Welcome to the first in the recurring feature of movie reviews. Since this is the first one of these features I’ll tell you a little bit about how I will be doing these. First I will say outright, I am not a professional movie reviewer. I will tell you what I like and don;t like, whether I think it is worth viewing and what not. When I can I will speak to the authenticity and how well the military aspects have been captured in the film. Also I will not limit myself to American Military History for this feature, so every era and conflict is fair game.

With all said let’s start with the first feature. The Last of the Mohicans: Director’s Definitive Cut is set in the American Colonies during the French & Indian War in the middle of the 18th century. Daniel day Lewis stars as Hawkeye a white man who was adopted into the Mohican tribe who falls in love with Madeline Stowe’s character Cora Munro the daughter of a British Colonel. Yep, a love story set against the frontier war fought between the French and British with both sides using the natives as pawns in the over all game of colonial conquest.

So the verdict? Considering that there are really a few movies that deal with this particular conflict in the Americas it sort of stands in the rare air. While the war itself plays out mostly in the background it does a fair job of showing the tactics and strategy involved when fighting on the frontier. The hit and run tactics of the natives, the ambushes, the sieges, all shown in fairly accurate detail.

Director Michael Mann tells a very good story and of course Daniel Day-Lewis takes Hawkeye to a different level. If you want a flavor of what warfare on the colonial frontier looks like, watch this movie. It runs 112 minutes but it flows well. Take the chance if the subject interests you.