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The Last of the Mohicans poster

The Last of the Mohicans

112 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Daniel Day-Lewis Nathaniel "Hawkeye" Poe
Madeleine Stowe Cora Munro
Russell Means Chingachgook
Eric Schweig Uncas
Jodhi May Alice Munro
Steven Waddington Major Duncan Heyward
Wes Studi Magua
Maurice Roëves Colonel Edmund Munro
Patrice Chéreau General Montcalm
Edward Blatchford Jack Winthrop
Terry Kinney John Cameron
Tracey Ellis Alexandra Cameron
Dennis Banks Ongewasgone
Pete Postlethwaite Captain Beams
Colm Meaney Major Ambrose
Mike Phillips Sachem

The Last of the Mohicans | The Rewatchables

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Producer credits not yet identified.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Final cliff showdown ending with Chingachgook killing Magua

In the discussion (18)
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:58Read transcript
  • The episode notes include an ambush and then a second ambush; two ambushes in one movie, like multiple Gladiator fights, signal the right pick.
  • First ambush, about 20 minutes in: Magua mutters under his breath, walks to the back of the column, and a British soldier who greets him is tomahawked.
  • The ambush includes a scalping and Chingachgook's thrown tomahawk as Hawkeye and his two companions upend it, with confusion over whether Russell Means plays Uncas or Chingachgook.
  • The argument where the English do not believe Hawkeye yields 'Someday I think you and I are going to have a serious disagreement'; the hosts say the line was cut from the first version and restored in a later director's cut, one of three versions Mann has made.
  • Hawkeye pulling Cora away for the first kiss is praised for the building music.
  • A joke proposes a Vegas trance remix of the love theme after quarantine. — Chris Ryan
  • A joke about playing the theme during a spousal argument over the unclean sink while watching basketball in the bubble.
  • Second ambush: Magua cuts out the colonel's heart and vows to wipe out his seed, joked as excessive trash talk; the act is not shown, and Mann is joked to be saving the footage.
  • The waterfall scene's 'Stay alive, no matter what occurs. I will find you' is great stuff; anyone unmoved is a replicant, Duncan concedes he cannot compete, and the moment was in the summer 1992 trailer.
  • Magua presents the two women to the Sachem; Hawkeye walks in unarmed and takes blows; the Sachem's line about the white man is called a good quote, and the trade is narrated in NBA trade terms with Duncan offering himself.
  • That Sachem scene would be a favorite if not for the ending; older Sachem-type characters are 'always a home run'.
  • The film conveys the era efficiently, such as settlers insisting on defending their homes, described as an early American revolutionary spirit.
  • The cliff sequence: Uncas loses to Magua, his father runs in slow motion, and the music and images are called as overwhelming as Heat's bank robbery; the scene was watched about five times the night before.
  • Alice looks at Magua and steps off the cliff as Cora rounds the corner; the sisters go from a tea set in a meadow to giving themselves to the wild, and are game throughout, with Cora becoming a nurse.
  • A Madeleine Stowe tangent covers her Revenge and Stakeout run and her filmography, with Playing by Heart defended.
  • In the last scene Hawkeye and Chingachgook clean house; the wide shot of Magua and Chingachgook on the rock and the final 360 tomahawk swing are called one of the coolest shots seen in a theater.
  • That final scene is named as the most rewatchable pick, and the other participant goes with it as well.
  • Honorable mention: Hawkeye covering the courier from the fort wall; the courier is called the worst job in colonial America and the 'Postmates of 1757'.

What’s Aged the Best?

