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Has anyone seen the Director's Definitive Cut (DDC)? What did people think?
Overall, I liked it more than the Director's Expanded Edition (DEE), but not quite as much as the theatrical cut. There are some changes that I liked, but others that I didn't.
I posted this list of changes in my Hybrid Cut thread, but I thought I'd start a new one just for discussing the film rather than the edit itself. Please let me know if you spot any other changes.
Interesting links:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Last-of-the-Mohicans-Blu-ray/10898/
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/304950/a-few-words-about-the-last-of-the-mohicans-in-blu-ray
http://www.landofwhimsy.com/archives/2010/10/bd-impressions-the-last-of-the-mohicans/
http://www.highdefforum.com/blu-ray-movie-reviews/121316-my-take-last-mohicans-1992-a.html
http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...views/33845-last-mohicans-blu-ray-review.html
http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/1234
http://movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=377524
http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo06053.html
http://rheaven.blogspot.com/2009/06/michael-mann-week-last-of-mohicans.html
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews2/lastofthemohicans.html
http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=116790
http://dearauthor.com/features/film-reviews/friday-film-review-last-of-the-mohicans/
http://www.museumofcinema.com/2011/05/01/behind-the-scenes-on-the-last-of-the-mohicans-1992/
http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2011/05/michael-mann-retrospective-last-of.html
http://www.filminfocus.com/article/michael_mann_on_the_last_of_the_mohicans
http://arethehillsgoingtomarchoff.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/last-of-mohicans-1992-film-by-michael.html
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/230218/the-last-of-the-mohicans-1992-version/30
http://www.motion.kodak.com/motion/about/the_storyboard/4294969694/index.htm
http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo06018.html
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/TheLastOfTheMohicans?from=Main.LastOfTheMohicans
Overall, I liked it more than the Director's Expanded Edition (DEE), but not quite as much as the theatrical cut. There are some changes that I liked, but others that I didn't.
I posted this list of changes in my Hybrid Cut thread, but I thought I'd start a new one just for discussing the film rather than the edit itself. Please let me know if you spot any other changes.
- Major Heyward's approach to Albany is shorter than the director's cut. I think it has been set back to the theatrical version, but I shall have to check this.
- A new line is added at the start when Heyward meets Webb. Jack now says: "We speak for the men, not command them." or words to that effect. Major Heyward's entrance is also an alternate take. We see him come through the door behind Jack, whereas in the DEE we see emerge him through the door on the right of the screen and the camera then pans across. This is more like the theatrical cut, which has an audible line in which Heyward instructs a man to see the baggage. There are notable color fluctations in the DEE take; the quality of the footage is poor, which might explain the re-edting of this scene. Overall, this scene is the best that it has ever been; I throughly approve of the new version.
- Webb's line about King George II and his subjects is now delivered in a different take. It is now a close up shot, and the word "all" in "all his benevolence" is not present. I like this better.
- Cora and Heyward's first discussion about marriage plays out slightly differently. It seems slower to me.
- The "serious disagreement" line is back.
- The "Clear it up any?" line has not been restored.
- Major Heyward's diversion is gone.
- Cora's missing lines in the conversation after Cameron's cabin are back, but her cry of "What?" has been removed.
- The translated debate between Hawkeye and Magua before Great Sachem has been recut, but the footage used is mostly the same. I do not like this at all: it detracts from the impact of Sachem's monologue at the end.
- The parley scene now has the extended dialogue from the director's cut, and the line about one British officer being afraid to support another, which was removed from the director's cut, has been restored.
- Magua's conversation with Montcalm in the forest is subtly different. "My son Magua's pain is my pain" has been cut. The poetic line about not wanting to sully the lilies of France is retained from the DEE, but Montcalm's judgment that Munro would keep the terms of the surrender but General Webb would not is removed, as is Montcalm's reaction shot to Magua's question about the agreement. "I fear that I would only fight the same men again when I drive towards Albany" now becomes the response to Magua's question. This works, but I miss the original dialogue, as it believe it reinforces the contrast between the characters of Munro and Webb.
- The shots of the French soldiers entering the fort after the British withdrawal that were added in the DEE have not been retained in the DDC.
- Magua's conversation with Montcalm in the tent is cut differently. I don't like it much: it feels... odd.
- Hawkeye's question to Heyward about whether he has nothing better to do on the lake is still missing.
- Cora's "If the worst happens..." line in the waterfall scene is cut, but at a later point than in the director's cut. (I find it jarring, and I even laughed when I saw it.)
- The Clannad song is back, and it now plays over the sunset sequence that was added in the director's cut. The English lyrics from the song are not present. It is mostly in Gaelic (with some Cherokee and Mohican?)
- There are new shots of the Huron gathering in the village upon Magua's arrival that were not in the theatrical cut. The initial shot of Grand Sachem being escorted in by two elderly women is longer.
- The shots of Hawkeye and Cora walking backwards out of the Huron village have been removed.
- Major Heyward's second scream is absent,as it was in the Director's Expanded Edition.
- The embrace of Cora and Hawkeye after Magua's death has been restored.
- Chingachgook's club's impaling Magua through the back is back. (Ha!)
- There are a few extra or longer shots in most of the fight sequences.
- Chingachgook's final monologue has been removed. The shot of Cora and Hawkeye embracing seems longer.
Interesting links:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Last-of-the-Mohicans-Blu-ray/10898/
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/304950/a-few-words-about-the-last-of-the-mohicans-in-blu-ray
http://www.landofwhimsy.com/archives/2010/10/bd-impressions-the-last-of-the-mohicans/
http://www.highdefforum.com/blu-ray-movie-reviews/121316-my-take-last-mohicans-1992-a.html
http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...views/33845-last-mohicans-blu-ray-review.html
http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/1234
http://movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=377524
http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo06053.html
http://rheaven.blogspot.com/2009/06/michael-mann-week-last-of-mohicans.html
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews2/lastofthemohicans.html
http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=116790
http://dearauthor.com/features/film-reviews/friday-film-review-last-of-the-mohicans/
http://www.museumofcinema.com/2011/05/01/behind-the-scenes-on-the-last-of-the-mohicans-1992/
http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2011/05/michael-mann-retrospective-last-of.html
http://www.filminfocus.com/article/michael_mann_on_the_last_of_the_mohicans
http://arethehillsgoingtomarchoff.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/last-of-mohicans-1992-film-by-michael.html
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/230218/the-last-of-the-mohicans-1992-version/30
http://www.motion.kodak.com/motion/about/the_storyboard/4294969694/index.htm
http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo06018.html
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/TheLastOfTheMohicans?from=Main.LastOfTheMohicans
American Widescreen Museum said:USA - 1992 - col
D: Michael Mann
Panavision
35mm and 70mm release prints
6-channel Dolby Stereo SR
2.39:1 (35mm)
2.20:1 (70mm blow-up)