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
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awesome i love this movie. the actors in there make the movie. i could see nooone else play these parts. it is also a small way to learn about the indians. and part of south dakota. great movie.
Thunderheart IT IS A GREAT MOVIE. I REMEMBER THE INCIDENT THAT THE MOVIE WAS BASED ON AND THE STORY STICKS CLOSE TO THE ORIGINAL. THE ACTING IS VERY GOOD AND VERY BELIEVEABLE. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT; DO SO!
On the rez, FBI means a whole lot different things than it does on the outside Full Blood Indian, just for one. "Thunderheart" was released in 1992 and based on several incidents on reservations.
FBI Agent Ray Levoi (Kilmer) was called in to the Oglala Sioux Reservation on special assignment because he's part Sioux Indian himself and the Bureau figured he'd fit in. No further from the truth, Ray quickly learns there's a big difference between a city Indian and a rez one -- and the rez is definitely a whole different world.
The issue is civil war on the Sioux Reservation. A fight's been brewing the last 100 years over traditional Indians versus US Government supporting Indians. When Levoi first arrives, he believes the troublemakers are the traditionals who are deemed rebels by his bosses at the FBI, but as he delves deeper into Sioux culture and his own past, he begins to realize the issues are far deeper than he ever imagined.
Along the way, he teams up with rez cop, Walter Crow Horse (Graham Greene) and Grandpa Sam Reaches (Ted Thin Elk) to learn more about his past and his culture.
Overall, the performances on "Thunderheart" are excellent. The story really keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. This is one of the best Val Kilmer movies I've ever seen and Graham Greene is always stellar.
"Thunderheart" is a film I keep going back to. I've rented this movie several times to show to friends and I'm getting a Blu-Ray version for myself. It's well worth watching every few years.
Rebecca Kyle, July 2008
Thunderheart Good story Showed cultral issues as they might be Some acting very poor
Alot of the Indian movies seemed to be same actors confusing
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