I have always liked the scenery in this movie.
This movie was filmed in my back yard, and the foliage combinations look familiar. So do the views, which are very reminiscent of The Great Smokey Mountains. These areas are beautiful outside of the movie, and that helps them a lot. Despite the cinematographer's tendency to induce claustrophobia during intimate scenes(I swear he puts a camera in someone's armpit sometimes), when he backs the camera up he is able to capture their beauty.
Daniel Day-Lewis is here in all his hyphenated last name glory. People looking to find a bombastic performance like that of There Will Be Blood or Gangs of New York will not find that character here. Hawk-eye and those he travels with are very solemn. It is the script that limits almost all the actors in this story. Day-Lewis' role, except for near the end and one bit of very close in, quiet exposition, is regulated to snarky, one liner, smart ass comments at "stupid white people". All the best stuff is given to the British characters, and by and large they deliver the lines without stumble, and with convincing feeling. The most emotional kick comes from Russell Means' Chingachgook, but sadly that comes late in the movie.
By 1992 standards, this movie has lots of action. This movie is obviously before fight choreographers got top billing. The colonial fight scenes can hold no candle to the likes of Mel Gibson's The Patriot, but for its era it was visceral. Watching Hawk-eye use any weapon he can get his hands on to take out the enemy is great, and even though these are single shot muskets, there's always some lying around that he can grab and put to use. The use of tomahawks and clubs result in blood splatters and sickening thuds, and in general this adds to the fear of seeing your favorite character in a fight at all. Largely the mass combat of the British vs French war is regulated to "hearing" and not "seeing".
Romance from a Romantic Era writer is going to remind you a lot of Romeo and Juliette when looked at with a modern eye. These people fall in love forever, at the drop of a hat. The primary love story plays out between Cora and Hawk-eye, but the whole time you're thinking "but what about her fiance'?" In the Romantic Era, this would have been the usual kind of "destiny" love story, but today is just looks like Cora can not keep her lips off this savage, masculine white guy raised as a noble native. Even throwing away her Fiance' because she can not resist the animal urge of his rough nobility.
Amazing scenery when it gets the spotlight.
Competent acting with several spots of true greatness showing through.
High and deadly action when it is needed.
So so romance.
Most criticism is a stretch and generally does not detract from the overall experience. A great movie worth watching. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.
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