Rating: 
Summary: The way of the warrior
Review: On seeing Edward Zwick's "The Last Sumurai", I had to deal with mixed feelings, good news and bad news. The good news: this is a big, beautiful movie relating an unusual story. In 1876 California an ex-Union officer Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), who has battle scars both physical and psychic, is hired by Japanese diplomats to train an American-style army for the Emperor, conscripted against a renegade samurai Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe). Katsumoto hates the Western ways increasingly threatening Japan. (Katsumoto's tragic story is not really that distant: it was only three decades ago that Yukio Mishima, frustrated in his attempt to protect Japan from the sterile corruption of Westernization, committed seppuku.) Algren's campaign to train the Emperor's forces is not too successful (when he orders them to hold fire, they don't), and his first encounter with the rebel forces finds him a wounded prisoner. Algren is taken to Katsumoto's mountain outpost and kept alive so that "we may learn our enemy". One aspect of Japanese culture Algren is immediately obssessed with is sake; but as his stay lengthens he becomes more attentive, learning the language, mastering kendo, and enjoying a Kyogen performance. In return, he attempts to teach baseball to the village boys; but they seem to miss the concept, trying to catch the base runner instead of the ball. (They've come a long way.) Cruise is an attractive actor, and this may be his best performance to date. Algren is introduced as a bitter, indeed a broken man; but as his outlook becomes more philosophical there is a sincere depiction of a character desiring to understand the strange world around him. Cruise's scenes with Watanabe, another charismatic actor, are the film's most defining. Eventually, Algren takes sides with the samurai rebel, and when their Japanese forces face the Emperor's Japanese forces on the battlefield, it must seem like déjà vu to the Civil War veteran, but this point is not belabored. The climatic battle is strikingly photographed by John Toll, as is the whole production. The world of mid-19th Century Japan is richly reproduced, and there's even a fascinating glimpse of 1876 San Francisco. The bad news: there is a major problem with "The Last Samurai" and it's the ending. Why in the name of Chikamatsu did Zwick and his co-scenarists Marshall Herskovitz and John Logan, after creating such a sensitive and arresting story, mar it with such a weak conclusion? All we need is a Henry Mancini coda. But, the ending notwithstanding, "The Last Samurai", spectacular and intelligent, was one of the best movies of 2003.
Rating:
Summary: The last samurai
Review: This film has been compared (a lot) to Dances with Wolves due to the fact that they both share similar themes. A Civil War era soldier who finds himself thrown in the middle of a different culture and ends up embracing it and becoming part of it. However, Edward Zwick's film differs from the Kevin Costner Oscar winner in that the principal character, Lt. Nathan Algren (Cruise) is down on his luck, having become a drunken caricature of his former self, deeply regretful of his actions, who accepts a job as an instructor for an incipient Japanese army that needs to be prepared to fight against the Samurai. As he arrives to Tokyo he starts training a useless bunch of would-be soldiers who are sent to fight even if they're not ready for it. As a result, the newly formed army gets butchered by the battle experienced Samurai. During that battle, Algren fights bravely and kills one of the highest ranking warriors, getting the interest of the famed Katsumoto, the last great Samurai leader, who orders him captured and brought to his son's village as a prisoner. Once there, Algren's life is changed forever as he gets to know the real lifestyle of the Samurai and their people. They turn out not to be the savages that the Japanese government makes them out to be. After spending winter with them, Algren "changes sides" and joins the Samurai in fighting the Emperor's army. The title of the movie tells the final outcome. The Samurai lose the battle. Progress triumphs over tradition. New over old. But Algren's past demons are redeemed by his courageous actions helping the Samurai. The true worth of this movie is its look. You can definetely see where the budget went (other than Cruise's salary). A whole village was built and the attention to detail is astonishing. The costumes are simply amazing, especially the battle armors. The costume designer is Ngila Dickson, who also worked in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Also of notice are the battle scenes, which are breathtaking. Very violent, but not gratuitous, they serve the story very well. As for the acting, Cruise does a fine job, and is slowly but consistently becoming a better actor (even if this particular performance was not nominated for an Academy Award), but the movie belongs to Ken Watanabe (who was indeed nominated) as Katsumoto. His presence demands attention. He is the center of every scene he's in. Koyuki's performance as Taka, Katsumoto's sister and Algren's love interest, should also be noticed.
