The Last of the Mohicans (B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
Director Michael Mann's much admired 1992 period adventure film, 'The Last of the Mohicans', remakes a 1936 version of James Fenimore Cooper's novel of the French & Indian War, which then starred Randolph Scott & Binnie Barnes. This version has its slow spots & takes a few to 'get going', but then it bursts into a fairly violent, very gripping adventure movie, with stellar performances & scintillating craftsmanship by the filmmakers. The story is set in 1757 in North America, where the Brits are fighting the Americans and, both sides have stalwart native Indian allies. Life for all is unpleasant, bestial & short-lived. And the ideals of fair play & loyalty were seemingly lost during the gory battles of this & future {American Revolution} wars.
The great Daniel Day-Lewis stars as American frontiersman Hawkeye, the adopted 1/2-white son of Chingachook (Russell Means). And Madeleine Stowe co-stars as Cora Munro, the upper-class daughter of strait-laced British commanding officer, Col. Edmund Munro (Maurice Roeves). Uncas (Eric Schweig), his father Chingachgook, & Hawkeye are the last members of the dying Mohican Native American tribe, living in peace with the British colonists 'til a traitorous scout kidnaps the colonel's daughters, Cora & Alice Munro (Jodhi May). Hawkeye - who has fallen in love with Cora - & Uncas set-out to rescue the women in the midst of a grisly military conflict of which they wanted no part to play in ... the French & Indian War. Drama ensues.
As mentioned, the introductory scenes are a touch slow/confusing, so it takes a good 15 min. or so to get the various situations & characters straight. And subjectively, I don't like downbeat endings, haha. Otherwise, this film is expertly crafted by Mann & his tech team and thoroughly old-fashioned in its storytelling {in a good way}. Though Daniel Day-Lewis didn't - on paper - seem like an obvious choice to play Hawkeye, he rivets as the appealing, dashing, rugged frontier hero. Day-Lewis gives it his all, as he always does. Madeleine Stowe makes for a spicy romantic love interest for Hawkeye. Also in the cast are Steven Waddington as Maj. Duncan Heyward, Wes Studi as villainous Magua, Patrice Chereau, Pete Postlethwaite, & more.
Dante Spinotti's extraordinary award-winning cinematography + Trevor Jones & Randy Edelman's rousing music score combine to create a breathtaking visual & aural mosaic. The battle scenes {replete with striking sound design} are fantastic. And Mann does well to balance the scenery, action, romance & atmosphere with his 3-dimensional characters & the tried-&-true story -- it's all told with great boldness & epic sweep. 'The Last of the Mohicans' is a historically accurate tale of war & tragedy in which - as is usually the case - very little is absolutely good or evil. I love old-fashioned adventure movies, like this. Again, it is just some niggling issues I have with it which prevents me from putting it in the tippy top echelon of 1992 cinema.
The great Daniel Day-Lewis stars as American frontiersman Hawkeye, the adopted 1/2-white son of Chingachook (Russell Means). And Madeleine Stowe co-stars as Cora Munro, the upper-class daughter of strait-laced British commanding officer, Col. Edmund Munro (Maurice Roeves). Uncas (Eric Schweig), his father Chingachgook, & Hawkeye are the last members of the dying Mohican Native American tribe, living in peace with the British colonists 'til a traitorous scout kidnaps the colonel's daughters, Cora & Alice Munro (Jodhi May). Hawkeye - who has fallen in love with Cora - & Uncas set-out to rescue the women in the midst of a grisly military conflict of which they wanted no part to play in ... the French & Indian War. Drama ensues.
As mentioned, the introductory scenes are a touch slow/confusing, so it takes a good 15 min. or so to get the various situations & characters straight. And subjectively, I don't like downbeat endings, haha. Otherwise, this film is expertly crafted by Mann & his tech team and thoroughly old-fashioned in its storytelling {in a good way}. Though Daniel Day-Lewis didn't - on paper - seem like an obvious choice to play Hawkeye, he rivets as the appealing, dashing, rugged frontier hero. Day-Lewis gives it his all, as he always does. Madeleine Stowe makes for a spicy romantic love interest for Hawkeye. Also in the cast are Steven Waddington as Maj. Duncan Heyward, Wes Studi as villainous Magua, Patrice Chereau, Pete Postlethwaite, & more.
Dante Spinotti's extraordinary award-winning cinematography + Trevor Jones & Randy Edelman's rousing music score combine to create a breathtaking visual & aural mosaic. The battle scenes {replete with striking sound design} are fantastic. And Mann does well to balance the scenery, action, romance & atmosphere with his 3-dimensional characters & the tried-&-true story -- it's all told with great boldness & epic sweep. 'The Last of the Mohicans' is a historically accurate tale of war & tragedy in which - as is usually the case - very little is absolutely good or evil. I love old-fashioned adventure movies, like this. Again, it is just some niggling issues I have with it which prevents me from putting it in the tippy top echelon of 1992 cinema.