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Last of the Mohicans
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Daniel Day Lewis stars in Michael Mann's epic about a frontiersman who finds himself fighting in the battles between the French and the British, and finding himself in love with the daughter of a British general (Madeline Stowe). Although I haven't seen this film in a number of years, watching it again while taking a U.S. History class in college provides an entertaining, although maybe not terribly accurate look at what happened during this time.
The picture begins with a small party of British lead by Major Heyward (Steven Waddington) to escort Cora and Alice Munro( Madeline Stowe and Jodhi May ) to see their father. Along the way, their Indian guide actually turns out to be a traitor and the small party finds themselves under heavy fire. They're saved by a band of men lead by Hawkeye(Daniel Day Lewis), who finds himself attracted to Cora. Unfortunately, he also finds himself in competition for her love with the major. The movie may not be for everyone, as the battle scenes are a little on the gory side at times.
Michael Mann ("Heat") does a fine job bringing this story to life with his striking visual style. Although Mann certainly does a lot with his visuals, he chooses to sculpt and build amazing shots rather than having a visual style that is made up of fast edits and constant motion. The photography here, by Dante Spinotti ("Heat", "L.A. Confidential") is breathtaking and the score, by Randy Edelman("Dragonheart", "Daylight") and Trevor Jones ("Notting Hill") is marvelous.
This is the "director's cut" of the movie. There have been some minor scenes taken out and some added in; although it's been a long time since I've seen this movie, nothing jumped out at me as being wildly different. I certainly have mixed feelings about how this film was presented here, and I'll get into them more in the DVD review portion.
The DVD
VIDEO:
This is a very good transfer from Fox, although it does have its share of faults that do pop up from time to time. It is a THX certified transfer, but that's not of much meaning at all, seeing that there's been numerous better non-THX transfers from other studios. It's also unfortunate that this transfer is non-anamorphic. The image, letterboxed at its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, does have one feature that I found breathtaking, and that's the presentation of the colors. Colors look wonderfully rich on this image, with the greens of the trees and the reds of the soldiers looking magnificent throughout the presentation. Images are certainly crisp, but I would have liked to have seen them look a little sharper. Detail is good, but looking at the dense forests and other parts of the film, one gets a feeling that an anamorphic transfer would likely have improved the level of detail in the image. Some of the night scenes are a little lacking in clarity. Black level, as well as shadow detail, are quite good.
Occasionally, there is an instance of noticable aliasing, although these instances are pretty much few and far between. I'm really suprised that since Michael Mann supervised the work done for this disc that he didn't choose to have an anamorphic transfer. It certainly would have improved the overall image.
SOUND:
This is a movie that goes from quiet passages of dialogue to intense scenes of battle and I must say, it performs admirably throughout. The score sounds incredibly rich and very dynamic throughout, and the scenes of battle are wildly intense, with some definite bass as the cannons fire and an amazing amount of gunfire. Dialogue is clear and without problems.
MENUS:: Nicely done animation opens the main menu, which plays scenes from the movie.
EXTRAS: Yikes. Here's where the higher price tag really hurts. Aside from the slight changes made in this new "cut", there is nothing else. Not a documentary, not even a trailer. Personally, I think that the cuts here don't make enough of a difference in the picture to matter much. I would have rather had the theatrical release at a cheaper price of $29.99. And I would much rather have seen this be anamorphic. A dissapointment in the extras department. A commentary from Mann would have justified the price tag, but as is, the cost is too much for what's included. Being a part of the movie itself, I'm not going to consider the additional footage added into the film an extra and as such, the extras grade will reflect that there are no other extras included.
Final Thoughts I certainly think that Mann's film is excellent, but I just wish that this release would have been done differently. The picture quality is good, but I believe it's not perfect and more in the way of extras would have made the price tag a little easier to accept. If you're a fan of the film, I think you'll find this enjoyable, but otherwise, go at your own risk. Your best bet is to find it at a discount online.
The picture begins with a small party of British lead by Major Heyward (Steven Waddington) to escort Cora and Alice Munro( Madeline Stowe and Jodhi May ) to see their father. Along the way, their Indian guide actually turns out to be a traitor and the small party finds themselves under heavy fire. They're saved by a band of men lead by Hawkeye(Daniel Day Lewis), who finds himself attracted to Cora. Unfortunately, he also finds himself in competition for her love with the major. The movie may not be for everyone, as the battle scenes are a little on the gory side at times.
Michael Mann ("Heat") does a fine job bringing this story to life with his striking visual style. Although Mann certainly does a lot with his visuals, he chooses to sculpt and build amazing shots rather than having a visual style that is made up of fast edits and constant motion. The photography here, by Dante Spinotti ("Heat", "L.A. Confidential") is breathtaking and the score, by Randy Edelman("Dragonheart", "Daylight") and Trevor Jones ("Notting Hill") is marvelous.
This is the "director's cut" of the movie. There have been some minor scenes taken out and some added in; although it's been a long time since I've seen this movie, nothing jumped out at me as being wildly different. I certainly have mixed feelings about how this film was presented here, and I'll get into them more in the DVD review portion.
The DVD
VIDEO:
This is a very good transfer from Fox, although it does have its share of faults that do pop up from time to time. It is a THX certified transfer, but that's not of much meaning at all, seeing that there's been numerous better non-THX transfers from other studios. It's also unfortunate that this transfer is non-anamorphic. The image, letterboxed at its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, does have one feature that I found breathtaking, and that's the presentation of the colors. Colors look wonderfully rich on this image, with the greens of the trees and the reds of the soldiers looking magnificent throughout the presentation. Images are certainly crisp, but I would have liked to have seen them look a little sharper. Detail is good, but looking at the dense forests and other parts of the film, one gets a feeling that an anamorphic transfer would likely have improved the level of detail in the image. Some of the night scenes are a little lacking in clarity. Black level, as well as shadow detail, are quite good.
Occasionally, there is an instance of noticable aliasing, although these instances are pretty much few and far between. I'm really suprised that since Michael Mann supervised the work done for this disc that he didn't choose to have an anamorphic transfer. It certainly would have improved the overall image.
SOUND:
This is a movie that goes from quiet passages of dialogue to intense scenes of battle and I must say, it performs admirably throughout. The score sounds incredibly rich and very dynamic throughout, and the scenes of battle are wildly intense, with some definite bass as the cannons fire and an amazing amount of gunfire. Dialogue is clear and without problems.
MENUS:: Nicely done animation opens the main menu, which plays scenes from the movie.
EXTRAS: Yikes. Here's where the higher price tag really hurts. Aside from the slight changes made in this new "cut", there is nothing else. Not a documentary, not even a trailer. Personally, I think that the cuts here don't make enough of a difference in the picture to matter much. I would have rather had the theatrical release at a cheaper price of $29.99. And I would much rather have seen this be anamorphic. A dissapointment in the extras department. A commentary from Mann would have justified the price tag, but as is, the cost is too much for what's included. Being a part of the movie itself, I'm not going to consider the additional footage added into the film an extra and as such, the extras grade will reflect that there are no other extras included.
Final Thoughts I certainly think that Mann's film is excellent, but I just wish that this release would have been done differently. The picture quality is good, but I believe it's not perfect and more in the way of extras would have made the price tag a little easier to accept. If you're a fan of the film, I think you'll find this enjoyable, but otherwise, go at your own risk. Your best bet is to find it at a discount online.
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