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Published Oct 7, 2026, 10:00 PM EDT
Makuochi Echebiri is a News Writer for Collider. He has been interested in creative writing from as far back as high school, and he would consume pretty much anything that’s film or TV. However, his truest love lies in the presence of historical epics and thrillers.
Lured by the brilliance of Middle Earth from an early age both in print and on screen, his palate has since expanded to other realms including Westeros, Kattegat among others. He also possesses a great appetite for the stories that emanate from the vastness of space. Even though he is no Avenger.
Obsessed with storytelling and having works of his own that have yet to make it to print, he is content to use that ability to communicate to as many as are reachable. In his spare time, he looks out for avenues where he can aid people aside from his plans to reign over this earthly realm. Yes…you heard that first here.
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Kevin Costner may be going through the wringer with his latest western project, but there's no denying the talent behind one of Hollywood's most enduring careers or the massive legacy he's built in the genre. Costner is credited with helping revive the western at a time when it appeared to be facing extinction, and his impact has continued to resonate with generations of audiences. Younger viewers may know him best as John Dutton in Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone universe, but the actor's western legacy stretches back decades, and now one of his most celebrated classics has found a new home.
The project in question is a definitive entry in Hollywood's western history and, without a doubt, essential viewing for any fan of the genre. The film tells a revisionist story centered on Lt. John J. Dunbar (Costner), a Civil War veteran who relocates to the frontier and gradually forms a relationship with the Lakota people. We're, of course, talking about Dances with Wolves, the 1990 epic that defied expectations at the box office, grossing $424 million against its modest $22 million budget. Its extraordinary commercial success, coupled with its critical acclaim, helped resuscitate a western genre that had been struggling to remain relevant in Hollywood.
Making Dances with Wolves' success even more staggering is the fact that it marked Costner's directorial debut. Critics praised his bold vision, particularly the film's approach to Native American representation. The movie went on to receive 12 Academy Award nominations, winning 7, including Best Picture and Best Director for Costner. More than three decades later, Dances with Wolves has aged remarkably well and continues to earn its share of pop culture references. It's the kind of title streamers are always eager to bring back to their libraries, and now Prime Video has become the latest platform to house the film following its brief absence from the service.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Western Icon Are You Most Like? No Name · Doc Holliday · Wyatt Earp · Mattie Ross
Pick your name, your gun, your horse and how you spend a night in town, and we will tell you which legend of the Old West you would have been. Four icons are waiting at the end of this: the stranger who never gives his name, the gambler who would die for a friend, the lawman who never wanted the badge, and the girl nobody has ever talked out of anything.
🚬No Name(Dollars Trilogy)
🃏Doc Holliday(Tombstone)
⭐Wyatt Earp(Tombstone)
🐎Mattie Ross(True Grit)
FIND YOUR ICON →
01
The town is about to learn your name. What do they call you? In a Western, what people call you is already half the character.
AThey never do find it out, so the stranger will have to do. BA nickname I picked up at a card table and never shook off. CMarshal, and most people say it with a bit of respect. DMy full name, and I will correct anybody who tries to shorten it.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
What are you carrying? Everything out here is character, right down to what is sitting on your hip.
AOne revolver I have had for years and have never once talked about. BA pistol, a knife and a deck of cards, and the cards do most of the damage. CA shotgun, because it tends to end arguments rather than start them. DMy father's gun, which is far too big for me, and I am carrying it anyway.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
What are you riding? A hero and their horse is one of the oldest relationships in cinema.
ASomething plain that nobody in town would look at twice. BWhatever I won last night, which may not be strictly mine yet. CA big steady horse that will not spook when things get loud. DA pony I overpaid for and named myself, and I will hear nothing against him.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
You have got one evening in town. How does it go? The saloon is where these films quietly tell you who somebody really is.
AOne drink at the far end of the bar with my back to the wall. BAt the card table, holding court, up forty dollars and climbing. CA quick drink, then a walk round town to see that everything is quiet. DUpstairs with the ledger, working out exactly what tomorrow is going to cost.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
A stranger offers you money for a job that sounds like trouble. Somebody always turns up with a full purse and a bad idea.
