beautiful cinematography - but should have followed the books plot - contains spoilers

Rating: 6/10 (7 February 2016)

The cinematography is amazing. Stunning. Beautiful. The battle scenes are incredible. The plot is strange, fragmented and didn't really work for me after reading the book. I felt like this was a wish mash of films and genres squashed into 2.5 hours. It felt like a homage to Dancing with the Wolves, Rambo, and pretty much any other wilderness/survival story that includes the moral dilemma of what to do if someone is injured and you are isolated in the middle of nowhere.
I found many parts of the film were unnecessary, and can't understand why the screen writers took such a large leap away from the Michael Punke novel (who also took some artistic licence with the original Hugh Glass story.) Hugh Glass never had a son or native America wife - this, for me, added nothing to the story but to give Leo the bitter motivation to hunt down Fitzgerald. I think they should have emphasised just how isolated and dangerous a world the fur trappers lived in, they were exploring the unknown wilderness of the eastern edge of the rockies, 300 miles from the nearest fort. He was attacked by a bear, and they did leave him for dead - as they were attacked by Indian's while waiting for him to die. This was another aspect of the story left out, just how dangerous the native Americans were. The filmmakers could have created a very tense atmosphere based on the prospect of Glass running into them at anytime (like he did.) They never emphasised how leaving him without his rifle, and most of his equipment was a death sentence in that environment. The book really shows the reader how the basic survival equipment and weapons each man carried were invaluable. This is what really annoyed glass, was he wasn't left with any of it. Making his survival all the more remarkable.
The french 'trappers' or soldiers were not needed in the story (they weren't in the original.) Neither were the roving band of natives looking for a stolen girl. They're were plenty of different native American tribes in that area, some friendly and most not. In the book, every time he meets a native American you have the nervous tension feeling wondering if they'll kill him or help him. Also, with the different band of characters quite regularly and often bumping into each other, you get the impression the journey spanned a relatively small area packed with people. In reality Glass travelled 300 miles alone south, while the trappers north. He then follows their footsteps, and faces many dangers along the way.
I watched the movie mesmerised by the cinematography and landscapes. But I never engaged with the characters. I didn't really feel much for glass, nor felt any emotions when he lost his son. The french were disliked, but so were the Indian's trying to find the missing daughter. I didn't really feel like vengeance was served when Fitzgerald meets glass.
Amazing cinematography but flawed story and unoriginal. w