The Film
The Last of the Mohicans is up there with Beau Geste as a film that has been made and remade numerous times, with each version strikingly different from the original source material. The irony is that the most recent version, which was made in 1992 by director Michael Mann, has itself several versions. Now the "Director's Definitive Cut" has arrived on Blu-ray and we can hope this will be the last cut of this particular version. Interestingly this version actually is three minutes shorter than the "Director's Expanded Edition" on DVD, and is still less than an hour shorter than the epic Mann originally planned to release.
Other than the basic plot, little in this movie version however follows James Fenimore Cooper's original and classic 1826 novel. But the key elements are there - those that serve as the basis for countless other films from Taxi Driver to Waterworld to The Road Warrior. The hero, in this case Hawkeye (Daniel Day Lewis) lives on the fringe of society, comes to save the day and at the end is incapable of living in the world he strived so hard to save
The Picture
While the story seems somewhat muddled and can be hard to follow in parts, the picture on the Blu-ray is excellent. The frontier -- or at least North Carolina where the film was actually shot, though it is set in what is now upstate New York -- looks fantastic in the 2.40:1 widescreen 1080p presentation. The "Red Coats" of the British and the white and light blue uniforms of the French almost seem too clean at times. The tattoos on the various Native American characters also show a level of detail that just wasn't there on the DVD. This high def version of the film practically earns the price of admission just for its enhanced and stunning visuals.
The Sound
The sound is also superior to the DVD, and while that release boasted THX Mastered audio, the DTS-HD Master Audio in this version offers a noticeable and worthwhile upgrade. The film makes good use of ambient sounds of the woods, with subtle cues, while the siege of Fort William Henry is certainly a reference quality audio sequence. This one also has a fairly impressive soundtrack from composers Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman - the story on that is that Jones, who wrote the main theme based on the Scottish tune "The Gael," had other obligations and Edelman finished scoring the movie and compiled the soundtrack. This is one of the few films to have two composers and such was ineligible to be considered for an Academy Award, despite the fact that it is quite a rousing soundtrack.
The Extras
What is disappointing is that other than a new making of, along with a commentary track, this disc lacks any extras. The making of sheds some light into the project, but seeing it 18 years after the fact is a bit of a letdown.
Final Thoughts
The Blu-ray really looks good and sounds incredible and is unquestionably the best this 1992 version of the film has ever looked or sounded. But as this is truly a classic American story -- and arguably is the basis of so many other films and tales -- it deserves another remake. This shouldn't be the last of the Mohican story.
Product Details
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