Romancefest 2014: The Last of the Mohicans

Normally I reserve Romancefest for flicks I've never seen before. I made an exception for LAST OF THE MOHICANS because it's as if I've never seen it before. Yes, I've seen it, but I could barely remember it and haven't watched it since probably the first time. Which is weird, because I vividly remember my best friends going on about how awesome it was. Where I was when they saw it, I don't know. All I know is, I always felt kinda left out when it came to LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

Anyway, now I feel less left out. This 1992 Michael Mann flick, straight outta Hollywood, tells the tale of Hawkeye (Daniel Day Lewis), a frontiersman who travels the woods of colonial America with his adopted Mohican brother (Eric Schweig) and father (Russell Means). The trio becomes unwittingly involved in the French and Indian war when they rescue the survivors of a betrayed and ambushed company of British soldiers and citizens, consisting of a Major (Steven Waddington) and the two daughters of a besieged British Colonel (Madeline Stowe and Jodhi May).

I don't want to waste too much time on the plot, but basically a bunch of colonials have pledged to help the British fight the French, but in the mean time the French and some Huron mercenaries they've hired, led by a warrior called Magua (Wes Studi) are trashing unprotected colonial settlements. This causes conflict between the British army and their colonial conscripts. Meanwhile, the British Colonel (Maurice Roeves) is on the verge of surrendering as reinforcements do not appear to be coming any time soon.

Lewis' Hawkeye is caught in the middle of all this at first because he sympathizes with the colonials and later because he falls in love with the Colonel's eldest daughter (the Stowe one).

This is all just an elaborate setup for an extended chase sequence in which Lewis attempts to rescue his party from the Huron mercenaries.

Look, I admit it. I cried like three times during this movie. The thing is, it's just so badass. Once Lewis is in love with Stowe, there's nothing that'll stop him from saving her. He chops guys up with his hatchet and jumps through waterfalls and climbs mountains and all kinds of stuff. There's even a subtle subplot romance between Lewis' adopted bro and Stowe's younger sis that brought me to tears. Turns out if you get a warrior running in slow-mo towards his about-to-be-chopped lover, I will cry.

Aside from all that, the movie's beautiful to look at. The plot be damned, this thing has scenery and cinematography that's amazing. Set that to a pretty score by Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman, and it's hard to resist. This is the kind of stuff that Hollywood does best.