Theatrical version available on DVD overseas
Like many people here, I detest the recut DVD version of this film. Seeing the original theatrical version in 1992 was one of the key moviegoing experiences of my life. I don't buy DVDs to see a new spin on a movie I liked, I buy them to be able to rewatch that same movie. Alternate cuts are fine as a bonus feature, but once I saw how Michael Mann had butchered his mainstream masterpiece, giving no option of seeing how it was originally, I sold the DVD and bought a copy of the mercifully untouched widescreen VHS.
Recently, however, I discovered that while this American director's cut DVD is from Fox, Warner Bros holds the rights to Mohicans outside the USA, and they have released the original theatrical version on DVD around the globe. I have a regionless DVD player, which is easy to get in many stores for under fifty dollars, so I bought a copy of the British DVD at amazon.co.uk
Wow. It's as I remembered it, with the Clannad song, without the extra monologue...
Big Lie for the day -- this DVD is an "Expanded Edition"
This DVD is a huge disappointment. With every other movie I have ever bought that was labeled a "Director's Cut" or an "Expanded Edition", the movie had things added to it and not taken out. This version of the movie cuts out much of the familiar and favorite dialogue from the movie released in the theater. Did you like the part where, hiding in the forest, Hawkeye & Cora have their conversation about her people being a breed apart and not making any sense? When Cora gets offended by this, Hawkeye gives her such a look and says "I would make an exception in your case, Miss" and she sarcastically says "Thank you so much!" All this is ripped out of this version. When Major Hayward and Hawkeye have their confrontation in Col. Munro's office about whether the Colonial militia should be released from service to defend their families, gone is the part where Hawkeye looks at the Major and says "I think one day you and I are going to have a serious disagreement". When the party is escaping...
Great Original Movie (and VHS); POOR DVD
Re-release of a previous review so those who read nearby reviews NOTE the difference between VHS (excellent) and DVD (POOR): Waited in great anticipation for the DVD release of this one. The Last of the Mohicans is a great movie enhanced with terrific music. The VHS widescreen version in THX is a wonderful piece of entertainment. Unfortunately, this Director's Expanded Edition has destroyed the flow and continuity of the original. In Director Michael Mann's attempt to supply us with his "definitive vision of the film" via his own editing, he has ignored the professional editors and provided us with a substandard version of what was a fine film. Several of the added clips have no musical sound track at all and come across as painfully awkward - making the viewer fully aware he/she is watching actors in front of a camera rather than immersing us in the action. There is even a series of scenes in the original (and VHS) that has a vocal music piece overlaid that...
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