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Last
of the Mohicans
Starring: Daniel Day Lewis, Madeline Stowe, Wes Studi
Also Starring: Russell Means, Steven Waddington
Director: Michael Mann
Box Office Gross: $72.455m (USA)
DVD release date: 11/23/1999
Special Extras: Directors expanded edition. Over 12 scenes with never-before-seen footage added by Michael Mann.
Options:
English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround),
French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Subtitles: English, Spanish, THX Certified, Widescreen letterbox format.
Summary: A budding romance between a British officer's daughter and an independent man who was reared as a Mohawk complicates things for the British officer, as the adopted Mohawk pursues his own agenda despite the wrath of different people on both sides of the conflict.
Review:
One
of my favorite all time movies, again directed by Michael Mann, Last of
the Mohicans presents a sweeping drama with hard edged violence, gritty
characters and a stern romance. Set among the grand background of the
North Carolina mountains, Last of the Mohicans is a must own for true
action/drama fans.
Released
in 1992 and sending Daniel Day Lewis into movie stardom, Mohicans
focuses on the character Leatherstocking from the popular James
Fennimore Cooper books. Set in 1753 amid the French and Indian war in
the Colonies, Last of the Mohicans follows the adopted son of
Chingachgook (Russell Means) as he struggles to keep his heritage
separate from the conflagration around him. Amid all the personal
turmoil, Hawkeye (Daniel Day Lewis) gets swept up in the French Indian
War and is drawn into fighting for the British for personal reasons.
Along the way he befriends and falls in love with Cora Munro, daughter
of a besieged British general, and love ensues among chaos. Throw in
such Michael Mann standards as ultra violent action scenes, sweeping
directorial camera pans, and excellent character actors such as Wes
Studi (HEAT) and you have a top notch film. Wes Studi, when all is said
and done, plays one of the most hated villains of all time.
The
DVD release was one of my most anticipated titles (along with Braveheart) and the DVD was well worth the wait, as Mann has inserted
all the original footage into the film. Although containing no
additional features, the animated menus with its beautiful music score
and restored footage make this DVD a must buy. Again I cannot say enough
for the musical score of this film. Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman have
done a superb job, the soundtrack is well worth looking into.
The
best scenes of this movie are too many to name, from the awesome siege
scene with new footage added to the stirring waterfall escape, this
movie is a great two hours of filmmaking. Perhaps it is a little hard to
follow at first, with many factions fighting and going at each other’s
throats, but once you get the idea of who is who then the plot truly
turns out to be quite fulfilling. Getting down to the nitty gritty, it
turns out that Chingachgook and his son Uncas are the last line of
Mohican Indian. When Wes Studi’s character betrays the British to the
French for revenge on Colonel Munro, Hawkeye is drawn into the conflict.
The film has many scenes of one on one confrontations where the dialogue
is classic Michael Mann…short and terse. The final battle scenes are
tense and have you on the edge of your seat.
Excellent
image quality, good sound (THX mastered) and sound options, and a very
informative booklet help round out a DVD for a terrific film. Each scene
with additional footage added is marked with an asterisk next to it. A
bit on the pricey side but well worth if you like epics and are a
Michael Mann fan. Don’t hesitate to pick it up especially if you have
never seen the film. The ending is a stunner, a long, nearly wordless
sequence of battle and loss.
DVD Rating:
Look: 5/5
Sound: 5/5
Extras: 2/5
Total: 4/5