Product Description

VAL KILMER STARS AS A PART SIOUX FBI AGENT WHO RELUCTANTLY AWAKENS TO HIS HERITAGE AS HE INVESTIGATES A MURDER ON AN INDIAN RESERVATION.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5271 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 1998-09-29
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 119 minutes

Amazon.com
Tough but moving, Thunderheart is an unusual story about an arrogant FBI agent (Val Kilmer) who participates in a federal investigation of a murder on an Oglala Sioux reservation. Kilmer's character is part Sioux himself, a detail that leaves him cold as he sets about pushing his way through the community to find facts on the case. In time, however, he begins to feel an ethnic tug and grows increasingly sympathetic to the locals and hostile toward his fellow G-men, much to the dismay of his agency mentor (Sam Shepard). The script is based on real events that occurred on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975 in South Dakota (involving an armed standoff between Indian activists and the FBI, an event that prompted Thunderheart director Michael Apted to make a companion documentary, Incident at Oglala). The conclusion of Thunderheart feels like politically charged whimsy, but the real strength of the film is Kilmer's outstanding performance as a man in transformation. Apted's clear-eyed depiction of the Sioux's spiritual and cultural continuity with the past has none of the cloying romanticism of other films about Indians. Produced by Robert De Niro. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

The human spirit is alive and strong...
If I remember correctly, this movie was not rated well when it was first released in theatres. I couldn't understand why since it was well made, had a decent cast and had a thought provoking plot based on true events.

The cinematography is very attactive in showing the badlands of South Dakota and featuring looks into the Indian reservations. Also, the music was well done and offered a nice perspective of Native American sounds and environments.

This movie also sends a message about a darker time in America's past when the govenrment perpetrated some devious acts against the Native Americans. Maybe it was high time that these events came out into the open so that more people would know what happened and know that what the U.S. government did was very wrong.

Val Kilmer proved to be well suited for the "by the book" FBI agent that came of age and got in touch with his Indian heritage and learned to do the right thing. Sam Shepard, a great actor as always, played the role very well of the "dark horse" FBI agent with skeletons in his closet and a secret agenda on the Sioux reservation. Graham Greene could not have done any better as the reservation police officer. Showing his pride and dignity as an Native American along with the humorous backlashings at Val Kilmer made for pleasant interactions throughout the movie.

A movie worth watching again and again.

A diamond in the rough
Time over time, Val Kilmer has proven that he is not just a pretty face. He has continually impressed even the most severe critics that he is a formidable actor. THUNDERHEART, to me, is among his best performances.

There is some predictability in the plot: Kilmer portrays an FBI agent who is part Native-American. When he is sent to a reservation to investigate a crime, he begins to respect and embrace the heritage he had not previously acknowledged. What is not predictable, however, is how well the script avoids sentiment and focuses on Kilmer's transformation.

Loosely based on the actual events surrounding Leonard Peltier's American Indian Movement, and the murders of FBI agents on the Pine Ridge reservation (all of which is the subject of Peter Matthiessen's book "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse"), THUNDERHEART is a powerful examination of the surreal and frightening life on Native American reservations. Brutality is everywhere: whites against Indians, Indians against Indians, etc. Director Michael Apted does a remarkable job of tempering the violence with scenes of beauty and with images of a peace-loving tribe of people. This is a heartbreaking film at times, but there is a sense of justice in the long-run. THUNDEHEART is not a piece of hunk-actor mind candy. This is a powerful (and underrated) film that demands your attention. It is well-worth it.

The Proud and The Conquered
A low profile but vicious war is being waged on the Oglala Sioux reservation in South Dakota, on one hand there are the "traditionalists" who are adamant on protecting their culture, on the other are the pro-governement natives led by a particulary nasty man called John Milton (Fred Ward). This war results in a murder of Leo Fast Elk, a native who was also a council member. Due to the sensitivity if the case the FBI does the PC thing and sends a one fourth Indian agent named Roy Levoi (Val Kilmer). The first hint that the this won't be another run of the mill thriller is the Roy Levoi character, he isn't your average hero, infact he is no hero at all. When we first see him he is a "by the book" FBI man, and the film more then anything else is the story of how he wrestles with and discovers his true identity. Kilmer's performance is both subtle and superb.

Good thrillers keep us guessing for the truth, great thrillers like Peter Weir's WITNESS and Jim Mcbride's THE BIG EASY are more concerned with the atmosphere and cultural quirks of the characters. Thunderheart is very nearly a great thriller, more concerned with the thematic and moral implications of the Indian tribal wars then using Indians for atmosphere. There is a real sense of discovery in watching this film, an attention to detail that gives it the credibilty to survive the rules of the thriller. There is also undercurrent supernatural element (actually spiritual would be more accurate) that is handled with subtlety and grace by the director.

Hitchcock said there is no suspense in the boom, only the anticipation of one. As a result most thrillers have to survive their endings. Although on reflection Thunderheart's ending seems improbable, during the film you are carried by its momentum that you don't mind.

The title of this review refers to one character's desciption of the native Indians in the U.S. . This is the most fascinating thing for me about the film, the thin line between cultural protection and xenophobia. The violence the almost certainly errupts when different cultures collide. Although the film is clearly on the Sioux's side (and correctly so), the larger subject is fascinating.

Micheal Apted's recent films always seem to fall short of their alluring premises, both Nell and Extreme Measure were solid but lacking something. But in Thunderheart he has created a fascinating, beautiful and haunting film.