Rating: 
Summary: SUPERB ENTERTAINMENT
Review: A civil war Captain travels to Japan to help them train (using guns and bullets) to fight Samurai Warriors so that the Emperor can bring the western civilization to their country. Tha Samurai think the Emperor does not want this, so act to fight anyone that makes any changes to their country. What happens next is amazing and extremely truthful to ones eye.There is so much more to this movie, especially with the great acting and action and what not, that it turns out to be a MUST SEE motion picture, and I mean ASAP. This picture will win awards easily. A great motion picture!
Rating:
Summary: The Last Samurai = A Masterpiece
Review: Tom Cruise is a famous actor worldwide. Most of you have seen his work in various films, such as A Few Good Men or Jerry Maguire. However, Tom is back in a new movie, which takes the audience back into an era of the past - one that surrounds us in the days of the Civil War. Tom Cruise portrays a man named Nathan Algren, who is a hero during the Civil War, but is disillusioned of the terrible killings he had to perform under the leadership of Colonel Bagloney against the American Indians. He is hired, by the Japanese Emperor, to take down another rebellion by leading a army of Japanese peasants that never saw a gun in their life. Even though he trains them for a time, the rebels attack and Algren is ordered to track them down and defeat the adversary, despite the fact that more training is needed. Fighting somewhere in the forests of Japan, his army is easily defeated and the rebels capture him and take him back to their village. Becoming a captive and not having a chance to escape, due to the fact that winter's coming, Algren spends his time with these people, already inspired and intrigued. He comes to learn that these people are "Samurai", who serve the Emperor and follow life through a different path and a set of principles that keep their life in balance, using such values as loyalty, duty, and compassion, just to name a few. Only one problem remains - Japan is facing a new modernized world and is seeking to keep up with the times by throwing away the traditions of old in favor of a more-friendly government. The rebellion, lead by a samurai named Katsumoto (portrayed by Ken Watanbe), despies that idea and fight back in order to keep their sacred ways alive. Gaining his sense of honor and redemption back, Algren joins the Samurai and aids them in a fierce battle that decides Japan's history for the rest of time. The movie does have its dose of action scenes and story moments, but what really make this movie unique are its philosophical moments. The Samurai, as you know, are people that follow the way of the Bushido, the traditional code of the Japanese samurai, stressing honor, self-discipline, bravery, and simple living. It's the type of values that most people wish to live by, but the Samurai go far beyond that. If they are defeated in battle, then it means that they have dishonored themselves and their clan, thus will kill them for disgracing their families and those close to him or her. It's a tough life, to be sure, but it's the principles of their life that stands out. Tom Cruise said it best about the Samurai: "They are an intriguing people. From the moment they wake, they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. I have never seen such strong discipline." In order for the movie to display any realism, the movie was shot around various locations in Japan, from a temple located in Kyoto to a small Japanese town called Himeji. Not only the locations needed to be authentic, but also so did everything else, as this movie took place in two different worlds. Everything had to blend in for the movie a sense of honesty into the whole project. Though there is some historical inconsistencies in the plot, since this is based on a certain era in the past, those can be looked past. The action is wild, but again, had to be realistic. So realistic, in fact, that there was some close calls on the set. Tom Cruise could have died, since an actor's sword nearly beheaded him. That's just one example, but just by checking out the loads of extras on the DVDs, the entire team was committed to the project, making sure that everything went smooth and made the picture look good as a whole. The fighting sequences also add some depth and insight as to how the Japanese and Americans deal with combat, especially in the climatic battle that had both samurai and soldier confronting each other in the end. Overall, The Last Samurai is worth checking out, especially if you are a student of Japanese history or if you're into everything or anything Japanese. It's also some of Tom Cruise's best work by far. Anyone that's a huge fan of Cruise ought to pick up The Last Samurai.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful and poetic.
Review: The poetic resonance of "The Last Samurai" makes it a unique and thoughtful epic where two warriors contrasted by culture are akin in honor. The modernization of Japan serves as the underlying for the collision of differences between Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) and Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe). Almost poetically and serenely does the movie converge these two characters as one is seeking his lost beliefs and the other is sustaining his honor from an ever-changing world. The second act of "The Last Samurai" is the heart and soul of the movie as we marvel at the ways of the society from the sword training and disciplined lifestyle. All that is demolished by the third act. I admire the battle scenes and I do find it the source of the problem. Instead, the last scene was not necessary, it was inconsistent with the tone of the movie, and it went against everything the development of the movie. By having the modernized Japanese army kneel for the samurais and having the Emperor suddenly dismiss the arms agreement with the U.S. and becoming tearful for the samurais, it has sugarcoated the entire film. The film was about the honor carried by the samurais and how it is slowly diminishing beneath Western influences. Then all of a sudden, as if to make the audience feel a little bit better, director Edward Zwick decides to make a happy ending where all the samurais died victorious. We already know that the samurais are the heroes who died for a cause, but to have the Emperor suddenly feel apologetic makes him and the movie appear as feeble. It lost its greatness after the second act. -Please finish my review at www.filmwiseguy.funtigo.com
Rating: 
Summary: Movie: decent, Tom Cruise: meh
Review: This movie shuffled along the line between action movie and epic story, and it kept a somewhat uneasy balance between those two styles. It was beautifully, if obviously, shot, capturing both majestic landscapes and gorgeous detail, and the acting, for the most part, was very good. Ken Watanabe deserves all the praise he has received for the role, and Koyuki performed very subtly and ably as the quasi-love interest. It also contained the requisite battle scenes, which I found to be effective in communicating the brutality and violence without being overly graphic and disgusting. The scenes with the young emperor were perhaps the most moving of the entire film, and there was enough attention paid to the individual lives contained in the story without forgetting the big picture, so to speak. It should have been a better movie... and I'm afraid that my disappointment in it lies mostly with the lead actor. I don't like Tom Cruise... I don't find him attractive, and I don't think he's a good actor, and that definitely colored the movie for me. The fact that Tom Cruise was supposed to be the person that carried the movie... well... I guess you can't argue with the box office. Regardless, a lot of the lines he spoke or the story he represented seemed rather clichéd, overdone, or plain anachronistic with the world around him. As for the moral of the movie... that heritage and national identity should not be forgotten (and should especially not be exterminated) on the way to modernity... It managed to ring hollow while coming across too heavy handed. However, considering the genre, it was a somewhat complex moral, as far as morals go. It wasn't a bad movie, but I wasn't swept away either. I give it about a 5 out of 10.
