Thunderheart (1992)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Lanning :

  
  No dead horse should be continually beaten (not to mention that anyone who beats a live horse should be shot). I believe this. But, EVERY time I see this movie I remember that Kilmer is probably most celebrated for his Doc Holliday performance in <i>Tombstone</i>, and I… More
  No dead horse should be continually beaten (not to mention that anyone who beats a live horse should be shot). I believe this. But, EVERY time I see this movie I remember that Kilmer is probably most celebrated for his Doc Holliday performance in <i>Tombstone</i>, and I do agree that his performance is stunning, there. But I tell you true, Kilmer's BEST acting job is right here. I never get tired of watching him grow in this role.<p> Previously: I've been on Flixster for a good little while, so what with my age and all, I'm sometimes very unsure about whether I've commented on a particular movie. I just watched this one for probably at least the tenth time -- although my gut tells me it's more like twenty times -- and I just had to check Flixster to see if I'd actually ever said anything about it. <p> Amazing! I have never said a word about it. I'm sincerely surprised. <p> Even with a favorite movie, you probably understand well that it's sometimes hard to watch it TOO many times, right? I mean it is very interesting, even with some of my very favorite movies, that I'll sometimes start watching them and say to myself something along the lines of, "Ah, maybe not tonight." <p> With <i> Thunderheart</i>, it is never that way for me. I can watch it, and watch it, and then even put up with commercial interruptions, like tonight, to watch it again. <p> I'm not sure how well I can explain all the reasons why I love this movie, but you know me -- I'll give it a shot : ) <p> Val Kilmer is superior as Doc Holliiday in <i>Tombstone</i>, I think some of you might agree. But the beauty of that work, for me, takes a second seat to his performance in this movie. There is something about his difficulty with delivering some of the lines here with conviction -- "I'm sorry I dragged your family into this," for instance -- that is never a problem he has with his world-weary Doc Holliday. <p>You are, I'm sure, very familiar with the hackneyed term "coming of age." Doc Holliday, thanks to Kilmer's performance, you know darn well came of age looong before the events chronicled in <i>Tombstone</i>. That performance of a man who has lived life to the fullest, seen it all, done it all, is perfection. <p>Ray Levoi, on the other hand, is coming of age right before your very eyes. I love the less polished performance here because it lends itself -- almost as if he intended it to be that way -- to the way he is discovering himself, who he is, how he should live, how he should act. <p>Okay, I was going to go into a whole list of reasons why I love this movie, but I'm sure very few people have even read this far. <p>Bottom line: This movie is so good that I'm adding it to my Top 100 list right now, and I'm going to be curious to see what movie I decide to drop from that list in order to make place for <i>Thunderheart.</i> If you've not watched this before, please give it a try. Me? I don't think I will ever get tired of watching it.

• Jim H

  
  An FBI agent investigates a murder on a Lakota reservation. <i>Thunderheart</I> is a textbook example of how a skilled filmmaker can use a familiar genre to attempt to make a political point. The mystery and the message are interwoven expertly. However, as much as the… More
  An FBI agent investigates a murder on a Lakota reservation. <i>Thunderheart</I> is a textbook example of how a skilled filmmaker can use a familiar genre to attempt to make a political point. The mystery and the message are interwoven expertly. However, as much as the film attempts to show Native life as it was, and still is in many places, (people living in near squalor with high incidents of alcoholism and violence), the last shot summarizes the feel I got through other parts of the film. I'm not giving anything away when I say that in the final moment, we see a busy highway that is far removed from the Res. It is as though Natives are still unwelcome in modernity, separated radically from it, even though thoroughly modern lives either are or can be lived by the people we just met. The film's heart is in the right place, exposing the degradation to which many of these people are subjected, but there is still something of a "noble savage" feel to how the film treats Natives. Add to this the fact that Fred Ward plays in a character in "red face," as the saying goes, and we can see how Natives are still subjects to some degree. Also, I wondered about why Sam Shepard's character, Cooch, constantly sent Val Kilmer's character, Ray, to advance the investigation alone. It seemed unrealistic. The performances are all fine; though, I think Val Kilmer was too stoic. If we are to buy the fact that a grizzled FBI veteran so quickly recovers his Native roots, I think more work needs to be done by the actor to make this transition obvious. Overall, <i>Thunderheart</i> is a well-told story even with a few relatively minor flaws.

• Tim S

  
  Not that great.

• xGary X

  
  People talk about the "politically charged" story and Val Kilmer's "outstanding" performance, and I wonder if I was watching the same film, because all I saw was yet another glossy cop thriller. The reservation makes an interesting cultural backdrop to an… More
  People talk about the "politically charged" story and Val Kilmer's "outstanding" performance, and I wonder if I was watching the same film, because all I saw was yet another glossy cop thriller. The reservation makes an interesting cultural backdrop to an otherwise run of the mill plot about corrupt land deals, unfortunately often resorting to the usual new age "noble savage" perception of native americans that seems distinctly patronizing. Graham Greene makes a great foil to Kilmer's earnest FBI agent, otherwise an entertaining but superficial diversion, and nothing more.

• Dean M

  
  A superb thriller on one level, the depiction of third-world life in a first-world nation is also fascinating. The story grips throughout while the performances are wonderful, particularly from Graham Greene as the Indian cop who makes Sherlock Holmes look thick.

• Deb S

  
  Val Kilmer plays a FBI rookie and half-breed Sioux Indian who is asked to assist in collaring a murder suspect on an Indian reservation. During the investigation Val finds himself coming to terms with his heritage; rejecting the tactics of his fellow agents, who want to cover up… More
  Val Kilmer plays a FBI rookie and half-breed Sioux Indian who is asked to assist in collaring a murder suspect on an Indian reservation. During the investigation Val finds himself coming to terms with his heritage; rejecting the tactics of his fellow agents, who want to cover up rather than solve the crime. Along the way, he meets a sarcastic but savvy, local lawman, Walter Crow Horse (Graham Greene) and a fiery, pacifistic activist in Maggie Eagle Bear (Sheila Tousey). Good portrait of the conflict that Val Kilmer's character is faced with and Chief Ted Thin Elk, the old wise man has an instant appeal to the viewer. Both Kilmer and Greene give wonderful performances backed up by the incomparable Sam Shepard.

• Greg A

  
  This is a really good movie the only thing is that all the story's main feuds remain unresolved. I recommend it but it is annoying as hell having no resolve.

• Leo L

  
  Great movie!

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