is best known for his work on the Up Series of documentaries and the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.On 29 June 2003 he was elected...
from an original screenplay by John Fusco
John Fusco
John Fusco is an American screenwriter born in Waterbury, Connecticut, USA. His screenplays include Crossroads, Young Guns, Young Guns II, Thunderheart, Hidalgo, and the Oscar-nominatedSpirit: Stallion of the Cimarron...
. The film is a loosely based fictional portrayal of events relating to the Wounded Knee incident
Wounded Knee Incident
The Wounded Knee incident began February 27, 1973 when about 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement seized and occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation...
in 1973. Followers of the American Indian Movement
American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty...
seized the South Dakota town of Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee, South Dakota
Wounded Knee is a census-designated place in Shannon County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 382 at the 2010 census....
in protest against federal government policy regarding Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. Incorporated in the plot is the character of Ray Levoi, played by actor Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
, as an FBI agent with Sioux heritage investigating a murder on a Native American reservation. Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
, Graham Greene
Graham Greene (actor)
Graham Greene is a Canadian actor who has worked on stage, and in film and TV productions in Canada, England and the United States.-Early life:...
, Fred Ward
Fred Ward
Freddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
and Sheila Tousey
Sheila Tousey
Sheila May Tousey is an Native American actress.-Biography:Born in Keshena, Wisconsin, Tousey is a Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee Indian, raised on both Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee Reservations.-Filmography:-External links:*...
star in principal supporting roles. Also in 1992, Apted had previously directed a documentary surrounding a Native American activist episode involving the murder of FBI agents titled Incident at Oglala
Incident at Oglala
Incident at Oglala is a 1992 documentary by Michael Apted, narrated by Robert Redford. The film documents the murder of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, Jack R. Coler and Ronald A...
. The documentary depicts the indictment of activist Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier is a Native American activist and member of the American Indian Movement . In 1977 he was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for first degree murder in the shooting of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents during a 1975 conflict on the Pine...
during a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
.
The film was a co-production between the motion picture studios of TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. is an American film production/distribution studio and subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, itself a subdivision of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures...
, Tribeca Productions
TriBeCa Productions
Tribeca Productions, a film and television production company, was co-founded in 1989 by actor Robert De Niro and producer Jane Rosenthal in the lower Manhattan neighborhood of TriBeCa...
and Waterhorse Productions. It was commercially distributed by TriStar Pictures theatrically, and by Columbia TriStar Home Video for home media. Thunderheart explores civil topics, such as discrimination, political activism and murder. Following its cinematic release, the film garnered several award nominations from the Political Film Society
Political Film Society
The Political Film Society is a nonprofit corporation that exists to recognize Hollywood films' ability to raise awareness in political matters in the world. Film makers are the ones who are awarded by this organization...
. On November 24, 1992, the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released by the Intrada Records
Intrada Records
Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California...
label. The film score was composed by musician James Horner
James Horner
James Roy Horner is an American composer, orchestrator and conductor of orchestral and film music. He is noted for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, and for frequent use of Celtic musical elements...
.
Thunderheart premiered in theaters in wide release in the United States on April 3, 1992 grossing $22,660,758 in domestic ticket sales. The film was viewed as a minor financial success after its theatrical run, and was met with generally positive critical reviews before its initial screening in cinemas. The widescreen DVD edition of the film featuring scene selections and the theatrical trailer, was released in the United States on September 29, 1998.
Plot
During the 1970s, FBI agent Ray Levoi (Val KilmerVal Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
) is assigned to aid in the investigation of a political murder; that of Leo Fast Elk (Allan R.J. Joseph), on a Native American reservation in South Dakota. Agent William Dawes (Fred Dalton Thompson
Fred Dalton Thompson
Fred Dalton Thompson , is an American politician, actor, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, and radio host. He served as a Republican U.S...
