Dances With Wolves is a 1990 American epic revisionist Western film starring, directed, and produced by Kevin Costner in his feature directorial debut. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 novel Dances With Wolves, by Michael Blake, that tells the story of Union army Lieutenant John J. Dunbar (Costner), who travels to the American frontier to find a military post and who meets a group of Lakota.

Costner developed the film with an initial budget of $15 million. Much of the dialogue is spoken in Lakota with English subtitles. It was shot from July to November 1989 in South Dakota and Wyoming, and translated by Doris Leader Charge, of the Lakota Studies department at Sinte Gleska University.

The film earned favorable reviews from critics and audiences, who praised Costner's directing, the performances, screenplay, score, cinematography, and production values. It was a box office hit, grossing $424.2 million worldwide, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of 1990, and is the highest-grossing film for Orion Pictures. The film was nominated for 12 awards at the 63rd Academy Awards and won 7, including Best Picture, Best Director for Costner, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Sound Mixing. The film also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. It is one of only four Westerns to win the Oscar for Best Picture, the other three being Cimarron (1931), Unforgiven (1992), and No Country for Old Men (2007).

It is credited as a leading influence for the revitalization of the Western genre of filmmaking in Hollywood. In 2007, Dances With Wolves was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

In 1863, 1st Lieutenant John J. Dunbar—serving with the Union army—is wounded in a stalemated battle at St. David's Field in Tennessee. The surgeon intends to amputate his leg. Choosing death in battle instead, Dunbar steals a horse and rides in front of Confederate lines unarmed, but miraculously survives his suicide attempt. Union troops take advantage of the distraction to mount a successful attack. Dunbar is given medical care that saves his leg and is awarded "Cisco", the horse he rode during his suicide attempt, along with his choice of posting. He requests a transfer to the American frontier to see it before it disappears.

Dunbar arrives at Fort Hays where its commander, Major Fambrough, assigns him to the furthest outpost under his jurisdiction: Fort Sedgwick. Fambrough, who is mentally ill, kills himself after Dunbar departs. Dunbar travels with Timmons, a foul-mouthed mule-wagon provisioner, and finds the fort deserted. He decides to rebuild the fort, recording his observations in his diary. Timmons is killed by a band of Pawnee while returning to Fort Hays. The deaths of Timmons and Fambrough leave the army unaware of Dunbar's assignment, so no other soldiers arrive to reinforce the post.

Dunbar encounters his Sioux neighbors when they attempt to steal his horse and intimidate him. Wanting to make peace, he seeks out the Sioux camp. En route, he comes across Stands With A Fist, a white ethnic Sioux woman who was adopted as a girl by the tribe's medicine man, Kicking Bird, after Pawnee killed her family. She is mutilating herself in mourning for her late Sioux husband. Dunbar brings her back to the Sioux to recover. Though the Sioux are initially hostile, Dunbar gradually establishes a rapport with them, notably Kicking Bird, the Sioux fighter Wind In His Hair, and the youth Smiles A Lot. Stands With A Fist acts as an interpreter, speaking Lakota and English.

Dunbar comes to respect and appreciate the Sioux. He is accepted into their group after he tells them of a migrating herd of buffalo and participates in the hunt. He also befriends a wolf he dubs "Two Socks" for his white forepaws. Observing Dunbar and Two Socks chasing each other, he is given a name that translates as Dances With Wolves. Dunbar learns the Lakota language, and he and Stands With A Fist grow close. He gives the Sioux firearms to help them defend against the Pawnee attack. He eventually earns Kicking Bird's approval to marry Stands With A Fist.