The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

Based on the 1930s Randolph Scott film (which I have seen, but not reviewed here), rather than the Novel (which I haven’t read). I’m not 100% convinced as to whether this is a Western (I’d say the 1930s film is, but that’s more a reflection that the older film uses traditional Western sets where as this actually achieves an east coast, war of independence feel). It is also obviously a very good film though, but I only plan a brief review which probably doesn’t quite do it justice.

The story is about Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis), a white man raised by Chingachgook (Russell Means), a Mohican chief. He is unwillingly forced to fight for the English in the war of independence, where he falls in love with a colonel’s daughter (Madeleine Stowe). Wes Studi plays a member of a different tribe who wants to kill the general and his daughters.

It’s beautifully shot, well acted, and with exciting and fluid action scenes throughout. The girlfriend implies that there’s a lot of swooning to be done over Daniel Day-Lewis (although she hasn’t seen the Randolph Scott version…). The very slight criticism is that some plot threads seem slightly too brief – the settlers who’s families are killed are forgotten about slightly after fleeing the fort, and the secondary romance plot is a bit under-developed given it’s importance to the ending. Minor complaints though.