The Last Samurai

Powerful, well-crafted epic set in 19th century Japan about a disillusioned American soldier who's hired to train a group of fledgling soldiers and lead them into battle against a rebellious samurai. Having been defeated and held captive by the enemy, he gradually begins to understand and develop a great respect for the man who should be his adversary. Long, but faultlessly performed and richly detailed with compelling battle scenes and vivid, breathtaking scenery. Cruise—sporting authentic Japanese tongue—is outstanding, but Watanabe steals the film in a moving and forceful performance as the fierce but honorable samurai warrior. Only letdown is the finale, which seems a bit too conventional, but it's still a remarkable tale of life, honor, and courage. ***½

Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe are an unlikely pair, but they are great together in this beautiful look at the Samurai's way of life. Tom Cruise performance is this film is brilliant, but for some reason the academy chose to ignore him. I think he at least deserved a nomination, but this role was not your average Tom Cruise role. It was risky and he pulled through. Ken Watanabe got the nomination instead of Tom, which I was very happy with. He was excellent and very convincing. In my opinion, he steals the show as Katsumoto. I love Samurai films, so I enjoyed it very much. Not a lot of people favor Samurai films, but it's not your average samurai movie. It's deeper and more emotional. I thought this film was great and I know that this film won't be everyone's cup of tea, but its worth a sip.

9/10

The Last Samurai is a strictly by-the-numbers samurai epic set in 1876-1877 Japan. All the necessary ingredients are here - beautiful Japanese landscapes and costumes, larger than life battlefield sequences, and eastern philosophy.Although the pageantry is not as beautiful as such samurai epics as "Heaven and Earth", it is more than adequate.

Do not, however go into this film expecting "Kill Bill", grindhouse type swordplay nor the poignancy of a Kurosawa piece. Instead, "The Last Samurai" occupies the middle ground; a human story of one Westerner learning to embrace another culture kind of a mixture of "Dances With Wolves" and "Shogun", films from which it derives almost directly. And this is the films greatest flaw. It is utterly predictable. No spoilers here, we all know what happens to the samurai. If not, the title ought to give you a clue. Every scene is one that you were expecting to see. And the ending is the ending you expect.

But Zwick and co. still manage to weave an engaging story with panache, and a climactic (despite it's predictability) ending, and that is why "The Last Samurai" is such a great film. As the Zen saying goes, "Success is a journey, not a destination". It is equally applicable to the samurai in the film, and the film itself. A success. 8/10.

The Last Samurai is a brilliantly crafted aesthetic pleasure, studded with supernal performances from Ken Watanabe and Tom Cruise. In fact, Tom Cruise unarguably gives his best ever performance, surpassing his portrayal of Jerry Maguire in the eponymous flick. His plaintive portrayal of Nathan Algren, not only evokes pathos but also seeks sympathy of the contemporary viewer, who can vicariously relate to Algren's disconcertion, owing to his inner conflicts of patriotism vis-à-vis humanity.

However, it is Ken Watanabe, who steals the show with his mesmerizing and poignant portrayal of Katsumoto, the leader of the last clan of Samurai. His screen presence and delivery is truly amazing and even outshines that of Tom Cruise, which is a compliment in itself. The scenes between Watanabe and Cruise are pure gold, depicting fluctuating feelings of hostility, compassion and camaraderie.

Watanabe's intense and powerful performance in which he displays a wide range of emotions, is definitely worthy of the coveted statuette, but the academy never fails to disappoint. Watanabe's brilliant portrayal, not only mesmerizes the viewers, but also convinces the critics of his acting abilities. The tacit adoration between Algren and Taka (subtly played by Koyuki), enormously adds to the beauty of the movie. All this coupled with some brilliant cinematography and a mesmerizing score, makes it a treat to watch and a truly surreal experience.

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This movie is filled with such excellent performances, beautiful cinematography, well choreographed action scenes, that me not understanding the movie, still liked it anyway.

I don't know much about Japanese culture or about the history of Japan during the late 1800s, so I could not fully understand what was happening in this movie. What impressed upon me is that Nathan Algren, a disallusioned, alcoholic American soldier who went to Japan to train the emperor's troops, was able to find friendship and respect the great samurai, Katsumoto. These two men, from different countries and cultures, were able to become friends because they are both warriors under their very different exteriors.

Tom Cruise is so good in this movie, but it is easy to overlook his performance and just think, wow, this man is so hot! He's even sexy as an alcoholic! This guy is so good looking that it took me awhile to see him as Nathan Algren, and not just Tom Cruise, sexy superstar actor. But once I got use to seeing him in this character, I believed him totally. But Ken Watanabe's emotionally, intense performance, totally blows away Tom Cruise's performance. One can't help but grow to respect this samurai who opposes the western influence in Japan and wants to retain the samurai way of life. This japanese actor is terrific! I hope to see him more in American movies. Even if you don't care for historical movies, you should still go just to see the performance of Ken Watanabe and Tom Cruise.

I won't go into the plot. I think everyone has a pretty good idea of what the plot is. I just have to say, I don't see anything wrong with the japanese emperor trying to modernize Japan by associating with the Western powers, and I don't understand why Katusomoto is so against that. That's the one major problem I have with this movie, is that I don't understand enough of the politics during that time in Japan. Otherwise, this is a pretty great action flick and I enjoyed it immensely.