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I reviewed Collateral the other day on a journey through some of Tom Cruise’s older movies. Looking into Michael Mann off the back of that, I found Last of the Mohicans. It’s one of those movies I’m sure I’ve seen, but couldn’t quite recall much about it.
Yes, Last of the Mohicans is a Michael Mann movie. It is not his usual type of work, but it is still an epic movie.
It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stow, Russell Means, Eric Schwieg, Jodhi May, Steven Waddington, Colm Meany, Pete Postlethwaite, Maurice Roeves and Wes Studi. Mann directs, co-writing with Christopher Crowe. James Fenimore Cooper wrote the original novel, with adaptions done by John L. Balderston, Paul Perez, and Daniel Moore.
The Story
The Last of the Mohicans is about the mullet, the great look that has survived through the ages. No, the story is:
Three trappers protect the daughters of a British Colonel in the midst of the French and Indian War.
You can see the poster, that iconic image of Day-Lewis running towards the camera with an axe. Look at that hair, it’s magnificent.
The year is 1757 and a war has been raging between British and French colonies in North America, with various native Indians supporting either side. Even with the French being involved, there are not as many white flags as you would imagine.
Cora (Stowe) and Alice (May) arrive in New York, to make their way to Fort William Henry, the front lines of the war. On their way, one of the Mohawk allies, Magua (Studi) betrays them and tries to kill the ladies. It turns out he hates the father, Col Edmund Munro (Roeves), and wants to end their bloodline.
They are saved by Hawkeye (Day-Lewis) and his brothers, who then escort them to the fort. When they meet up with their father, he’s angry as he tells them to stay away. Magua is determined to kill the Colonel and his daughters.
The rest of Last of the Mohicans is about Magua tracking the ladies down and Hawkeye trying to protect them. It’s a great story.
Production
The movie was made in 1992, long before the days of CG. One of the things that really stood out to me was the production scale and sets. There is a siege of the fort and that fort is real! You know that production designers, carpenters, riggers, and all manner of workers worked on that set for months.
There’s something so special about watching a movie like this. All the mud is real, all of the explosions are real, all the blood is fake, but it looks real. There are no CG splatters, no green screen, everything you see is real.
There is an epic scene where some British soldiers leave the fort. There are hundreds of extras, all in costume, filmed in wide angle. You can see people stretching for about a mile and you know every one of them is real.
It made such a change watching the Last of the Mohicans, knowing it’s all real. You can almost smell the actors.
Mann?
It’s weird because I never thought this was a Michael Mann movie. His other movies, Collateral, Thief, Manhunter, Heat, Miami Vice, are all very gritty movies, usually set in a city. There is shaky camera work, there is an urban feel to them. Is urban the right word?
You know what I mean though. Comparing, for example, Heat with Last of the Mohicans is like comparing spaghetti bolognese with steak and chips. Both are great meals, but they are both very different.
This is still very real, but very real for the 1700s. The guns aren’t the same ones as Heat. I can’t help but think that instead of single-loading flintlock rifles, an AK-47 would have really changed the outcome of the battles.
What you do always get from Mann is a great protagnoist and antagonist. Here is the same, you can’t go wrong with Daniel I-Have-More-Oscars-Than-You-Have-Underpants Day-Lewis and he is amazing in this. Opposite him is Wes Studi. Here is a cold, calculating killer who will stop at nothing to get his revenge, and with good reason. The entire cast is fantastic.
Mann’s style is different in this movie than his more well-known movies, but his style is there. The music is by Randy Edelman and Trevor Jones and fits the movie so well.
Overall
I am, again, annoyed at myself for not watching this sooner. I can’t recall if I have seen it before or not, but I’m glad I remember it this time. It’s a really well-made movie and gripping story.
If you haven’t seen Last of the Mohicans for a while, it’s worth watching again.
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