|
| • Advanced Search • Help |
The Last Of The Mohicans | Year: 1992 Classification: Drama Actors/Actresses: - Daniel Day Lewis - Wes Studi - Madeleine Stowe - Michael Mann Dances With Wolves meets Miami Vice Ever wonder what might happen if the former executive producer of Miami Vice directed Dances With Wolves? One's worst fears are confirmed in "The Last of the Mohicans", an overly long frontier rock video that masquerades as an epic tale of love and war. And, yes, it happens to be directed by Michael Mann, former executive producer of Miami Vice and director of such stylish fare as "Heat" and "Manhunter". The film marks the third Hollywood attempt at the James Fenimore Cooper novel. The setting is 18th century New York, where war rages between England and France, each vying for control of the Americas. Daniel Day-Lewis plays Hawkeye (no Alan Alda jokes, please), the white, adopted son of a Mohican tribesman, who falls for an English officer's daughter, played by Madeleine Stowe. Their relationship is threatened by the war and the evil Magua (Wes Studi), the leader of the Huron bent on destroying Stowe's family. It's a great story with plenty of room for commentary on war and interracial romance. However, the film quickly falls apart, primarily owing to Mann's overblown direction. Mann presents Hawkeye as an untouchable God-like figure, and right from the beginning it's clear that he will conquer any tribe that gets in his way (and, of course, any woman who strikes his fancy). In one scene, Day-Lewis runs into battle and doesn't so much as get a scratch as those around him get shot, scalped, and have their tongues forcibly removed from their heads. He emerges from the battle to give his girlfriend a hug. Awwww, ain't love grand? It's discouraging to see Day-Lewis here, fresh from his Oscar win for My Left Foot, reduced to running through the forest in slow motion. His lines are few and far between, and what little dialogue he has is delivered in one of those phony "Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon" American accents. Head-crushing is the order of the day, as Day-Lewis morphs into Rambo, beating bad guys to a pulp and delivering an eerily Stallone-like speech under a waterfall. "They drew first blood, Adrian!" Stowe is also wasted. She's the love interest here and, as such, stands around and screams until Day-Lewis can hack his way to her. Within the disappointing film is a good performance by Studi as the bad guy from the wrong side of the tribe. He's appropriately evil and adds some much-needed tension. The battle scenes are relatively well done, but have a Hollywood feel to them that undermines their effectiveness. Here's to hoping that this will be the last of the "The Last of the Mohicans" we see for some time. Outstanding film version of a classic novel People expecting the 1992 produced movie "The Last Of The Mohicans" to be completely true to the book by James Fenimore Cooper are bound to be disappointed, as the film version is only loosely based on the classic novel. However without such an expectation, viewers can look forward to an outstanding adventure film. good but could have been better My biggest complaint with this movie is that story was changed and not for the better. In the original novel, Cora(played by Madeline Stowe) was in love with Uncas(who is the last of the Mohican tribe) and Hawkeye was just some old guide, along for the ride. Also Cora's sister Alice is in love with Duncan, the English officer. In this movie there is a major turnaround. There is a love triangle-Duncan is in love with Cora who is in love with Hawkeye, who is young and attractive, and Alice has feelings for Uncas(and there is no character development for either one of them). I think perhaps the producers had a problem with an interracial angle although in this day and age you'd think Hollywood has gotten over it. I guess not. None the less, I liked the film-the story was still compelling enough, battle scenes were impressive and I loved the soundtrack(I own it, as a matter of fact). Buy The Last Of The Mohicans at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Last Of The Mohicans Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Last Of The Mohicans This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
|
