Oba: The Last Samurai

Whilst I appreciate this is a Japanese production I was uncomfortable with the sanitised nature which try's to clean up and almost justify the Japanese position which is unjustifiable. Given the cowardly attack on Pearl Harbour, the brutal inhuman treatment of allied soldiers which didn't conform to the Geneva convention and the lunacy of kamikaze and hara-kiri I found it impossible to find any empathy for them. We are still awaiting an apology eighty years later!

I saw the words "refreshing", "Japanese perspective" and "realistic" in the previous review which is UTTER tosh. Where does this guy get off telling such lies? There must be an American media machine feeding these lines to try sell this typical American self righteous arrogant movie, because so many have been made, I guess they are trying a new selling angle to make more money.

The acting is Awful, believe me, its some of the worst you will ever see, a knife wound results in instant death, an explosion forces everyone to lie flat facedown in a perfect 20m radius. There are 2 emotions in this film, and you will be hard pressed to recognise either of them.

The script is soooo cheesy, I think Disney would blush. The lines seem to specifically say "We Americans were so kind to the Japanese while we were killing them, we couldn't have torture bases in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, Baghram Airbase etc etc" Move on people, nothing to see here you haven't already seen 10 times 10 years ago.

Excellent drama about honor, loyalty and humanity which is in conflict with the sense for duty... Very good acting,moderate action scenes performed very well and enogh drama twists to keep you going. USA is not saving the world again so it is really worth of your time.

The English dialog was not very good, but the story was worth telling, and it is a good war story told from the Japanese perspective.

The Japanese actors, and cast all did a superb job, and the American cast did an adequate job. It is refreshing to see a realistic look at the war from the Japanese side. The movie told the story of the Japanese people on the island, both soldiers and civilians, and it explained their attitude about the war.

The scenery is great, and if the story does not show an American defeat, at lest it shows an American struggle. It also captures the moment of the Japan's surrender, showing that it was not as instantaneousness as some historians lead to believe. Overall, it was a story about a Japanese hero fighting for survival, and a group of Americans fighting because it's their job.

Interesting movie, with a new perspective on the war. Decent acting all around, and at least the American actors (led by Baldwin) weren't people they grabbed off the street, which is typical with Asian movies starring "white" people.

I do have to take issue with one of the reviewers, though, who seems clueless about the movie's pedigree.

@Shin Obi, This is not a "Hollywood" movie, genius. This was a Japanese movie. Japanese made. Japanese produced. Japanese directed. And shown almost exclusively in Japan. The fact that you seem to think it's some kind of "American propaganda" only means it treated the story FAIRLY, but for you, that only meant it was unreasonable. That says more about you than the movie, to be honest.