), Levoi's superior, has chosen him for the task due to his mixed Sioux heritage which might assist in the inquiry as they interview local townspeople. Levoi's new partner, agent Frank Coutelle (Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
), has diligently worked on the probe looking to apprehend a prime suspect: Aboriginal Rights Movement radical Jimmy Looks Twice (John Trudell
John Trudell
John Trudell is a Native American-Mexican author, poet, actor, musician, and former political activist. He was the spokesperson for the United Indians of All Tribes' takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as Radio Free Alcatraz...
). While helping Coutelle track down the suspect, Levoi gradually becomes sensitized to Indian issues, partially from his attraction to Maggie Eagle Bear (Sheila Tousey
Sheila Tousey
Sheila May Tousey is an Native American actress.-Biography:Born in Keshena, Wisconsin, Tousey is a Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee Indian, raised on both Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee Reservations.-Filmography:-External links:*...
), a political Native American activist and schoolteacher.
Mocked and ridiculed by the locals, including tribal police officer Walter Crow Horse (Graham Greene
Graham Greene (actor)
Graham Greene is a Canadian actor who has worked on stage, and in film and TV productions in Canada, England and the United States.-Early life:...
), Levoi finds that he has an unaccountable standing with some of the tribal elders such as Grandpa Sam Reaches (Ted Thin Elk
Ted Thin Elk
Ted Thin Elk , American actor, a Sicangu Lakota Sioux, who spent most of his life on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota...
). The natives recognize Levoi as "Thunderheart", a Native American hero slain at the Wounded Knee massacre
Wounded Knee Massacre
The Wounded Knee Massacre happened on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA. On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M...
in the past, and now reincarnated to deliver them from their current troubles.
Levoi comes to suspect there is a conspiracy and cover-up involving the small town, much to Coutelle's anger. Levoi and Crow Horse later discover that a local government sponsored plan to strip mine uranium on the reservation is at the root of the killings. The mining is polluting the water supply and fueling a bloody conflict between the reservation's anti-government ruling council and the pro-government natives who, led by tribal council president Jack Milton (Fred Ward
Fred Ward
Freddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
), are not above using violence to further their aims. Milton does not own the land where the mining occurs, but gets kickbacks from the leases. Coutelle is later revealed to be part of the scandal to silence the opposition and help broker the land deal. Soon after finding Maggie Eagle Bear and former convict Richard Yellow Hawk (Julius Drum) murdered, a showdown ensues between Coutelle and pro-government collaborators against Levoi, Crow Horse and the anti-government activists. Coutelle becomes outnumbered by the armed resistance and is later investigated on charges of corruption.
Cast
Filming
The film was shot primarily on location in South DakotaSouth Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. Specific sets included the Pine Ridge Reservation, which was dubbed the Bear Creek Reservation. Other filming locations used were in the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
area for the opening sequences. The film employed many Indian actors, some of whose screen roles mirror their real lives. The actor John Trudell
John Trudell
John Trudell is a Native American-Mexican author, poet, actor, musician, and former political activist. He was the spokesperson for the United Indians of All Tribes' takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as Radio Free Alcatraz...
, who played an Indian activist suspected of murder in the film inspired by the real life events surrounding Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier is a Native American activist and member of the American Indian Movement . In 1977 he was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for first degree murder in the shooting of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents during a 1975 conflict on the Pine...
, is in fact an Indian activist, as well as a poet and singer. Chief Ted Thin Elk, who played an honored Lakota medicine man, is a Lakota elder himself. Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park, in southwest South Dakota, United States preserves of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States....
and Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee, South Dakota
Wounded Knee is a census-designated place in Shannon County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 382 at the 2010 census....
in South Dakota were also used as backdrop locations for the real life incidents which took place during the 1970s. Filming was done with the support of the Oglala Sioux
Oglala Lakota
The Oglala Lakota or Oglala Sioux are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people; along with the Nakota and Dakota, they make up the Great Sioux Nation. A majority of the Oglala live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the eighth-largest Native American reservation in the...
people, who trusted Apted and Fusco to express their story.
