The Last of the Mohicans (Director's Expanded Edition)
by Michael Mann
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Eric Schweig, Jodhi May, Madeleine Stowe, Russell MeansDirector: Michael Mann
Brand: Fox
Writer: Michael Mann
Writer: Christopher Crowe
Writer: Daniel Moore
Writer: James Fenimore Cooper
Writer: John L. Balderston
Writer: Paul Perez
Writer: Philip Dunne
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 117 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-01-23
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Anamorphic; Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; DTS Surround Sound; DVD; Widescreen; NTSC
Movie Reviews of The Last of the Mohicans (Director's Expanded Edition)
Movie Review: LOTM DVD ... A Review ... The Director's Expanded Edition
Summary: 5 Stars
After two enthusiastic campaigns, and a very long wait, the much sought after, eagerly anticipated Director's Cut of LOTM has finally been released. Presented this time around via the high end of the technology spectrum, DVD, the Director's Cut promised, at least, to be a superior edition visually and audibly to the original. The story content itself, having undergone another round of editing, remained questionable in regard to its improvement or lack thereof. There was to be additional footage, widely welcomed, though no one knew what exactly these additions would be. The director, Michael Mann, had edited the release which offered reasonable confidence that the re-editing would be an enhancement ... would it? Here, we offer one, actually two, opinions on this ...
What's NOT Here: Largely because of discussion & speculation here on this Web Site, expectations were huge for this release. Dances With Wolves, when released in Director's Cut form, had nearly one hour of additional footage ... While no one thought there'd be THAT much new material, it was generally assumed there would be 15 or so minutes, including a "love" scene between Alice & Uncas, added to the film. All based on pre-theatrical release reviews, plus comments made by many of the principals in various interviews, most Mohicans fans eagerly awaited more, More, MORE! Forget it! It's not here. That's not, it is obvious, what Mr. Michael Mann had in mind for this gem of a release. More on that later. There is NO Alice/Uncas love scene. In fact, this release does absolutely nothing in the way of furthering that relationship. It stays as it lays. Uncas has not one additional line, Alice one or two. Nearly all hypothesized new scenes are nowhere to be found on this DVD. In no one's wildest imagination, did anybody think that some material would actually be CUT from the original. That matter was never addressed. So, though, it is. GONE ... Not ever to be heard again in the DVD-age are SEVERAL of Hawkeye's most quoted lines ... things like "Clear it up any?" "Just dropped in to see how you boys is doing!" "Someday you & I are going to have a serious disagreement!" "Nothing better to do on the lake today, Major?" All have seen the axe. Part of the exchange between Hawkeye & Cora at The Burial Ground has been lopped off. That one hurts. No longer do you hear, "That is because they are a breed apart and make no sense!" What??!! Can it be? Want to hear more? Clannad's I Will Find You no longer lilts through the misty riverside air as Hawkeye, Chingachgook & Uncas begin their journey to rescue the Munro sisters. It just isn't there. No matter how many times you play it over, it's still gone! Disappointed? Go on, admit it! You feel terribly disappointed! Sulk awhile. Go on! Feel morbid depression, consider a leap off the ledge at Nature's Shower Bath. Get it all out of your system! Allow yourself to feel the pain! Then, FORGET IT! In any case, you still have your wide screen THX video version to savor, so get a grip! Now, place your hopes & expectations aside. Forget that you've ever seen The Last of the Mohicans. Go out and buy the new Director's Expanded Edition of this classic film and bravely pop it into your DVD player. Go on. It really won't hurt. Get ready to watch 1992's The Last of the Mohicans again ... for the first time!
The DVD Experience: Perhaps, you are like us, you've never before owned a DVD disk. Get ready for a real treat. You will never, when given a choice, want to watch a VHS tape again. You have immediate scene access, you can zoom in intimately on any shot. Sure, you can also pause, run in slow motion, rewind and fast forward. This time, though, with a difference. What you see is crystal clear! No more blurred images or lines running across your screen ... just pure IMAGE ... and you can run it at various speeds. The normal picture quality is near-perfect. You get vivid, rich colors. Details long lost in the murky gloom of the VHS night scenes will POP out at you while watching the DVD version. You'll see things you never saw before, much like watching the 35mm film on the big screen. For that quality alone, this is the definitive version to view. Like sound? Distinct stereo separation, even on just your TV's speakers, can be heard ... Every little sound becomes a part of the viewing experience. You will miss nothing. Clear, precise sounds ... no distortion ... the sights & sounds will cause you to fully be engulfed by the film. If it was the identical release to the original, you'd still feel like you were watching a Director's Cut, so much more will become apparent to you. Such is the quality of a DVD. You will be amazed. Oh, and did we mention the optional sub-titles? Never again will you have to guess what it is characters are saying. It can all be there for you, on screen, if you so choose. If you're at all like us, all these little perks will provide you with long moments of exploration & amusement, causing The Last of the Mohicans to run for well over 3 hours, instead of its listed 117 minutes.
So, What IS Here: Only 117 minutes, you say? Yes, and that's only 3 minutes over the original! Figure that maybe up to a minute of time was sliced out, that leaves about 4 minutes, total, of new footage. [Well, so our math is a little off! See MM's mathematics below!] That can be a lot of film, and so it is ...
