Like many people here, I detest the recut DVD version of this film. Seeing the original theatrical version in 1992 was one of the key moviegoing experiences of my life. I don't buy DVDs to see a new spin on a movie I liked, I buy them to be able to rewatch that same movie. Alternate cuts are fine as a bonus feature, but once I saw how Michael Mann had butchered his mainstream masterpiece, giving no option of seeing how it was originally, I sold the DVD and bought a copy of the mercifully untouched widescreen VHS.

Recently, however, I discovered that while this American director's cut DVD is from Fox, Warner Bros holds the rights to Mohicans outside the USA, and they have released the original theatrical version on DVD around the globe. I have a regionless DVD player, which is easy to get in many stores for under fifty dollars, so I bought a copy of the British DVD at amazon.co.uk

Wow. It's as I remembered it, with the Clannad song, without the extra monologue over the closing scene, and with my favorite line back in -- "My father warned me about people like you. He said do not try to understand them, and do not try to make them understand you."

If you love this movie like I do, get a regionless DVD player, they're worth it for so many reasons, and then get a copy of the British DVD. You'll be glad you did.

This DVD is a huge disappointment. With every other movie I have ever bought that was labeled a "Director's Cut" or an "Expanded Edition", the movie had things added to it and not taken out. This version of the movie cuts out much of the familiar and favorite dialogue from the movie released in the theater. Did you like the part where, hiding in the forest, Hawkeye & Cora have their conversation about her people being a breed apart and not making any sense? When Cora gets offended by this, Hawkeye gives her such a look and says "I would make an exception in your case, Miss" and she sarcastically says "Thank you so much!" All this is ripped out of this version. When Major Hayward and Hawkeye have their confrontation in Col. Munro's office about whether the Colonial militia should be released from service to defend their families, gone is the part where Hawkeye looks at the Major and says "I think one day you and I are going to have a serious disagreement". When the party is escaping from the massacre and are in the canoes on the lake, gone is the part where Hawkeye sees Major Hayward pointing a gun at him and says "Got nothing better to do on the lake today, Major?" When the party is hiding from the Hurons in the cave behind the waterfall there are some scenes and dialogue missing. Most notably when Hawkeye and Uncas and Chingachgook decide they have to flee and Cora says "I want you to go, that way if the worst happens and only one of us survives, then something of the other does too."
This DVD can be credited with adding a few tiny bits of dialogue here and there but very little of it adds anthing to the story and does not make up for the lines that were cut. There are also some added shots of the backside of horses as they pull a coach, a few extra shots of the crowd leaving Ft. William Henry and a few extra shots of the French soldiers digging the trenches. They are not worth shelling out money for a DVD if you already have the VHS version. The only thing of real merit added in this version are shots of Major Hayward's diversion outside Ft. William Henry while Hawkeye and Uncas are covering the escape of the courier that is being sent to get reinforcements from General Webb at Ft. Edward. If they had just added that and left the rest alone, it would have been a tiny improvement.
If you look at the original VHS tape of the theatrical release you will find the length recorded as 114 minutes. The length of this newly released, expanded edition is -- now get ready to be overwhelmed -- 117 minutes. This DVD is simply a major rip-off by a film company trying to get some money from extra movie sales. Unfortunately, they do not have the material to make it worth your while. Take my advice, Save Your Money!!

Re-release of a previous review so those who read nearby reviews NOTE the difference between VHS (excellent) and DVD (POOR): Waited in great anticipation for the DVD release of this one. The Last of the Mohicans is a great movie enhanced with terrific music. The VHS widescreen version in THX is a wonderful piece of entertainment. Unfortunately, this Director's Expanded Edition has destroyed the flow and continuity of the original. In Director Michael Mann's attempt to supply us with his "definitive vision of the film" via his own editing, he has ignored the professional editors and provided us with a substandard version of what was a fine film. Several of the added clips have no musical sound track at all and come across as painfully awkward - making the viewer fully aware he/she is watching actors in front of a camera rather than immersing us in the action. There is even a series of scenes in the original (and VHS) that has a vocal music piece overlaid that has been completely omitted from the DVD. All in all, I was very disappointed in the DVD after having distinctive and memorable images etched in my mind from the original theater and VHS releases.