Review of The Last of the Mohicans (1992) by Brett A — 05 Jun 2013

This is going to sound really ironic, considering the movie won the Academy Award for "Best Sound", but I honestly could not hear a damn thing while watching this film. I'd say I caught somewhere around 55% of the dialogue.

Every time there wasn't a battle sequence going on, it was like Russell Means and Daniel Day-Lewis were having a contest to see who could out-solemnly-mumble their lines. I literally had the volume on my TV up as loud as it would go.

Then, whenever something halfway interesting WOULD start happening, the damn theme would come blasting in again unannounced (side note: are there five total minutes in the movie when the theme song isn't playing in some form or fashion?).

All gripes aside, Daniel Day-Lewis is total bank, so you would expect him to be terrific, which he is. Madeleine Stowe does everything you would expect her to do, i.e. being generally worthless, helpless, and doe-eyed every second she's on the screen (she does fine from an acting standpoint; it's more a criticism of the character).

The theme I was just complaining about is a stupendous one and the cinematography is just beautiful to behold. I wasn't taken by the story, but there are enough technical aspects to admire.