# What were the GOOD Kevin Costner films? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-good-kevin-costner-films/310260 "2005-06-28T20:02:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-good-kevin-costner-films/310260/41 "2005-06-30T06:04:41Z")
I have a theory that Costner is best when he essentially plays himself. That his best movies are where wardrobe, a good plot, and solid co-stars make it so that an absolute minimum of actual acting is required on his part. Bull Durham is just Costner in a baseball uniform. Dances with Wolves is just Costner in a military uniform. The problem is, watching the clinkers is so painful I can’t test my theory effectively. Why yes, my tinfoil hat is lovely, isn’t it? Water World wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t good. The Postman wasn’t just bad, it didn’t make any sense. Didn’t anyone do the math on the dates? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_MuD\_PhuD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/2bfe46/32.png) [@Elmer\_MuD\_PhuD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_MuD_PhuD)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-good-kevin-costner-films/310260/42 "2005-06-30T06:38:18Z")
> [@SisterCoyote](#): > > I am so ashamed to admit this, but I liked 3,000 Miles from Graceland. Fear not, I shall draw the attention to myself. **I liked _Waterworld_.** I didin’t love it, I didn’t really like it, but I liked it. This movie does not deserve the bad rep it has, considering the number of truly awful movies out there. Yeah, so the set sunk. So they rewrote the script, forcing them to reshoot half the movie. It wasnt terrible. Dont get me wrong, it wasnt great, but it was watchable; enjoyable in an odd sort of way. Then again, I haven’t seen it since it came out, at wich time I think I was twelve. Perhaps my tastes have become more discriminating since then. I thought _Tin Cup_ and _Field of Dreams_ were excellent. _Dances With Wolves_. I got this one from Netflix. It came on one of those two sided DVDs. I was slightly inebriated, and assumed one side was Full Screen, and the other was Widescreen. To make a long story short, I only saw the last 1.5 hours. They were really good though. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-good-kevin-costner-films/310260/43 "2005-06-30T15:00:25Z")
> [@TripingJimiThing](#): > > _Dances With Wolves_. I got this one from Netflix. It came on one of those two sided DVDs. I was slightly inebriated, and assumed one side was Full Screen, and the other was Widescreen. To make a long story short, I only saw the last 1.5 hours. They were really good though. Heh, I did this with _Das Boot_. Was one of the first DVDs I ever watched so my savvy wasn’t quite there. I chalked up the, um, inconsistancies to goofy foreign filmmaking…lol. > [@Raguleader](#): > > (I don’t remember who, if anyone, won that war, not that it mattered, since Texas apparantly got turned into a glow-in-dark glass factory ☹ ) I think you meant: (I don’t remember who, if anyone, won that war, not that it mattered, since Texas apparantly got turned into a glow-in-dark glass factory 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-good-kevin-costner-films/310260/44 "2005-06-30T16:39:36Z")
_Tin Cup_ is one of my favorite movies. “Gimme another ball.” “Sex and golf are the two things you can enjoy even if you’re not good at them.” ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-good-kevin-costner-films/310260/45 "2005-06-30T17:26:10Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > I also liked Bull Durham and love Silverado. Tin Cup was fine for 3/4 of the thing, then they didn’t know how to end it and it cratered. > > –Cliffy I loved the ending. Instead of the worn out “underdog triumphs in the end” storyline, he kept hitting that shot until he made it. The line was perfect that went something along the lines of : “Next year no one will remember who won the tournament. But they’ll never forget who didn’t win” I too am a fan of the Postman. I guess I am able to see beyond the inconsistencies such as the almost exclusive use of Colt AR-15 carbines. Rifles that were never used in any large numbers by the military, but EVERYONE had one. I’m a gun guy so I guess things like that stick out in my mind more than a 20 year old Zippo lighter that still lit. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-good-kevin-costner-films/310260/46 "2005-06-30T19:06:12Z")
> [@tremorviolet](#): > > [Fandango](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089126/), one of his earliest films, was great. In fact, it was recently released on DVD and I need to get it to replace my worn-out VHS tape… Still absolutely one of my favorite films of all time. Director Kevin Reynolds wrote it about his experiences at Baylor (where his dad was Pres.) and I was fortunate enough to have had some pretty interesting discussions with him about it. Director John Hancock’s an old friend too (Baylor) so **A Perfect World** is up high on my Costner list as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-good-kevin-costner-films/310260.md?page=2)