Blu-Ray Review
by John Larkin
THUNDERHEART, the 1992 Native American western crime thriller directed by Michael Apted, has to be one of the least talked about and underrated films in cinephile culture. It seems to have been lost in the shuffle of the fervently magnificent decade of 90's films, which is regrettable considering it's grade-A filmmaking from first frame to last.
Ironically, it's subject matter is eerily similar to KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and like KILLERS, was also based on a true story. In the early 1970's there were a series of unsolved murders on the Pine Ridge reservation, due to the fighting between what were knows as "The Traditionals" and the Tribal government sanctioned called "The Goons". The high death toll made Pine Ridge the murder capital of the nation and the FBI headed in to try and get to the bottom of it all.
In the film version the focus is on Val Kilmer as FBI agent Ray Levoi, who is enlisted to help with the murder investigation in South Dakota. Ray is chosen soley because of his quarter Sioux ancestry, in the hopes that it will help him connect better with the local tribes in order to get to the bottom of the murder mystery. His arc is not dissimilar to Kevin Costner's Lieutenant Dunbar in DANCES WITH THE WOLVES - as he spends more time with the tribe, he finds himself more connected to his heritage and the people around him and more hostile towards his colleagues in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or as Graham Green's character of Walter 'Crow Horse' calls them, Federal Bureau of Intimidation.
The films depiction of Native American culture is as authentic and reverential as any ever seen in film history, and features an impressive supporting cast of Native American talent of all ages young and old.
The film is shot gorgeously by an early Roger Deakins and scored by the legendary late composer James Horner. The blu-ray image is exquisite with refined detail, and the audio is clean and bombastic during it's intermittent action sequences. I would have liked more in terms of bonus features, as it only features one (new) commentary track from screenwriter James Fusco. Surprisingly Fusco mentions that he once recorded a commentary track with directed Michael Apted, but it's never been released! Fusco also seems to be under the impression that Roger Deakins is deceased, because at one point he calls him "the late Roger Deakins." Deakins is alive and well at 75 and won his first two oscars in 2018 and 2020.
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