The first thing that you'll see is the dazzling The Last of the Mohicans title bouncing seductively on your screen. Then you'll be greeted with Hickory Nut Gorge, thunderous waterfalls, scenes from the movie, and you will have an opportunity to explore the DVD ... choose Language Selection, to set your sound & caption preferences, view The Cast, select various scenes, or play the movie. Go ahead. Play around a bit. Then, click on Play Movie, sit back, relax, and enjoy the awesome splendor, the beauty of the cinematography, the spellbinding soundtrack, the powerful images, the adventure, the action, the romance ... watch as Michael Mann transforms his 1992 masterpiece, real "subtle"-like, into a MASTERPIECE ...
It is obvious that Mann intended to reconstruct a portion of Hawkeye's character. No longer the pop-action hero, he has become serious, intent ... at the end, almost boyish, as he questions his adopted father, Chingachgook, high above Linville Gorge. The Hawkeye we see here is a stronger Hawkeye. No more flippant remarks in this life or death struggle. Hawkeye's main aim here is survival! Possibly for the same reasons, Clannad's haunting melody was removed. Out of place in this primeval wilderness, the tune is replaced by the Trevor Jones/Randy Edelman score. During the battle sequences, The Siege and Massacre Valley, the music is mixed down considerably allowing the sounds of war - the stark realities - to permeate the film. During the former, the score is allowed to fully explode upon the scene only as the fort is reached by the main characters. During the massacre, the theme rises in intensity, but again, is only allowed to bear its full force on the proceedings as Hawkeye and Cora embrace ... great stuff!
As you watch, after being floored by the clarity of the image, you'll be delighted by the deeply rich colors of The Elk Hunt. Then, nighttime at Cameron's Cabin brings you into a whole new world. Just TRY to absorb all those details in just one sitting. Here, too, you see the first addition to the film, a new take of John Cameron grabbing his rifle, a cautious approach to the door, and then, after realizing who is drawing near, uttering the first new line, "Alexandria ... Set 3 more places." So very quietly, Mann sets out to actually strengthen the story by skillfully placed morsels that help to further relationships, spotlight motivations, and establish political climates. Re-introduced is Le [Renard] Subtil, Cooper's Magua; as known to the French ... The Sly Fox. We see, even more, Duncan as a warrior, courtesy of the new Courier Diversion scene. We realize he is very much the same as these warriors of the forest. We hear, and see, a very effective new piece at Webb's HQ's, providing amplification of the British/Colonial dispute early on. Cora & Alice have brief new things to say at the patroon's house connecting their past a bit more to 1757 colonial America. We see the column of escorting soldiers symbolically enter into the wilderness. The Abenaki Chief, Magua, Jack, and especially Montcalm & Colonel Munro are given new life through an added line or use of a different take. It's all very small tinkering on Mann's part. Nothing monumental, but its cumulative effect certainly ties the underlying stories that are the foundation of this film together in a much more palatable fashion, especially benefiting the uninitiated. For your information (DVD scene name in parenthesis), the main expanded scenes would be: The diversionary efforts of Heyward to enable the courier to flee to safety under the cover of Uncas and Hawkeye (A Run To Fort Edward), The Parlay scene (Terms For Surrender) which is radically expanded to our benefit, providing more interplay between the two antagonists, the former Clannad scene (Stay Alive) which intersperses, beautifully, scenes of the captives being hauled away, at one point set against a radiant sunset, with shots of their Mohican rescuers in pursuit ... you can hear the pants of exhaustion, sense the desperation ... and the final scene (Last of the Mohicans), where Chingachgook rightfully takes over the title role and artfully allows him to become the wise elder, poignantly foreseeing the future of the frontier. It is a grand moment that makes a strong ending even more puissant. All we could say was, "Wow!" Fifteen scenes, in all, are listed as containing footage not seen in the original theatrical release, though we were hard pressed to spot them in one (Lovers), and found little added things in two scenes not listed (A Stirring in the Blood and Trophies of Honor). Bits & pieces skillfully interwoven into the substance already there to create the definitive version ... Or, as the liner notes say, "[Michael Mann's] definitive vision of the film." We couldn't agree more!
A Word On The Blemishes: Several reviews mention uneven editing of this new cut. In fact, included with the DVD is this little note: "In order to create it [this DVD version], certain shots had to be lengthened, resulting in a momentary jump in the image." We noticed but two or three. These minor flaws are easily negated by the overall outstanding image clarity, deep colors, and improved sound.
Summary of The Last of the Mohicans (Director's Expanded Edition)
An epic adventure and passionate romance unfold against the panorama of a frontier wilderness ravaged by war. Academy AwardŽ winner Daniel Day-Lewis (Best Actor in 1989 for My Left Foot) stars as Hawkeye, rugged frontiersman and adopted son of the Mohicans, and Madeleine Stowe is Cora Munro, aristocratic daughter of a proud British Colonel. Their love, tested by fate, blazes amidst a brutal conflict between the British, the French and Native American allies that engulfs the majestic mountains and cathedral-like forests of Colonial America.Wildly romantic, daringly exciting, Michael Mann's film of James Fenimore Cooper's novel created a new babe magnet out of Daniel Day-Lewis, he of the heaving pecs and flowing mane. As Hawkeye, he plays an American settler raised by the Mohicans who is forced to serve as a guide for British adventurism in upstate New York. But the British have been outflanked by the French (and their Indian allies); then British honor is betrayed when a band of renegades assaults them during their retreat. Mann captures the viciousness of this era's hand-to-hand combat in startling battle scenes. But he also invests the film with heartfelt romance, as the feelings swell between Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe. The ending is a stunner, a long, nearly wordless sequence of battle and loss. Strong performances all around, particularly by Russell Means as Chingachgook and Wes Studi as the evil Magua. --Marshall Fine
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