The Last of the Mohicans (Director's Expanded Edition)
by Michael Mann
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Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Eric Schweig, Jodhi May, Madeleine Stowe, Russell MeansDirector: Michael Mann
Brand: Fox
Writer: Michael Mann
Writer: Christopher Crowe
Writer: Daniel Moore
Writer: James Fenimore Cooper
Writer: John L. Balderston
Writer: Paul Perez
Writer: Philip Dunne
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 117 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-01-23
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Anamorphic; Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; DTS Surround Sound; DVD; Widescreen; NTSC
DVD Reviews of The Last of the Mohicans (Director's Expanded Edition)
DVD Review: yes, I read the book
Summary: 3 Stars
Yes, I am one of those "idiots" (as one reviewer put it) that read the book and preferred it to the movie. And no, I don't recommend that you throw away the book. Cooper's book makes for difficult reading if you are not used to that style of English, but I find it much easier to read than Shakespeare. So tear yourself away from cheap romance fiction and give his book a whirl, it is much richer and more interesting than the movie, and much more sympathetic toward Native Americans than some reviewers have given it credit for.
What bothered me the most about the movie is the divergence in the plot and some of the characterisation, which in my opinion cheapened the movie somewhat. I don't agree that a movie should diverge from the novel A LOT, as it did in this case. Especially if it's based on such a good novel as this one. An example of a movie that stayed pretty close to the novel (one that is much longer) was Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. He cut several things in the interest of time, such as the Tom Bombadil part, but the parts that remained are pretty faithful to the original trilogy in characterisation and plot. I am a LOTR fan, so I was really watching for this in that movie trilogy.
Outlined below are some of the major differences between the Last of the Mohicans novel and the 1992 movie. These have already been mentioned by other reviewers, but I will recap and add a few of my own:
1) This is the biggie: Hawkeye is a very gritty, down to earth persona, not given to flowery speech and niceties, in the novel. He is not the sexy romantic hunk portrayed in the movie, but a middle aged man who dressed in the same buckskins day after day without a bath. He also was NOT in love with Cora or any woman in the book. He is the central character, an expert sharpshooter, and consummate woodsman, trained by his companion Chingachgook. He is NOT part Indian, as presented in the movie, but schooled by them.
2) Cora's mother was a Caribbean woman descended partially from slaves, so she had some black blood. This was not in any way in evidence in the movie. Even though Cora had dark eyes and long dark hair, she was not even faintly mulatto. Alice was her half-sister whose mother was Scotch, like her father Munro. Her features were much more fair than Cora's, as described in the novel. In the movie, Alice's features did not reflect pure Scotch background, and were not very fair.
3) Cora had a love interest with Uncas, not with Hawkeye. It was understated in the book, but was definitely there. Duncan Heyward had the love interest with Alice, not Cora. Remember the time in which Cooper was writing (early 1800's), and was depicting a time of the mid to late 18th century. Cora being a mixed-race woman was more acceptably presented as being involved with a non-white man, where Alice ("lily-white") was more acceptably presented as being involved with an upper-class Englishman.
4) Magua definitely desired to marry Cora, partially because it would be a prize to marry the daughter of his one-time British captor, Munro. Magua detested Munro and all the British because they had impisoned and whipped him for drunkenness, when he had deserted his own tribe (who were loyal to the French) to work for them against the French. To be whipped in public was a major humiliation for an Indian. Also, when he was missing from his tribe, another tribe member took Magua's wife to be his own wife, since he was considered dead or deserted. Magua had wanted to return to his wife. Another reason Magua wanted to marry Cora was because of course, she was beautiful. Again, Cooper here felt it was "safer" to have Magua desire Cora rather than Alice, since Cora was not all-white. When Magua returned to his tribe, he had to switch loyalty back to the French, so this, together with his humiliation, is one reason that he betrayed his old "friends" the British. Nearly all of this was missing in the movie, instead it showed that Magua just hated Munro. This cut down on the complexity of Magua's character. In spite of this, I must say that Wes Studi still did a fine job in his portrayal. I assume he read the novel, so that he could know the war that was waging inside of his character.
5) Heyward is not Hawkeye's snotty British enemy/rival in the novel at all. In fact, Heyward is one of the heroes, and cooperates with Hawkeye. In the novel, it is interesting how Heyward starts out from complete ignorance of frontier conditions, and being motivated only by his gallant desire (and duty) to protect both of Munro's daughters, learns from Hawkeye and his Mohican friends how to cope in the wild, while battling French and hostile Indians. In the novel, he is a solicitous suitor to Alice, and very brave and constant in his protectiveness toward both of the women, risking his life in several situations.
6) A missing component in the movie is the character of David Gamut. He is Cooper's "divine fool". His main aim in life is to render "psalmody" (an old fashioned word for singing hymns) to all who will listen. He carries around a tuning pipe, which he uses to start himself off on the proper note, after which he launches into a melodious rendition of one of his hymns. Hawkeye grudgingly listens, and disparages David for carrying around the tuning pipe rather than a trusty musket. When David is captured by the hostile Hurons, we expect that he will be speedily dispatched, since he knows absolutely nothing about defending himself. However, in an amusing twist, the Indians are awed by the singer's desire to trust in God for his fate when he immediately begins singing right in the middle of their slaughter of the innocents retreating from the Fort. They also are influenced by his accomplished singing ability. They capture him without harming him, and then allow him to come and go in their village, not treating him with any great honor, but not getting in his way either. They considered it bad luck to interfere with anyone so divinely inspired. This treatment of David gives the reader more of an understanding of the way the Indians at that time felt about the divine, so I was very disappointed when this part was not shown.
