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1 A+ Reviews Save your $10 for something worthwhile Last of the Mohicans Rated R Genre: Drama / Action / Adventure / Romance Cast: Daniel Day-Lewise as Hawkeye, Madeleine Stowe as Cora, Russell Means as Chingachgook, Eric Schweig as Uncas Director: Michael Mann Producer: Michael Mann & Hunt Lowry Running Time: 120 minutes Plot In 1757, the British and French are battling for control of North America in the French and Indian War. Chingachgook (Russell Means), his son Uncas (Eric Schweig), and Nathaniel Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis), his adopted white son, visit the Cameron household. Jack Winthrop (Edward Blatchford) tells Hawkeye that he is gathering volunteers for the British army. The next morning, Jack and a group of others obtain terms from General Webb, who agrees to grant them leave if their homes are attacked. Satisfied, they reinforce the British at Fort William Henry. Cora Munro (Madeleine Stowe) and her sister Alice (Jodhi May) travel to Fort William Henry to join their father, Colonel Edmund Munro (Maurice Roëves), the commander of the garrison there. A native guide named Magua (Wes Studi) and a detachment of British soldiers commanded by Major Duncan Heyward (Steven Waddington) escort the women on the trail. However, they are ambushed by Hurons (Wyandot) led by Magua himself. Heyward, Cora, and Alice are rescued by Hawkeye and his companions. During the melee, Magua tries to shoot Cora, but Hawkeye forces him to flee. The rescuers reluctantly agree to escort the survivors to the fort. Along the way, they discover that the Cameron homestead has been razed and everyone killed, though nothing has been stolen - a sure sign of a war party. They find Fort William Henry under siege by the French, but manage to sneak inside. When Munro scolds his daughters for coming, they realize that Magua has deceived them. Munro tells Heyward that the fort can only hold out for three more days. Their only hope is to get a messenger through to General Webb at nearby Fort Edward for help. When Hawkeye tells the colonials about the attack on the Camerons, they demand to be released to go defend their homes. When Munro refuses, Hawkeye helps Jack and his friends desert. Hawkeye is arrested for sedition and sentenced to hang despite Cora's pleas. The French commander, General Montcalm (Patrice Chéreau) offers Munro generous surrender terms: the men and their families are offered safe passage to Albany on condition they no

2 longer fight in the war. Munro reluctantly accepts after Montcalm shows him an intercepted message from Webb in which the general refuses to send aid. That night, Magua berates Montcalm for making peace and reveals the reason for his hatred of Munro: he had been captured and made a slave by Munro's forces and Mohawk allies, his village was destroyed and his children killed. Though he eventually regained his freedom, his wife, believing him dead, had taken another husband. While Montcalm intends to honor the agreement, he makes it clear, however, that he does not want Magua to do the same. As the British march away, they are ambushed by Hurons led by Magua. To avenge his family, Magua personally cuts out Munro's heart, but not before promising Munro that he will kill his daughters to extinguish his line. Hawkeye, Cora, Alice, Uncas, Chingachgook, Heyward, and two other soldiers escape across the lake and downriver to a cave behind a waterfall. Hawkeye urges Cora to survive whatever the cost and promises her that he will find her, then leaps with his father and brother through the falls into the water below to avoid precipitating a hopeless fight. Heyward and the two women are captured. The prisoners are taken to a Huron village. Magua is negotiating with the sachem when they are interrupted by the arrival of an unarmed Hawkeye running the gauntlet of hostile warriors. With Heyward translating, Hawkeye convinces the chief that Magua is acting for himself, rather than in the Hurons' interests. The chief renders his judgment: Cora is to be burned alive to atone for Magua's dead children; Magua is given Alice to be his wife so that both bloodlines can continue. Heyward is to be returned to the British in the hope of avoiding reprisals; and Hawkeye is given safe passage in recognition of his bravery. Desperate, Hawkeye pleads to take Cora s place. Heyward deliberately mistranslates, offering himself instead. When the sachem accepts, Magua curses him and leaves with Alice and his men. From a safe distance, Hawkeye mercifully shoots Heyward as he is being burned alive. Uncas races ahead and catches up with Magua's band alone. He kills several men before engaging Magua in single combat. Magua kills Uncas and drops his body off a cliff, after which Alice deliberately jumps to her own death. Hawkeye and Chingachgook slay several enemy warriors. Then, while Hawkeye holds the rest at bay, Chingachgook duels Magua and avenges his son. After a ceremony for Uncas, Chingachgook names himself "the last of the Mohicans." Review of Last of the Mohicans By Roger Ebert, September 25, 1992 Much has been made about how authentic "The Last of the Mohicans" is, about how the cast learned wilderness survival skills and how every bow, arrow, canoe and moccasin was constructed according to the ancient ways. That's the kind of publicity Cecil B. DeMille used to churn out, as if he had created a brand new world from scratch, like God. I am the first to confess I know little about how people really lived in the first decades of the European settlement of North America, but while I was watching "The Last of the Mohicans," I was haunted by memories of another movie -- "Black Robe" (1991), set in the earliest days of the French settlement of Quebec. This was a long and depressing film by Bruce Beresford, who went to great pains to recreate the actual living conditions in North America at the time of his story: the architectural details of the Indian dwellings, their methods of hunting and food procurement, the way they used absolute cooperation and trust of each other as a weapon against the deadly climate.