The music; Wes Studi as Magua; the romance; British-French stereotyping; Chingachgook and Uncas; the lacrosse game; the Kentucky directions exchange; Magua's third-person dialogue

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:43:13Read transcript
  • The music is the first answer, emphatically: 'it's the music, it's the music, and then it's the music.'
  • Day Lewis is offered only as 'you could say'; Wes Studi's performance as Magua and the romance are named as aging well too.
  • The 1750s British-French stereotyping is praised, with a quoted line about Latin voluptuousness and Gallic laziness; a whole series of the two sides fighting would be welcome, though whom to root for is unclear.
  • Chingachgook and Uncas are a favorite father-son combo, likened to the speaker and his dad, with a Red Sox joke.
  • The lacrosse game is another pick, with jokes about betting on a round robin.
  • The exchange about going to Kentucky, answered 'face north, turn left, and walk', is praised as good underrated sarcasm.
  • Magua's lines are singled out, including his muttering to the English officer and his vow about the gray hair's heart and seed.
  • Magua's third-person speech is the favorite element, joked as a press-conference habit and a demand to be traded to the Hurons.
  • Studi is so good as Magua that he was hard to see as anyone else for years, including in Heat.
  • Magua is not a pure villain but a man set on revenge; a version from his perspective would be about justice, with jokes about Magua defenders in a player-friendly era.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Dense, hard-to-follow first hour; slow first-hour pacing

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:09Read transcript
  • There is a lot of information in the first hour; the Duncan scenes are meant to convey it but the period-style dialogue makes few concessions, and one participant remains confused after many viewings.
  • The movie arguably could have used a narrator, from someone who hates narrators, with Henry Hill or Magua's ghost joked about.
  • The first hour could speed up; a counterpoint says the Hawkeye-Cora slow burn needs time, then concedes the music could cover a few trimmed minutes.
  • Hawkeye and Cora are called the favorite relationship in any Mann movie even though they barely have a real conversation.
  • More was wanted from the younger sister as a performer; the other participant thinks she is perfect as a shell-shocked character.
  • The Alice-Uncas bond is read as puppy love, with talk of whether a love scene existed; a two-minute setup scene would have helped, and no further aged-worst items are offered.
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:50Read transcript
  • Magua is ruled ineligible for being in too much of the movie.
  • The Sachem's roughly five minutes are praised: his demeanor, his line about the white men and darkness, brokering the trade, and how he listens to Hawkeye and recognizes Magua is not someone he should help; the role is credited to an actor named Mike Phillips.

Apex Mountain

Wes Studi; Jodhi May; tomahawk throws; waterfall jumping

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:19Read transcript
  • Not Day Lewis: his Apex is There Will Be Blood, one of the great performances of the last 50 years, though one could argue this is his mainstream Apex.
  • Michael Mann is a no.
  • Wes Studi is a yes, 'unfortunately', because he is great in this movie.
  • Jodhi May (transcribed 'Jody May') is a yes, since the speaker does not know what happened to her after this movie.
  • Full-scale tomahawk throws are Apex; no better one comes to mind, and everyone wanted a tomahawk afterward.
  • Talking about yourself in the third person is flagged but judged probably not Apex.
  • Hawkeye's jump into the waterfall is declared Apex Mountain for waterfall jumping, because The Fugitive followed the next year; water-park joke.
  • It is probably Apex Mountain for colonial frontier movies and maybe the best Revolutionary War era movie.
  • A claim that it might be Apex for MTV type of style action set to music is questioned: the other participant sees it as more classical and traditionalist, while granting it is the conclusion of the style begun with Miami Vice and far more modern than Jeremiah Johnson.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Could be remade as a 10-episode series

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:20Read transcript
  • It could be, but would be among the most expensive 10-episode shows if done correctly.
  • A series would address the confusing political context and the Alice-Uncas relationship, though the film works as it is and Mann would tinker with it forever.
  • It would also give Magua a backstory, joked as recording his own music and coaching youth lacrosse.
In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:07:05Read transcript
  • Daniel Day Lewis (transcribed 'Daniel Deelis') is named, prompting 'No Michael Mann?'
  • It is a great Mann movie, but this is among the favorite Day Lewis performances; he became a rock star household name off it and then chose a different direction.
  • Jokes imagine Day Lewis as Neil McCauley spending years learning metals and safecracking and serving time in San Quentin.
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Daniel Day-Lewis