Action, drama, romance - there's something for everyone! (The Last Of The Mohicans (DVD))

Member Name: Tara

Product:	The Last Of The Mohicans (DVD)
Date:	07/01/01 (165 review reads)
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James Fenimore Cooper’s book is transformed into stirring epic adventure and a doomed romance in the turmoil of war.

The story is set some time in the late 18th century, when the British and the French are fighting a bloody war on American soil.

Daniel Day-Lewis makes a dashing hero as Nathaniel, the white man raised in the wilderness by Chingachook (Russell Means), the last of the Mohican tribe, along side Uncas (Eric Schweig).

The other main character, and the heroin of the story, is the beautiful Cora Munro (Madeleine Stowe), courageous daughter of Munro, a British general (Maurice Roeves).

Although they agree at the beginning they are ‘a different breed’ and will never understand one another, the two of them share an obvious attraction for each other which can only lead to trouble. It leads on to a passionate romance, which is powerful, absorbing and convincing, and the driving force behind a lot of the action, and several daring rescue attempts, in the film.

The film also hints there is some romance between Uncas and Cora’s younger sister Alice (Jodhi May), although it is not explored as fully.

Nathaniel and Cora meet when the travelling British war party Cora is travelling with are ambushed by a band of Indians allied with the French. Luckily, the heroic trio turn up just in time to drive them off and offer to escort Cora, Alice and her suitor, Major Heyward Duncan (Steven Waddington) to their Father at Fort William-Henry. They get there to find the English failing to hold back their enemies. After a few days of notorious fighting, Montcalm, the French general, decides to make an agreement with Munro, allowing the British to walk away unharmed.

But not trusting the English to surrender, Montcalm gives the go ahead for an attack on Munro’s army on their march out, by their allies. Alice and Cora escape, with the help of Nathaniel, but their Father is murdered by the
treacherous Indian Magwa (Wes Studi), and he and the French allies are never far behind.

Throughout the film there are many bloody battles between our heroes and the Huran tribe, as well as between the French and the British. The fight scenes are wonderfully gory and graphic, and the one-on-one combat is very well co-ordinated.

The movie has a fast moving and well-written, if a little cliché ridden, script which balances very well all the different elements of melodrama, romance, action and adventure. The scenery (lush greenery, rocky mountains, etc) is breathtaking and the characters are realistic, if partly stereotyped.

Special mention has also got to go to Randy Edelman’s stirring epic adventure with-a-hint-of-Irish-folk music, some authentic looking costumes and some excellent visual effects.

Successfully captures all the horrors of war, with danger around every corner, and the courage showed in the face of it all, ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ makes for a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours with something for everyone.

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