Soundtrack
The original motion picture soundtrack for Thunderheart, was released by the Intrada RecordsIntrada Records
Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California...
music label on November 24, 1992. The score for the film was orchestrated by James Horner
James Horner
James Roy Horner is an American composer, orchestrator and conductor of orchestral and film music. He is noted for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, and for frequent use of Celtic musical elements...
, while original songs written by musical artists Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, Ali Olmo, and Sonny Lemaire among others, were used in-between dialogue shots throughout the film. Jim Henrikson edited the film's music.
Novel
A paperback novel published by HarperCollinsHarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
titled Thunderheart based on John Fusco's screenplay, was released on May 28, 1992. The book dramatizes the fictionalized events of the Wounded Knee Incident, as depicted in the film. It expands on the ideas of how an FBI agent's assignment to uncover the truth behind violence on an Indian reservation leads to a wide-range conspiracy.
Critical response
Among mainstream critics in the U.S., the film received mostly positive reviews. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 87% of 15 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 6.4 out of 10. Following its cinematic release in 1992, Thunderheart received two nominations from the Political Film Society Awards
Political Film Society Awards
The Political Film Society Awards are handed out each year by the Political Film Society. Each year, films that best promote political consciousness are selected in four categories; democracy, exposé, human rights, and peace. In addition, the Society can give special awards...
in the categories of Exposé
Political Film Society Award for Exposé
The Political Film Society Award for exposé is given out each year to a film that has an investigative depth into a subject matter and often exposes surprising information on the subject. This award has been handed out by the Society since 1988...
and Human Rights
Political Film Society Award for Human Rights
The Political Film Society Award for human rights is given out each year to a film that deals with struggle for human rights in both fictional and non-fictional stories. This award has been handed out by the Society since 1987...
.
| "A film this intent on authenticity might easily grow dull, but this one doesn't; Mr. Apted is a skillful storyteller. He gives 'Thunderheart' a brisk, fact-filled exposition and a dramatic structure that builds to a strong finale, one that effectively drives the film's message home." |
| —Janet Maslin, writing in The New York Times |
Chris Hicks, writing in the Deseret News, said screenwriter Fusco and director Apted created a "rich backdrop, with fascinating character development and a serious focus on the spirituality of Indian beliefs." He went further commenting that "There's a lot more going on in 'Thunderheart' that makes it well worth the trip — not the least of which is the performance of co-star Graham Greene, fresh from his Oscar-nominated 'Dances With Wolves
Dances with Wolves
Dances with Wolves is a 1990 epic western film directed by and starring Kevin Costner. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 book of the same name by Michael Blake and tells the story of a Union Army Lieutenant who travels to the American frontier to find a military post, and his dealings with a...
' triumph, wonderful as a wise-cracking American Indian cop." In a mixed review, the Variety staff
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
believed the film found "a lively platform for its essential view that the old ways were far wiser and better." However, they did note that actor Kilmer "holds the screen strongly in an intense young Turk role, but when script calls for him to transform into a mythical Indian savior, he doesn't quite fill the moccasins." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
in the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
offered an almost entirely positive review recalling how he thought "What's most absorbing about 'Thunderheart' is its sense of place and time. Apted makes documentaries as well as fiction films, and in such features as 'Coal Miner's Daughter
Coal Miner's Daughter
Coal Miner's Daughter is a 1980 American biographical film which tells the story of country music icon Loretta Lynn. It stars Sissy Spacek in her Academy Award for Best Actress winning role, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo and Levon Helm, and was directed by Michael Apted.-Background:The film was...
' and 'Gorillas in the Mist' and such documentaries as '35 Up' he pays great attention to the people themselves - not just what they do, and how that pushes things along."