AI ask how much, and then I ask for a good deal more than that. BI say yes before he has finished, mostly because it sounds like a story. CI ask him who gets hurt if I turn him down. DI ask for the terms in writing before anybody shakes on anything.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
Somebody is waiting for you in the street. What does the town see? Two people, an empty road, and everybody else watching from behind the shutters.
ASomebody walking out very slowly who has not said a single word. BSomebody grinning, which everyone watching finds deeply unnerving. CSomebody making one last attempt to talk the other man down. DSomebody far too young to be out there, walking out regardless.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
What is the one thing you will not do out here? The code is about the only thing west of the river that actually holds.
AExplain myself to somebody who has not earned an explanation. BRide off and leave a friend standing out there on his own. CLet a whole town pay for a fight it had nothing to do with. DLet a grown man tell me I am too young to be standing here.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
The job is finished. Where does the story leave you? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your icon.
AOn a ridge somewhere, riding away, without saying goodbye to anybody. BSomewhere warm and worn out, having enjoyed very nearly all of it. CHome, with the badge on the table and the whole thing behind me. DOlder, changed by it, and telling this story for the rest of my life.
REVEAL MY ICON →
The Dust Has Settled Your Western Icon Is…
Four icons and four completely different ways of walking into trouble. This is the one you would have been out there, why it fits, and what it would have cost you.
The Man With No Name
You have never explained yourself and you have never needed to, because people work out fairly quickly that you are the most capable person in the room without you ever having to mention it.
- Eastwood built the character out of everything he refused to do, stripping away the backstory, the speeches and every bit of reassurance until only the competence was left.
- You keep your own counsel, and while other people occasionally find that unnerving, you have never felt any real need to fix it for them.
- The Dollars films work because he genuinely is in it for himself right up until the moment he is not, and he never explains that part either.
- You would be gone before anybody got a chance to thank you.
Doc Holliday
You are the funniest person in most rooms and the most loyal person in all of them, and you would be genuinely insulted if somebody suggested those two things were in any tension.
- Doc has no real reason to be in this fight beyond the fact that his friend is in it, which is the only reason he has ever needed for anything.
- You lead with wit, and it does a very effective job of hiding how seriously you take the handful of people you actually care about.
- Val Kilmer's performance is the most quoted in the entire genre because the jokes keep getting sharper as the situation gets worse.
- You would spend everything you had on this and still describe it as a good week.
Wyatt Earp
You never wanted this job, and you took it anyway because the alternative was standing there watching somebody less careful do it badly, which is the most Western reason there has ever been.
- Earp is the reluctant authority figure, a man who came to town specifically to be left alone and somehow ended up answerable for all of it.
- You are protective by instinct, so when something goes wrong your first thought is who is exposed rather than who is to blame.
- These films understand that keeping order costs far more than breaking it, and that the person holding the line almost never gets thanked.
- You would do the whole thing again, and you would complain about it the entire time.
Mattie Ross
Nobody has ever successfully talked you out of something you had already decided was right, and a long line of grown adults has found that out the hard way.
- Mattie is the most relentless character in the Western canon and she manages it through argument, paperwork and flat refusal rather than a fast draw.
- You have no patience for being managed, so you negotiate, you check the details and you turn up exactly when you said you would.
- True Grit is the rare Western where the moral centre is the youngest person on screen and every adult around her has to catch up.
- You would get what you came for, and the film is honest about what that takes out of you.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
What's the Current Status of Kevin Costner's 'Horizon' Project?
While Costner's fans have no shortage of his classic and modern works to revisit, many are still eagerly awaiting the second chapter of his latest passion project, Horizon: An American Saga. The first installment, which Costner largely self-funded, was a box office disappointment, which hindered the release of its follow-up. Costner is also currently dealing with lawsuits filed against the production of the first film. But despite the setbacks, the Oscar winner remains committed to seeing the saga through, with plans for a total of four films. He's already in production on the third chapter while continuing to seek funding for the fourth. His fans also remain hopeful, with some already projecting the movie series will rise to cult status. However, it remains unclear when Chapter 2, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, will finally receive its long-overdue theatrical release.
Release Date November 21, 1990
Runtime 181 minutes
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Mary McDonnell
Stands With A Fist