Rating: 
Summary: A lesson to be learned
Review: The part that struck a core and made my soul cry was the brutal slaying, not only of the samurai themselves, but of the old ways of life. This is still going on all around the world. The tradtitions of old, of the countryside, are being slaughtered daily on the sacrificial altar of "modern man". All that comes with belief or tradition is seen as suspect and ridiculed by people with the vision that their way is the only one. All others are to be legislated against or outright destroyed. There's a lesson to be learned here.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it !!
Review: I must admit that when I read that Tom Cruise was going to star in a movie called,'The Last Samurai' I thought mmmm,Mission Impossible in Japan...I don't think I'll go and see this one,even tho it was going to be filmed in my home country, New Zealand.
Incidentally,in the farming area and the town of New Plymouth in New Zealand where the movie was made,Tom is now a patron saint.He was so generous and forthcoming with his time and himself,the locals absolutey love him.
But I did go and see it and I loved it,every single minute of it.I even liked Mr. Cruise altho I did think he was out acted by just about everyone else in the movie.
But yes I loved it.I'll certainly go and see it again.
That scene where the rebels were attacking out of the mist thru the trees was pure Kurosawa.The Master would have been proud.
If like me you've always had a liking for the idea of,'The Samurai'and all that it conjures up,the lifestyle,his honour and loyalty to his Lord and his prowess as a fearless warrior ?...go and see it.Even if you're not a Tom Cruise fan you'll love it too.
Cheers......
Rating:
Summary: Simply Amazing!!!
Review: This is my favorite non-trilogy movie (RotK is actually my truly favorite), and while I respect anyone who loves this movie and gives it 5 stars, I must say that none of these reviews gives this movie any justice! They tell you the basic story...an alcoholic Civil War guy...enemy...samurai! While that is the story...there's a lot more to it than that! What captivated me and all my friends (17 - 21 years old) was the Samurai...and, all the emotions of the story...an American kills the Red Samurai...who is the Samurai Captains Brother-in-law...he lives in the house and is cared for by the Red Samurai's widow... Tom Cruise sees the beauty of the Samurai people and understands the honor and respect and culture and discipline of these people and realizes they are not the enemy! He learns a lot from these people and earns their respect in many ways! The widow...who knows Cruise killed her husband...offers the Red armor for Cruise to fight with Samurai against the Army Cruise was sent to train! Beautiful movie in every way! It is no way slow at any point! When someone says this movie is "slow", it simply means they do not feel the emotion of silence and music and the visuals they see! The battles are a very small part in the greatness of this movie! But, the end of the last battle will have you reaching for a hanky! The Samurai are a beautiful people! Also recommended are Samurai books and old classic Japanese Samurai movies! ...unless you think it'll be...slow!
Rating:
Summary: The Last Samurai
Review: The Last Samurai was certainly a surprisingly refreshing escape from the many senseless movies that've recently been released into theatres. The movie was beautifully shot, paying close attention to detail, plus even the acting wasn't as dreadful as I'd expected it to be. To add to everything, the writers even had the sense to put in little sequences of comic relief, whether you found it remotely funny or not... I thought the casting was fantastically done. It was interesting to see Tom Cruise playing such a role. Though not the best actor in the movie, he certainly did good enough of a job in developing his character throughout the course of the film. Ken Watanabe was excellent as Katsumoto. Also, I found it rather....different...when I found out that the lead actress, Koyuki, was 28 years old! Given the fact that so many "young" actresses are casted in movies these days (unless they are the starring role), I just found that fact interesting... Another good thing about this movie is that the Japanese characters actually speak Japanese to one another (there are subtitles, of course). There are numerous American films out there where peoples of different ethnicities end up speaking English to one another in the films, as opposed to their ethnic languages. This film, however, failed to follow that trend, which in my eyes made the entire atmosphere of the film much more authentic. Instead of the Japanese peoples speaking English to one another, the foreigner is forced to learn and adapt to the language of the Japanese instead. Of course, this movie wasn't always perfectly unscathed. Given that it's an American film, you just had to expect its few "Hollywood" moments. It's odd how Tom Cruise is able to defend himself from a gruop of samurais in the opening battle, and later degrades himself to a nobody when he fights against Katsumoto for the first time. Then there are the moments when everyone dies in a scene expect, you guessed it, good ol' Tom Cruise. Oh well, what's a Hollywood movie without these moments? Overall, I'd highly recomment this movie. Unless you absolutely cannot stand the mere sight or thought of Tom Cruise, I'm quite confident that most audiences will enjoy this movie
Rating:
Summary: Movie Review: Praise and Complaints (from 3x viewer)
Review: I am not a big fan of Tom Cruise, but, thought that this movie was great. The story of sacrifice seemed a lot more compelling to me in this movie than in Braveheart (who doesn't like Braveheart). Braveheart was a numbers war and it seemed like maybe the Scots/Irish had a chance, whereas, the traditional Japanese Samurai never had a chance against firearms...It was just extremely moving to see these legendary/respected warriors simply mowed down...in a way that was completely honorless. They were fighting for the good of the country/unity/tradition not just the vague concept of "freedom" (Braveheart). I also really enjoyed being familiarized with the history and tradition of the Samurai (from other reviewers, I understand that the accounts are fairly accurate).
