The Last of the Mohicans

Michael Mann , directs with his standard prejudice toward the sheer physical. The result, almost musical, has only a couple recent movie precedents. [25 Sep 1992, p.1D]

Never mind the gorgeous wilderness backdrop, the 18th-Century details, the carefully voiced and subtitled American Indian dialogue. From its very first frame until seconds before closing credits, "Mohicans" is an action movie. [25 Sep 1992]

The Last of the Mohicans is grand entertainment. Romantic, exciting, though unremittingly violent at times, it is rich in frontier lore and in its respect for the land that the conquering settlers too often take for granted. [25 Sep 1992, p.5]

[The Last of the Mohicans] blends pure adventure with a compelling central romance.

The Last of the Mohicans rarely flinches in depicting the eye-for-an-eye savagery of war. Although not explicit in the way you might expect, it nevertheless requires you to screw your courage to the sticking place. Perhaps that's a tribute to its ability to take you along its journey without much effort – real enough to elicit a visceral reaction, romantic enough to remind you it's only a movie.

The Last of the Mohicans comes at you like a tomahawk. Hard, fast and brutal, it slashes at your throat and just about leaves you for dead. Undeniably exciting as this definitely is, however, its impact comes at the expense of some of the gentler virtues, qualities that even top-drawer barn-burners really shouldn't ignore.

While Last of the Mohicans is an eyeful - how could anything shot in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina not be? - it's mindless, meticulous in its externals, taking refuge from awareness by clinging to Cooper's distortions. In the end, it'll be remembered for its three S's: Stowe, Studi and the scenery. [25 Sep 1992, p.27]

Quite simply the greatest film I’ve ever seen. A powerful emotional journey of love, revenge, honour and duty that sticks closely to historical events. Superbly acted, crafted with genuine passion and ‘that’ soundtrack…wow. I recommend that everyone watches it at least once.

The setting of the movie and the world they created are great. Also the music is unforgettable....because they are playing it almost all the time. But the story and the dialogues are slow somehow and and also simple, so the movie gets boring.

Love, adventure and hand-to-hand combat at the peak of the French and Indian War. On the outskirts of the battlefield, a white man and his adopted native family scoff at the Brits’ latest recruiting efforts and move to abandon their land, but happen upon an ambush on the way out of town and find themselves drawn into the conflict anyway. Now accompanied by a pair of pampered ladies and their posh one-man military escort, the small brood resumes its cautious retreat with an angry Mohawk war party in hot pursuit. Under the guidance of emerging director Michael Mann, The Last of the Mohicans is a sleek, well-produced picture. It boasts a superb soundtrack, several big, diverse fight scenes and a powerful climax, but the plot is slow, the performances are stiff and the central romances lack a collective spark. Native brothers Uncas (Eric Schweig) and Hawkeye (Daniel Day Lewis) wear a wide assortment of grim, determined faces, which serve them well during the action sets, but their matchmaker moments with the two rescued damsels seem more convenient than romantic and I didn’t buy into their oft-stressed status as star-crossed lovers. In the void of effective romance, the emotional heavy-lifting is left to a subdued and under-explored subplot about a tribe near extinction and a whole lot of whinging about honor, duty and sacrifice. I had fond memories of watching this one back in the VHS days, but the years haven’t been terribly kind. It’s not bad, it’s just unremarkable.

Came to see Daniel-Day Lewis for his acting. One thing that bothers me endless was the same theme song plays every 5 minutes. How good a song can retain its flavour after such abuse? I don't know If the director was lazy or the producers were frugal.

Récit filmographique d'aventures historique sur la guerre en Amérique entre les Français et les Anglais, 'Le dernier des Mohicans' raconte aussi celui des différentes tribus indiennes dont les allégeances vont aux tuniques bleues ou aux tuniques rouges selon le temps qu'il fait, mais évidemment selon le point de vue américain de cette histoire, le Mohican pactise avec nos ennemis Rosbeefs (ça, c'est mon point de vue franchouillard) en dépit de son ignorance, et tout cela en ce qui concerne cette andouille, juste pour une donzelle britannique qu'il trouve fort à son goût... ...la donzelle "jouée" par la quiche Madeleine Stowe, ce simulacre d'actrice évidemment ! (hélas). Voilà donc (déjà) qui ne laisse pas de déplaire considérablement. Quant au Mohican incarné ici par le sans peur et sans reproche Daniel Day-Lewis, pas un mauvais acteur au demeurant, son personnage fait davantage penser à un chevalier du Moyen Age, on ne peut plus ringard déjà à cette époque, de par sa colossale fatuité et naïveté. Bref, c'est un Amérindien de pacotille qui ne leur fait certainement pas honneur. Bien que l'action ne soit pas totalement absente, le film manque singulièrement de rythme et se perd en bavardages sirupeux inutiles et ennuyeux. Quant à l'action elle-même, sa mise en scène est plutôt brouillonne... même si on a vu pire (au royaume des aveugles etc). Un mot en passant sur la musique pédante et patriotique : une jolie musique pédante et patriotique. Devant tout ce fatras bien chiatique, je dois avouer que je n'ai pas tenu jusqu'au bout bien qu'à dire vrai je m'y attendisse (mon vieil instinct détecteur de daubes en puissance sans doute). Le Dernier etc... n'est pas totalement mauvais si l'on reste très bon public peu exigeant mais n'en reste pas moins... très mauvais en définitive.