From: sun!megatest!jao (John Oswalt)
Subject: REVIEW: THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
Reply-To: sun!megatest!jao (John Oswalt)
Organization: ?
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 13:42:20 GMT
Followup-To: rec.arts.movies
Summary: r.a.m.r. #01549
Keywords: author=Oswalt

                         THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
                       A film review by John Oswalt
                        Copyright 1992 John Oswalt


2 hours, R (violence)
Writers: Michael Mann, Christopher Crowe
Director: Michael Mann
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Wes Studi, Steven Waddington,
      Jodhi May, Eric Schweig

     About twenty years ago I saw the Masterpiece Theatre series "The
Last Of The Mohicans," and loved it.  I went straight to the library and
read the book.  The current movie, which is a much looser adaptation of
James Fenimore Cooper's 1826 novel, suffers in comparison both to the
book, and to the PBS series.  (Or at least to my twenty-year-old
memories of them.)

     However, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, 1992 style, is not all that
bad.  It is generally entertaining, and contains some beautiful scenery.
After the movie, my companion, having watched two hours of action set in
verdant forests with waterfalls at every turn, figured that the movie
was filmed in Hawaii or New Zealand.  Actually, it was filmed in North
Carolina.  It is good to know that there are such beautiful places left.
I am afraid that the West Coaster's view of the East coast is of
factories, endless cities, and acid rain denuded forests.

	I have a lot of quibbles with the movie.  The plot is very 
predictable.  When you see a party of red-coats marching through a
clearing in the forest, you just know that some Indians are going to
massacre them, as the European's ritualized formation fighting is
hopelessly outclassed by the guerrilla tactics of the Indians.  Just as
certainly, you know that the main characters will miraculously be
spared.

     I found myself frowning at a lot of the dialogue, which is full of
snappy one-liner comebacks common in today's films.  This is fine for
Dirty Harry, but is the antithesis of Cooper's flowery, wordy style.
(The San Jose Mercury News reviewer, Glenn Lovell, whom I generally
respect, approved of this change.  I suspect that does not have the fond
memories that I have of James Fenimore Cooper's books.  He describes the
book THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS as one which "many of us waded through in
high school and college.")

     It is amazing how clean the main characters' clothes and hair
remain considering all that they go through.  Natty Bumppo always has a
gun ready when he needs it, but we never see him reload.  The women in
the movie don't do much besides cower and swoon.  The fight scenes, of
which there are plenty, are toned down to preserve the R rating.  There
are scenes in which dozens of people get tomahawked, but no guts and
very little blood is shown.  Most of the movie takes place sneaking
around in the dense forest, or at night, or both, and things are a
little hard to see.

     This brings up a pet peeve of mine.  I have seen many Technicolor
movies made in the 30's, 40's, and 50's, and the color in them is far
superior to that in the movies made today.  I recently saw a restored
print of LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, which was made in Technicolor in 1945.
When I compare that movie, which contains a lot of upstate New York
scenery, with this one, I just shake my head.  Why, Hollywood, did you
abandon a process which produces such beautiful true-to-life colors, for
the washed-out look of today?  With all the millions spent on movie
production you would think that they could use good film.

     However, these are all only quibbles, and considering the current
movie-making conventions and context, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS is
pretty good.  It even overcomes a few trends.  It is an action picture
with no car chases.  Despite PC, the main bad guy is an American Indian.
There are no product placements.

     I rate it 7 on the 0-10 scale, or a high 0 on the Mark Leeper -4 to
+4 scale.

John Oswalt  (..!sun!megatest!jao)

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