Since the movie makes things up anyway, Denzel Washington as David Ferry is suggested; Denzel as Mr. X is called insanely great, with doubt about him as Ferry.
Recast Sissy Spacek because she is too good an actress for a crummy part, freeing her for a better role.
Sally Field is suggested for the part; pushback says Costner and Spacek do not fit together.
Madeline Stowe is suggested for 'Renee Rousseau' (character name as transcribed) and called perfect.
Gary Sinise would have killed as Ferry; whether Oldman and Sinise ever had a showdown is asked.
The hosts say Brian Cox was offered Colonel Monroe and turned it down.
The hosts say Andie MacDowell (transcribed 'Andy McDowell') was in the mix for Cora; she and Madeleine Stowe could have swapped almost every role, and the speaker says Stowe wins their all-time battle.
Counterpoint on whether Stowe could have led Four Weddings and a Funeral, and whether Andy McDowell (as transcribed) could have led Bad Girls.
The hosts say Jean Reno was offered General Montcalm (transcribed 'Montcom'), which would have been weird.
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'.
