The Last of the Mohicans

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

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)

Click to expand...

I'm still obsessing about what this movie could have been if there were atleast 15-20 minutes more into the story - depth. And it is a shame that the dvd nor the blu-ray included any deleted scenes. Was there any interesting info included in the making of feature?

I'm also amazed there is not any proper bootleg material available from all the material that was shot for the movie. There is atleast some bootleg material available: but this is not much and doesn't really count. The only way to see more material of this movie is to try and track down bootlegs of premixes etc. it seems. That user has two rare clips uploaded. I tried contacting him once but his profile wont allow messages from non-friends and he wont accept a friend request from me! Maybe someone else should try?

One interesting thing I noticed.
I purchased the widescreen DEE on dvd. So far I had seen the DEE by downloading a copy from the net. I noticed atleast two things: the sound mix is a lot better on the version I downloaded and it seems there is difference in the picture quality between the copy I downloaded and the copy that I purchased on dvd - the official copy. If my eyes are not deceiving me this is especially visible in the scene where Hawkeye and Cora are moving away from the Huron village: the picture quality in the version I downloaded is noticeably weaker than in the widescreen DEE dvd I bought. Is there different pressings/versions of the DEE dvd around ? The sound mix on the official dvd I bought is horrible and the volume levels jump up and down and the music is in someplaces mixed so low tht it hardly makes any effect on me, especially in the battle scene! How can they screw up a release like this? They must have seen the final edit before releasing it... And I think the sound levels are much more constant in the version I downloaded. However I am nos ure if this is just because of something the uploader did to this iso-file before uploading or something. But I am quite sure the picture quality is different between the versions even though you can see the uploaded version is a bit more compressed and lossy. However, in the scene I mentioned the difference is so great it must be the source material not the transfer.

escobar said:

I purchased the widescreen DEE on dvd. So far I had seen the DEE by downloading a copy from the net. I noticed atleast two things: the sound mix is a lot better on the version I downloaded and it seems there is difference in the picture quality between the copy I downloaded and the copy that I purchased on dvd - the official copy. If my eyes are not deceiving me this is especially visible in the scene where Hawkeye and Cora are moving away from the Huron village: the picture quality in the version I downloaded is noticeably weaker than in the widescreen DEE dvd I bought. Is there different pressings/versions of the DEE dvd around ?

Click to expand...

Yes. There are two versions of the DEE. The DDC has fluctuations in the volume level too. I did the best I could with the volume in my edit, but at times the dynamic range might be a bit much for some people.

I found the material in that scene you posted to be interesting. There's not really anthing that would enhance the story in that clip though. As for the making of feature, it was nice, but there is nothing you could use in an edit. It was interesting to hear Mann's commentary too, but he didn't discuss the changes that he had made to the film.

Hey!
Just look at all the little pieces of scenes you can see in this short clip that were filmed but are not in any of the versions we have seen:
Especially that scene in the end! WHAT is that?! Definitely something unseen and very interesting!
And I believe there is a brief clip where the French and the Indians tracking the party in the first half of the film are closing in on them when they reach the lake. Maybe is related to the scene where Uncas supposedly gets injured but what was cut out from the movie?
And there is a canoe shot when they (I assume) reach the fort and many more brief clips! This is a very important piece of evidence that there might be more to the film after all!

Up till now I have accepted the R2 and R4 DVD releases of The Last of the Mohicans as the theatrical cut of the film; however, I've just watched my NTSC Laserdisc of the film and noticed something unexpected. Some alternate material that was present in the Director's Expanded Edition but not the R2 and R4 releases is also present in the LD!

First Example

After reflecting that the French haven't the nature for war, Webb says, "Their Latinate voluptuousness combines with their Gallic laziness and the result is they'd rather eat and make love with their faces than fight," in both the LD and the DEE.

Second Example

There are added shots of the Cora and Hawkeye walking backwards out of the Huron village after Cora is released, intercut with a close up of one of the Huron, in both the DEE and the LD.

Moreover, I think that the sequence in which Cora is released is ordered differently in the LD, with Magua's calling the Huron dogs and cursing them coming earlier than it does in the R2 and R4 DVDs. (Either that or my disc is skipping.)

Apart from these examples, the cut on my Laserdisc seems identical to the R2 and R4 DVD releases.

1986-85

1. B30B02402

2. A30B311280


Two possibilities occur. The first is that the R2 and R4 DVD releases, which have always been taken to be the theatrical cut of the film, actually represent an early edited version, and – because the differences between that and the theatrical were so slight -- nobody noticed. The second is that an edited version was prepared specifically for Laserdisc. Whichever of these is correct, I now count five versions of the film.

1. Laserdisc cut
2. R2/R4 DVD cut
3. 1996 CBS TV Cut (featuring Major Heyward's Diversion)
4. Director's Expanded Edition (R1 DVD releases)
5. Director's Definitive Cut

Of course, it is possible that the theatrical cut was different from all these releases – some of the changes are quite subtle – and we have never seen the original version on home video.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has a Laserdisc, of whatever pressing, or even a VHS.

EDIT: In an old thread from ot.com, a member claims that footage of Magua's eating Munro's heart was actually in the theatrical cut; however, this interview with Wes Studi would seem dispel the rumor.

The more I watch the NTSC LD, the more I'm convinced that it is from the same transfer as the R1 Director's Expanded Edition. The color-timing is very similar in that there is a noticeably reddish cast to many scenes. Despite the fact that it doesn't match the BD in terms of brightness and contrast, the color is very similar in those scenes that do not have obvious (and occasionally ridiculous) digital manipulation. Also noteworthy is the fact that it lacks the color fluctuations that are present in the R2 and R4 DVDs, especially in the shot in which Hawkeye tells Heyward: "Someday, I think you and I are going to have a serious disagreement."

I would hypothesize that were two transfers:

1. a North American transfer from which came the masters that were prepared for the NTSC LD, the DEE, and the DDC – and presumably the CBS TV cut;
2. an international transfer from which came the master used for the R2 and R4 DVDs and the HDTV broadcast – all of which look the same.