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
writing in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
saw the film as having "the shape of a thriller" while also pointing out that it had "a documentary's attentiveness to detail." She expressed her satisfaction with the supporting acting saying that "The film's outstanding performance comes from Graham Greene, an Oscar nominee for 'Dances With Wolves,' a film that looks like an utter confection beside this plainer, harder-hitting drama. In the role of a tribal police officer, serving as Roy's wry tour guide through various Indian rituals, Mr. Greene proves himself a naturally magnetic actor who deserves to be seen in other, more varied roles." Critic Kathleen Maher, writing for The Austin Chronicle viewed Thunderheart as an "element of misty romanticism about Native Americans that Apted just doesn't manage to pull off. His yarn, however, is a good one even if it could be told a little better." She bluntly exclaimed, "Apted manages to say a lot by cutting between the squalor of life on the reservation to the magnificence of the land around it. Unfortunately, when the characters speak for themselves, they are often forced to deliver lines that are unspeakable." Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is an American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981–89, he worked at the Boston Phoenix....
of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film a C rating calling it "hokey" and "laborious". He viewed the film as being a "leftover 1970s conspiracy thriller were it not for the novelty of its setting: a modern Indian reservaton — which, as the movie reveals, is by now a fancy word for slum." He did however compliment actor Greene, calling his performance — the film's "one redeeming feature". Author C.M. of Time Out commented that "Apted and cinematographer Roger Deakins focus unblinkingly on the poverty endemic to the reservation. This directness, however, contrasts with an over-complicated script by John Fusco". But he positively acknowledged that "the story boasts integrity and serves as a forceful indictment of on-going injustice."
| "In 'Thunderheart' we get a real visual sense of the reservation, of the beauty of the rolling prairie and the way it is interrupted by deep gorges, but also of the omnipresent rusting automobiles and the subsistence level of some of the housing." |
| —Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times |
Sean Axmaker of Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
boasted on the film's merits by declaring, "Thunderheart dispenses with clichés of Indian culture while respectfully showing the traditions kept alive on the reservation and exposing conditions on the reservation, all within the conventions of an entertaining and involving Hollywood murder mystery with a message." Rating the film with 3 Stars, film critic Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
wrote that the film was an "Engrossing thriller" that is "notable for its keen attention to detail regarding Sioux customs and spirituality, and its enlightened point of view."
Box office
The film premiered in cinemas on April 3, 1992 in wide release throughout the U.S.. During its opening weekend, the film opened in 5th place grossing $4,507,425 in business showing at 1,035 locations. The film, White Men Can't JumpWhite Men Can't Jump
White Men Can't Jump is a 1992 American sports comedy drama film starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as streetball hustlers, co-starring Rosie Perez...
came in first place during that weekend grossing $10,188,583. The film's revenue dropped by 26% in its second week of release, earning $3,324,500. For that particular weekend, the film fell to 8th place screening in 1,090 theaters. The film Sleepwalkers
Sleepwalkers (film)
Sleepwalkers is a 1992 American horror film based on an original screenplay by Stephen King and directed by Mick Garris.-Plot summary:...
, unseated White Men Can't Jump to open in first place grossing $10,017,354 in box office revenue. During its final weekend in release, Thunderheart opened in a distant 14th place with $1,111,110 in revenue. The film went on to top out domestically at $22,660,758 in total ticket sales through a 6-week theatrical run. For 1992 as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 55.
Home media
Following its cinematic release in theaters, the film was released in VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
video format on July 8, 1994. The Region 1 Code
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
edition of the film was released on DVD
DVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
in the United States on September 29, 1998. Special features for the DVD include; scene selections and the theatrical trailer. Currently, there is no scheduled release date set for a future Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
version of the film, although it is available in other media formats such as Video on demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
.
External links
- Thunderheart at the Movie Review Query EngineMovie Review Query EngineThe Movie Review Query Engine also known as MRQE, is an index of movie reviews published online. Registered users are able to access movie-specific forums and provide their own reviews. The site aggregates reviews, news, interviews, and other material associated to specific movies...