3 "Black Robe" did not involve me in its story, but its visual picture of life in those days has stayed with me. Watching "The Last of the Mohicans," I could not get it out of my mind. As the handsome frontiersman Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis) decides whether to join the troops being raised by the British to fight the French, as he falls in love with the daughter of a British officer (Madeleine Stowe in a fetching performance), as he sides with the Mohicans who have adopted him and they face the threat of the Huron tribe which opposes them, I was acutely conscious of the Saturday matinee traditions being exploited. I was also aware that I was enjoying the movie more than "Black Robe." Michael Mann, who directed "The Last of the Mohicans," says that his first conscious movie memory was of the 1936 film version of the same story, starring Randolph Scott, and indeed Philip Dunne's screenplay for that movie is cited as a source for this one. It is also inspired, of course, by the novel by James Fenimore Cooper, whose frontier fantasies were completely demolished in an hilarious essay by Mark Twain, who noted that whenever the plot required a twig to be stepped on, a Cooper character was able to find a twig and step on it, no matter what the difficulty. Mann's film is quite an improvement on Cooper's all but unreadable book, and a worthy successor to the Randolph Scott version. In Daniel Day-Lewis he has found the right actor to play Hawkeye, even though no other role ever played by Day-Lewis ("My Left Foot," "A Room With a View," "My Beautiful Launderette") would remotely suggest that. There are just enough historical and political details; the movie touches quickly on the fine points of British-French- Indian-settler conflicts, so that they can get on to the story we're really interested in, about the hero who wins the heart of the girl. "The Last of the Mohicans" is not as authentic and uncompromised as it claims to be -- more of a matinee fantasy than it wants to admit -- but it is probably more entertaining as a result. The scenes of forest-fighting follow all the usual Hollywood rules: the hero rarely misses, and the villains rarely hit anyone needed later in the story. Remembering the sickening thuds of weapon against bone in "Black Robe," I realized I was looking at a sanitized entertainment, but I didn't care. I was also not much disturbed by the movie's pre-digested history (how many people, even after seeing this movie, could correctly report that the French and Indian Wars were not between the French and the Indians?). We live in an age of pop images, in which these are the parts that get remembered: Hawkeye, a white man, adopted by Indians, standing between the two civilizations at a time when the Indians were richer and more powerful than the settlers; his decision to escort the British officer's daughter and her sister to the fort where their father awaits them; their adventures along the way, leading to death, bloodshed, and a stirring final shot of the couple gazing out toward the horizon -- toward all those millions of unspoiled square miles to be turned into shopping malls by the issue of their loins. Related Links Below you will find a list of related links, including links to purchase a copy of this film. Purchase a copy of the movie on Amazon.com ( Last of the Mohicans entry on IMDB (

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5 User Comments and Ratings Charlie C. - August 4, 2011 The Last of the Mohicans is an adventurous and incredible action/drama that was worth seeing. The story taught me a lot about the French and Indian war and made me feel like I was there and that is the best kind of historical film. The cast is great, Daniel Day Lewis never fails and I just found them all to be incredible. The action scenes were also very fun to watch, and one of the highlights of the film. This movie was definently worth the watch, and had very few flaws with it. Nancy D. - August 2, 2011 Really great flick! Well acted, beautiful story. Austin P. - July 29, 2011 I found myself wondering in the first 15 minutes what exactly was going on, however, I became transfixed in the story line and ultimately satisfied in it's ending. It was the last 40 minutes of the movie that really took me. Great experience. Mike D. - July 28, 2011 Director Michael Mann has done an extraordinary work in depicting this epic story. It's really a treat to watch this film. Every scene is made with such finest detail. The dialogues are strong. It's a blend of action, romance, and drama. Julia R. - July 25, 2011 One of the best movies I have ever watched. Bob D. - July 23, out of 5 stars It's only taken me 18 years to watch Last of the Mohicans! I'm not sure if it was my lengthy anticipation or the fact that better has been made since that caused my disappointment, it was probably both, the fact remains though, I was disappointed. George B. - July 21, 2011 Visually perfect and some of Michael Mann's best work. Daniel Day-Lewis is great, but conveys a more subtle character than usual(well he doesn't really have a usual). My only complaint is that some of the characters are a little under-developed, but since it is such an epic I can understand they were crunched for time. Cindy B. - July 20, 2011 Great entertaining epic, visually stunning, with nice performances and a beautiful score.

6 Dave J. - July 18, 2011 With equal parts action and romance the film seems as though it is trying too hard to satisfy all tastes. Daniel Day-Lewis often seems out of place, but as he is playing the white adopted son of native Americans this is only natural. The battle scenes are amazingly choreographed, especially the final cliff side battle which really is moving and exciting. Some of the characters come off as too savage, though the surrender is well dealt with. The film overall is an expertly crafted historical action tale that isn't too long winded A+ Reviews, Inc.