I've seen _Dances with Wolves_ for the first time in cinema before it got all the accolades. I didn't knew much about it and wasn't even aware of the nominations. To put it frank, the main reason I went into it was it had the longest running time of all the movies. The most bang for the buck if you will.
I was completely blown away by the cinematography, the beautiful scenery and I was taken in by the story and deeply touched by the emotional impact. I didn't notice the three hours and I didn't mind at all having to read half of the dialogue. Everything falls together perfectly. This movie delivered on a level that very few movies did in the past, or do today. I consider this to be one of the greatest movies of all time. I am not giving it a definitive rank but it belongs in that category.
It still is an immensely powerful movie both in picture and in word. It is timeless, sadly I must add, in its topic. Althought this is about the Native Americans it works equally well in general terms. We all must learn to understand and accept each other for otherwise nothing will change.