1757- colonies- war against French. 3 Mohicans- one a hybrid. They are loyal to their friends and love their land. They refuse to take part in a war where all England seems to want is to make everywhere Britain. One of them is played by a very handsome Day- Lewis. Speaks English fluently and he knows exactly who he is.

Then there is the beautiful Miss Munro (Madeleine Stowe). Her biggest fan is Duncan- probably friends from childhood, this soldier wants Munro’s hand. She is not so sure. She sees him only as a friend but since she has not seen a marriage based on romantic love in the beginning, she promises to consider the offer.

During a tour along the forest, they are betrayed by the Indian whom they believed to be an ally. Duncan struggles to protect Munro and her sister while all his men are killed. However the Mohicans happen to be tracking the other Indians and save them from the attack. Munro is both grateful and intrigued. She is also practical, picking a gun from the battlefield, just in case. Lewis’s character  Hawkeye/Nathaniel could not have been more opposite than Duncan: he is not a soldier blindly obeying orders. He is his own man, makes his own rules and he is definitely not war-crazy. During the trip they try to get Munro to his father, Munro and Hawkeye grow more and more attracted to each other, getting to know one another…When they succeed, Munro sees even more clearly that Duncan is definitely not the one. He doesn’t back her words-and prevents Hawkeye’s white friends from going back to protect their families. So Hawkeye helps them escape but he stays behind- so that he could be around her. And then they get together…And then things get even more dangerous and complicated…

It has all the elements of the perfect epic movie: beautiful scenery, rebellious and honorable characters, the perfectly opposite bad guys and a true romance. You don’t want the movie to end. Kudos to Michael Mann.

7.8 on IMDB. 8.0, at least.