Time: 112 Minutes
Age Rating: PG – Violence
Cast:
Daniel Day-Lewis as Nathaniel “Hawkeye” Poe
Madeleine Stowe as Cora Munro
Russell Means as Chingachgook
Eric Schweig as Uncas
Jodhi May as Alice Munro
Steven Waddington as Major Duncan Heyward
Wes Studi as Magua
Director: Michael Mann

When a British officer’s daughter, Cora, gets caught in the crossfire during the French and Indian War, Hawkeye, a man adopted by the Mohicans, must save her.

I just knew The Last of the Mohicans as being a Michael Mann which started Daniel Day-Lewis in the lead role. This is a particularly different movie in Mann’s filmography, considering that it’s a period piece and he’s more known for his crime movies like Heat, Thief, Collateral and Public Enemies. Overall, I thought it was pretty good.

The Last of the Mohicans is an historical period piece war drama, and definitely delivers on being grand and epic. At the same time it has a very human approach, with a well scripted and tragic story. There are some great scenes and it gets surprisingly emotional at points. With that said, I admit that I wasn’t as invested in the movie as I wanted to be. However, it does end with a strong and powerful third act, and I especially loved how low key and intimate the finale was.

The acting was all good. Daniel Day-Lewis plays the lead role and gives a charismatic and strong performance as expected, even if I wouldn’t call it one of his all time best. Madeleine Stowe is good, and while her romance with Day-Lewis wasn’t that engaging to me, it was believable enough. The supporting players were good too, with Russell Means, Steven Waddington, Eric Schweig and Jodhi May being great in their parts. However, the standout to me was Wes Studi as a fantastic and complex villain. His character of Magua is multilayered, a force of nature but one driven by understandable motivations, and Studi plays him incredibly well.

Michael Mann’s direction is great as always, and the movie is strong on a technical level. The cinematography is stunning and makes great use of the locations, the action is top notch with brutal battle sequences that hold up today, and the score is really good too.

The Last of the Mohicans is a solid period piece war movie, greatly directed by Michael Mann, and it has some fantastic performances. It doesn’t rank on the higher end of Mann’s filmography for me, but it is still pretty good.