I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Michael Mann is best known for his film Heat. That movie is a certified classic and worthy of its own post at a later date after I give it another re-watch. But recently, I watched a different, slightly earlier Michael Mann movie once again, and while Heat is probably the better movie overall, in my heart of hearts, I think I love The Last of the Mohicans even more.

I actually paused the film and texted my mom, a fellow fan, “Okay, how do I convince everyone I know to watch Last of the Mohicans haha? Still one of my all-time favorites!”

And now I’m here to convince the people I don’t know, too!

It surely doesn’t help that I have a bias that skews toward historical fiction. The Last of the Mohicans is set in 1757, during a — what I feel is — kind of underrated period in American history: the French and Indian War. It’s already a lesser known story, in that regard, and a fascinating conflict on its own, as well as being part of the wider Seven Years’ War. Now, Hollywood most likely took a lot of liberties with this movie, as Hollywood does. Yet, as I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, I’m not enough of a history buff to let any inaccuracies take me out of the experience, so nothing here should really bother the average viewer.

The British and French are fighting, various Native American peoples have taken sides, and the colonials are deciding on who to support. Among these factions are Chingachgook (played by Russell Means) and his son, Uncas (Eric Schweig), the last of the Mohican people. Nathaniel Poe, also known as Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis), is the white, adopted son who Chingachgook found and raised as his own. These three men live on the edge of the frontier and have befriended settlers and their families, sharing meals and trading with them. The British eventually call up the local militia, and many men leave their loved ones and settlements to fight for the entity that they still see as their sovereign. Nathaniel, his father, and brother have allegiance to no one. They only choose to join in the fight when they track a Mohawk war party, hold it off during an ambush of British soldiers, and inadvertently save two women, Cora (Madeleine Stowe) and Alice (Jodhi May), who are the daughters of Colonel Edmund Munro (Maurice Roëves). They agree to take Cora and Alice, along with a major, Duncan Heyward (Steven Waddington), to Fort William Henry, where Munro is the commanding officer.

Above all else, The Last of the Mohicans is a period romance, with a few different pairings making up most of the plot. Major Heyward has proposed marriage to Cora, although she states that her feelings “don’t go beyond friendship.” After she asks him to wait for her answer, they meet Nathaniel and the Mohicans, and she and Nathaniel immediately have chemistry, their attraction to one another building as the story goes on. Uncas and Alice also begin to show subtle interest in each other. The Last of the Mohicans is what a lot of people might call a sweeping romance, as Nathaniel and Cora’s relationship takes off almost instantly and endures so many obstacles and so much trauma in a short amount of time. There is obviously drama between Nathaniel and Heyward for Cora’s affection, as well as between Cora and Heyward, and everyone is at odds with Colonel Munro and the British. Much of the passion, tension, and action takes place with the assault of Fort William Henry as the backdrop, which only adds to the suspense as you watch.

Speaking of the action, all of the battle scenes and fighting are brutal, bombastic, and incredibly well staged. An entire siege on a fort was created, from cannons firing from the ramparts to French soldiers digging a trench in the fields below. There are two ambush sequences, one smaller and one larger, and both are fantastic. There’s a saying that describes shots in a film as “every frame a painting,” and that couldn’t be truer for The Last of the Mohicans. One of the most stunning visuals in the whole movie is of a bridge and its reflection in the water beneath it. Although the story is supposed to take place in upstate New York, much of the filming was actually done in the Blue Ridge Mountains and parts of North Carolina, and the setting is breathtaking.

I continue to believe that musical score can make or break a film, and The Last of the Mohicans might just have one of the best scores of all time, composed by Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman. The orchestra is as sweeping as the romance, the drums as inevitable as all of the conflict taking place. It’s hard to say if the movie would work nearly as well without such a stellar soundtrack. The actors portraying Nathaniel, Cora, Heyward, and Munro, as well as Magua — and I don’t know how I haven’t brought him up until now because he’s played by the always excellent Wes Studi — perform so incredibly well. The writing lends to each of them having some all-time classic dialogue and delivering lines that you take seriously and give you empathy for their characters. These aren’t the most in-depth characters you’ll see in a movie; however, the relationships between each of them will have you buying it and staying invested.

The Last of the Mohicans is based off of a 1936 film adaptation, which itself is based off of the 1826 novel of the same name. Though, as it’s summed up quite nicely on Rotten Tomatoes, “The Last of the Mohicans is a breathless romantic adventure that plays loose with James Fenimore Cooper’s novel — and comes out with a richer action movie for it.” The name will no doubt forever be more associated with Michael Mann’s movie over anything else. I’m convinced more and more that many older movies absolutely caught lightening in a bottle, and this is one of the greatest examples of that.