7) In the movie, the colonists' house was portrayed as being burned, and they were killed by Indian war parties loyal to the French. This leads to somewhat of a rebellion in the Fort, by the colonists who want to desert the British overlords and return to their families to protect them from the war parties. This makes the British, who refuse to let them go, look like nasty slave-drivers. Also Hawkeye is thrown in the brig at the fort for taking up the colonists' cause. This was all added by director Mann, and is missing in the book. Cooper is actually pro-British in the book, and considers the French duplicitous (like Martin in the movie the Patriot). The colonists are eager to stand with the British, and no rebellion occurs. In fact Col. Munro is very respectful of Hawkeye for his great skill with the rifle, and consummate woodsmanship. He is also very grateful toward him and his companions for bringing his daughters safely to the Fort.
8) When the British abandon the Fort William Henry, Col Munro is depicted in the movie as being killed by Magua and his heart taken out. In the book, Munro escapes with his daughters, with the help of Hawkeye and the Mohicans, along with Heyward.
9) One of the biggest disagreements I have with one of the reviewers was when he/she said that Cooper was down on Native Americans. This person did not really read the book, it seems. For a novel of its time, it is one of the most sensitive portrayals. And also Cooper was further back in time closer to the time of initial white contact with Indian cultures, so he had the advantage of knowing what they were really like more than we do. His portrayals of Indians are far more sensitive that those depicted in the Hollywood Westerns I grew up with. Cooper does not favor all Indians obviously; he distrusts the Hurons not because they were Hurons but because they sided with the French (the pro-British bias again). And he portrayed Magua as a tortured person who had been introduced to alcohol by the white man, then publicly punished by him when he didn't know how to handle it. This and the loss of his wife hurt Magua and turned him to evil. He is not portrayed as a naturally "evil Indian" in the book at all. One problem I do have with the movie is that Uncas and his father Chingachgook (called the "Sagamore", or wise man) are portrayed more as sidekicks to the handsome Hawkeye stud figure (with Uncas as a secondary stud-figure), but in the book, Uncas and his father are more central, with Hawkeye constantly relying on them for their judgement and skill in the woods. The book is filled with admiring references to Uncas's features, calm, steady manner, courage, swiftness, and overall attitude. Also present in the book are several comments by Hawkeye defending the Indians' ways and religious beliefs. In that day Christians assumed that all Indians were pagans and destined for hellfire. Hawkeye clearly does not believe in such nonsense, but explains to some of his British friends that Indians generally believed in a monotheistic God, or "Great Spirit", and not in a huge number of pagan "gods", and that they had moral codes, and strong family life, etc. Not exactly a dismissive portrayal of Native Americans here, especially for the period in which it was written.
10) References to European religious rivalries: not mentioned in the movie. One of the biggest factors in the rivalry between Britain and France was the continuing war between the Catholic Church and Protestantism (combining both the state Protestantism of England and the various sects practiced by the colonists). In the book a mention was made by one of Hawkeye's party about the "Jesuitical idolators" across the border in Canada, and what a threat they were considered to be by the Protestant colonists. It made a natural ally out of Britain, although of course many of the colonists had escaped the oppression of state Protestantism in Britain. These colonists considered the Anglican Church a lesser evil than the Pope.
11) Col. Munro was portrayed as quite harsh in the movie, and showed very little affection toward his daughters. The book showed him as an older man, and desperately glad to have his daughters with him again at the Fort, especially considering all the dangers that they had passed through.
All this having been said, the movie has some redeeming qualities, such as beautiful scenery, inspiring music, historically accurate weaponry and buildings for the period, and wonderful costumes. And good performances by many, in spite of the unfaithful characterisation and writing by the director and his staff. Just read the book instead of dismissing it as old-fashioned, and you will get an even richer experience.than the movie can offer. But even the best movies are usually not as good as the book, if the book is that good. And it's quite good. In spite of negative comments about the "mediocre" book made here, don't believe it, read it for yourself.
Description of The Last of the Mohicans (Director's Expanded Edition)
An epic adventure and passionate romance unfold against the panorama of a frontier wilderness ravaged by war. Academy AwardŽ winner Daniel Day-Lewis (Best Actor in 1989 for My Left Foot) stars as Hawkeye, rugged frontiersman and adopted son of the Mohicans, and Madeleine Stowe is Cora Munro, aristocratic daughter of a proud British Colonel. Their love, tested by fate, blazes amidst a brutal conflict between the British, the French and Native American allies that engulfs the majestic mountains and cathedral-like forests of Colonial America.Wildly romantic, daringly exciting, Michael Mann's film of James Fenimore Cooper's novel created a new babe magnet out of Daniel Day-Lewis, he of the heaving pecs and flowing mane. As Hawkeye, he plays an American settler raised by the Mohicans who is forced to serve as a guide for British adventurism in upstate New York. But the British have been outflanked by the French (and their Indian allies); then British honor is betrayed when a band of renegades assaults them during their retreat. Mann captures the viciousness of this era's hand-to-hand combat in startling battle scenes. But he also invests the film with heartfelt romance, as the feelings swell between Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe. The ending is a stunner, a long, nearly wordless sequence of battle and loss. Strong performances all around, particularly by Russell Means as Chingachgook and Wes Studi as the evil Magua. --Marshall Fine
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