I appreciated the authenticity of the characters and how the movie stayed true to the Japanese culture. The negative reviews that I've read are obviously from people who can't appreciate differences in culture. Examples of this authenticity include: 1) No nudity in this movie...traditional Japanese culture was/is extremely reserved (especially women) and throwing in gratuitous nudity would have totally destroyed the feel of the movie. 2) Honor- the movie did a great job of utilizing Cruise to familiarize the movie goer with traditions that we might not have understood by introducing the values of this society through the eyes/values of someone the movie-goer could relate to (Cruise). 3) There have been several critics of the movie who found it preposterous that Cruise would stay with the widow of the man that he killed...I wasn't sure about this either...It seemed like if he posed any sort of threat, Watanabe's character shouldn't have put an enemy soldier in with his sister and some kids...If he didn't understand Cruise's culture, why would he have taken the chance...The treatment of Cruise, however, did fit the treatment that a guest would receive in the Japanese culture at that time regardless of what the host felt about the guest... The visuals in this movie were excellant. Other movie review sites that break down and grade the different aspects of this movie have reviewers who have given this movie F's across the board...I think these people are idiots. Even if you thought that this movie was horrible, there's no way that the cinematography deserved an "F." The visuals were probably the highlight of this film (esp. the sunset scene, flower gardens, and village scenes). Complaints: Tom Cruise's last line doesn't do the movie justice (it made me cringe)...The movie seemed to delve into something unique up until the Hollywood line that was thrown in at the end of the movie...("I won't tell you how he died, I will tell you how he lived"). The movie had me hooked up until I heard this spouted from Cruise's mouth...I think that this was one of the few things that I disliked about the movie...The weakling emperor also really irritated me...I recognize that this teenager was probably an accurate depiction of the leaders of the empire, however, it was still irritating to see someone so weak/cowardly elevated above characters that were so much more respectable. Go see this movie!
Rating:
Summary: What a great movie!
Review: What a rush! This is one of the best movies I have seen in a very very long time. I will not bother giving a synopses for the movie, but I will tell you what I loved. The movie has a great theme, that of a man seeking to atone for his sins. In the end, he finds the means to forgive himself through the help of another man, Kasamoto and his culture. Granted, there are several historial inaccurate items, but that does not stop this from being a great and enjoyable movie. Tom Cruise name might get first billing for this movie, but Ken Watanabe steals the show as the honourable Kasamoto. He has rightly been honoured with a Academy Awards nomination. If anything, watch the movie for him!
Rating:
Summary: A Classic!
Review: WOW! What else can I say? After seeing this movie, I was in shock. It's classy, yet action-packed and interesting. Most masterpieces (yes, I think its a masterpiece) are some what dry. But this movie is good BECAUSE of its action. This movie is soooo much better than any other movie of its kind (ie. Titanic). Tom Cruise is awesome. I mean, this guy did great. Truth told, I'm not a big "movie person." I don't go to the movies, and I don't buy the hottest new films. But this movie is definetly #1 on my shopping list as soon as it comes out. PLOT:
The film deals with a alcoholic American Civil War captain who finds himself in Japan fighting off a seemingly cruel enemy: the samurai. But after being captured in battle, he finds himself with a new outlook on these people, and on his life. The final result is an amazing battle unlike one will ever see! PROS:
Fast moving, classy, and suspensful. CONS:
Highly graphic violence, kinda made me sick; cursing ("f-word" three times; that's about all; maybe 12 words in the entire movie).
Rating:
Summary: The Last Samurai Rules
Review: Beautifully filmed with a plot that truly touches the heart. The cast chosen were oerfect and the theme was good. No regrets! Wating for the DVD to be released. A sure buy thing. I wanted to go watch it the 3rd time.
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