The Last of the Mohicans

During the French and Indian War, Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis), an Indian raised white frontiersman, and his adopted father and son (Russell Means and Eric Schweig), rescue the daughter of a British officer (Madeline Stowe) from an ambush led by a ruthless rival tribe leader (Wes Studi) and agree to accompany the surviving members of their party to their destination at Fort William Henry. Michael Mann's adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's classic adventure tale The Last of the Mohicans is ultimately engrossing despite occasional mundane dramatics and a surprisingly lifeless performance from Daniel Day-Lewis. It draws its success mainly from Dante Spinotti's exquisite photography and Mann's galvanizing handling of the material.