Rating:
Summary: ok entertainment...pitiful reality
Review: A promising film seriously hampered by poor characterizations and Hollywood clichés. Aww shucks, was it Dances with Wolves, or Teenage Mutant Ninjas? Some epic battle scenes were also ruined by sheer absurdity. How many times can one be shot, stabbed, barely missed by cannon fire, bludgeoned, and still have the energy to commit suicide...taking several full minutes to expire? As Austin Powers once said, "WHY WON'T YOU DIE???"
Rating:
Summary: Where have I seen this before???
Review: Tom Cruise playing Capt. Nathan Algren was pedestrian in the visually captivating yet overly lengthy "The Last Samurai". I couldn't shake the feeling that I was watching a remake of the epic mini series "Shogun". Algren, is an alcoholic military hero carrying the emotional baggage of guilt, a result of numerous, senseless U.S. cavalry massacres of Western Indians. He is recruited by an emissary of the emperor of Japan to help develope a Westernized army in 1876. Japan is trying to mainstream itself into a modern economy and throw away the yoke of feudal samurai society. The young naive and impressionable emperor, influenced by the lecherous emissary Omura played nicely by Masato Harada is attempting to quash a rebellious band of samurai lead by Katsumoto. Katsumoto, the emperor's former teacher, is played skillfully by star of the flick Ken Watanabe. In an attack by the inexperienced Japanese army, Cruise is wounded and captured by the samurai. As a prisoner in the samarai village, he is eventually schooled in the disciplined ways of the samurai. He is lured into their culture and ridding himself of his emotional demons becomes one of them. He takes his place at the elbow of his mentor Katsumoto in the final battle against modernization. The battle and fighting sequences were stunning, the way of samurai life enticing but the movie could have been edited to remove about 10-15 minutes of redundant action.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely action packed with a great cast.
Review: I did not consider myself as a Tom Cruise fan, that is until I bought this DVD and sat through it three times in two days. There is a terrific sound track that compliments the phenomenal camera work and first class acting by all the cast.
The battle scenes and the fights are so good I found them spell binding. Special effects were brilliant.
The suppressed emotion between Algren and Taka which turns from hate to love was beautifully done.
When the Samurai hero dies he says "Perfect". A suitable label for this production. I thoroughly reccommend it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best movies of the year
Review: One of the best movies, but why did Tom Cruise ruin it?
Rating:
Summary: Stock Hollywood - but strangely entertaining
Review: As a fan of the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, I held rather low expectations for a "great Japanese Samurai epic" starring, of all people, Tom Cruise. Walking out of theater, I realized that the movie actually worked. That's not to say it didn't have all the fundamental problems I was dreading. Ninjas and assassins seem to come out of the woodwork so as to make sure the movie has the requisite number of "Hollywood action-sequences." The harsh conditions of late feudal Japan were overly-aestheticized (somehow both the mud the pesands dig in and the blood spurted by slaughtered Samurai seem higher and more beautiful than mere blood or mud). And while many of the most beautiful cinematography of the movie seemed drawn directly from Akira Kurosawa's films, Kurosawa's ability to show the corruption that can exist even on the "good" side of a struggle was sadly lacking. But despite its simplicity, there was not one moment during the "epic" length movie that I became bored. And, in the end, that is where The Last Samurai shines. The soundtrack, the cinematography, the surprisingly good acting and the relatively slow pacing somehow combine to present a quiet, breathtaking version of feudal Japan. It may not make the most profound statements about the world (despite its philosophical overtones), but it does succeed in transporting the viewer into its own beautiful world. And, for me, that beauty is well worth two or three hours of my time.
Rating:
Summary: Good. Me likie.
Review: Insomuch as the movie was not designed to be a historical account of what happened during this period in Japan, rather an interesting, beautiful work of fiction in the form of a movie, I liked it. "Dances With Wolves" in Japan? Definately.
Amazing film making? Umm, yeah, okay.
Terrific scenery and costumes? Oooooh yeaaaaaah. I'm *not* a Tom Cruise fan, but I *did* like this movie.
| 
