Blu-ray Movie Reviews

An epic adventure and passionate romance unfold against the panorama of a frontier wilderness ravaged by war. Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Hawkeye, rugged frontiersman and adopted son of the Mohicans, and Madeleine Stowe is Cora Munro, aristocratic daughter of a proud British Colonel. Their love, tested by fate, blazes amidst a brutal conflict between the British, the French and Native American allies that engulfs the majestic mountains and cathedral-like forests of Colonial America.

I’ve always loved the cinematography of this film. Going into the Blu-ray I was a bit worried about how it would turn out though. This has never been what I would call a razor sharp film and it was always a bit on the dim side. The Blu-ray pretty much looks as expected. Longer shots are a tad on the soft side and despite the beautiful backdrops and framing, images can look a bit drab and soft. Brighter close ups reveal plenty of rich detail and dimension but darker scenes fall a bit flat making the presentation as a whole a tad inconsistent. The soundtrack has always been one of my favorites. The score for this film is one of the only ones I’ve ever picked up on CD. Thankfully it holds up quite well for this Blu-ray release with plenty of atmosphere, presence and range. Sound effects aren’t quite as convincing as modern soundtracks, but they still managed to get the job done. There is plenty of body to this mix and dynamics fare pretty well when they need to. Some of the dialogue sounds a tad harsh but is rarely a distraction.

Extras are a bit lean for this release unfortunately. You get a feature commentary with the director and a new look behind the scenes of the film.

One of director Michael Mann’s best films finally finds its way to Blu-ray. This new cut doesn’t offer much more than the previous director’s cut but puts back some of the things the last director’s cut took away. The Blu-ray serves up the presentation about the best that one could expect and I’d still recommend it for fans of the film.