A Man Called Horse: A Trashier Dances With Wolves | Screen Rant
A Man Called Horse plays like a trashy, b-movie version of Dances With Wolves. Many critics predicted disaster when Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves was first announced, with many seeing the 1990 movie - which Costner also directed - as a vanity project. It was even dubbed "Kevin's Gate" in the press after notorious box-office bomb Heaven's Gate. The movie shocked many when it not only received critical acclaim but would go on to gross over $400 million worldwide. It would also win the Best Picture and Best Director Academy Awards, controversially beating out Goodfellas.
Dances With Wolves stars Costner as a union soldier who becomes part of the Sioux tribe, learning their language and culture and eventually saving them from his own army. The movie's story is now considered part of the 'white savior' trope, suggesting the tribe needed a white man to save them while they teach him something about himself. There are plenty of other examples of this trope in cinema, including 1957's Run Of The Arrow, The Last Samarai and even James Cameron's Avatar.
Another movie that played off this idea was 1970's A Man Called Horse, starring the late Richard Harris (Gladiator). Harris plays Englishman John Morgan, who is captured and abused by a Native American tribe. Realizing his only chance of escape is to join them, he helps them fend off attacks from a rival tribe and undergoes a painful ritual - which famously featured Harris' character dangled from hooks attached to his chest - before joining them with his new name "Horse." Of course, he comes to care for his tribe and they respect him as one of their own.
A Man Called Horse features a terrific performance from Harris, but it does feel like an exploitation take on the same idea that later powered Dances With Wolves. Where the latter film was more thoughtful, A Man Called Horse has no trouble wading into b-movie waters, which is best seen in the aforementioned ritual, which feels borderline Hellraiser-esque. The scene came back again for 1976 sequel The Return Of A Man Called Horse, where Morgan returns to save his tribe from white slavers. The sequel was directed by Irvin Kershner but despite wholesale repeating scenes from the original, it received decent reviews. George Lucas also considered it superior to the original, which was part of the reason he hired Kershner to direct The Empire Strikes Back.
This strange franchise came to an end with 1983's Triumphs Of Man Called Horse, where Morgan is now the leader of the tribe. Harris wanted Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch) to direct but his reputation prevented this. Harris himself only appears briefly, with Horse being assassinated early on and the focus switching to his son Koda (Michael Beck, The Warriors). The third film is considered the weakest and has since faded into obscurity. Dances With Wolves might be the classier film, but A Man Called Horse is easily the more fun of the two.