10 Great Movies About Men In The Wilderness

This key Western epic brought the unlikely directorial figure of Kevin Costner to the fore, as a soldier attempting to live off the inhospitable plains of America. It's one of the ultimate stories of learning to be in harmony with the wilderness, as opposed to trying to tame it.

Taking the audience back to the late nineteenth century, the narrative followed John Dunbar (Costner), who took up a remote posting on the unforgiving western frontier. There he encountered and came to terms with the local Sioux tribe, as well as befriending a stray wolf that eventually gave him the Indian name of the title.

Arriving at a point when the Western was seriously out of favour, Dances With Wolves (from the book by Michael Blake) kickstarted Costner's A List career. Some believe it helped the profile of Native Americans, others thought it hindered, but it remains a striking chronicle of man's interaction with the natural world, and the tangled path it takes in adapting to a harsh backdrop.