Rating: 
Summary: Live by the sword, die by the sword
Review: The year is 1876. Tom Cruise portrays Captain Nathan Algren, a Civil War era soldier who is disillusioned with life and is haunted by his dishonorable actions perpetrated against the American Indian nations. Facing an uncertain and directionless future, he is asked to travel to Japan to assist in training their Imperial army in modern combat using modern weapons. This comes at a time in history when Japan is attempting to obliterate the Samurai system.After much training and eventually engaging in an initial battle against the Samurai, Captain Algren is taken prisoner by the enemy and thrust into the unfamiliar world of a Japanese feudal society. In the following months of captivity, Captain Algren becomes immersed in the Samurai culture where he eventually adapts to and embraces the sacred code of honor known as Bushido. Using what he has learned and regaining his self-respect and dignity, Captain Algren and the Samurai confront the Japanese army in an epic and final battle that will determine the survival or demise of the Samurai warrior class. I'm of the opinion that this role is not a career best for Tom Cruise but he does come across admirably and carries himself well. The rest of the cast also performs very nicely and the story holds together for the movie's duration. The cinematography, costumes, props, and scenery are all quite appealing through and through. Open field battle scenes are beautifully choreographed and practically rival those of such movies as Braveheart, Glory, and The Patriot. In regards to the DVD itself, the sound and picture are crystal clear and a joy to experience. The second disk in the set offers numerous special features which are both educational and entertaining alike. This is a quality adventure movie all the way around and I recommend it to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT!!
Review: This movie has alot of good fighting, showing off mass armies, kung fu style fighting and stealth fighting. It has a great story to it. And is also a "moving" movie.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Movie
Review: The modern landscape of hollywood can leave many of us quite depressed with a great void within us. We yearn for movies of subtance. Movies that have some soul... movies that make you think and feel, all while keeping you entertained. The effects laden, poorly scripted, commericial marketing schemes that pass as movies these days leave me for one wondering what happeend to the days when movie making was an art and not a franchise. But then, just as all hope seems lost along comes a movie like this to renew my faith in hollywood's abillity to put together a masterpiece. The Last Sammuri takes place in the late 19th century, as america is in the end of the Indian wars (just after Custer's defeat at little big horn). At this time Japan is a nation undergoing remarkable change. The new Emperor has begun to modernize the formerly feudal nation at lightning speeds. Thus the stage is set in this oriental land for war between the old ways and the new ways. A rebellion of Sammuri warriors, who reject many of the new western ways has begun. The Japanese are at this time seeking advisors from all over the world to aid in thier modernization, including seeking military advisors from america to help train, update and lead the imperial army. An American Captain (Tom Cruise), a veteran of the indian wars, is hired towards this end - much thanks to the fact that he has experience fighting tribal leaders (the movie draws on the similarities between the sammuri and native american warriors). But Tom Cruise gets captured in the first encounter with the sammuri, and after living amongst these amazing people and learning thier ways, finds his own salvation in thier cause. The plot isn't very complicated, but is rich in historical context and philisophical themes. All the charcters in the movies are very well done, and the acting in this film with only a few minor exceptions was absolutley fantastic (especially the portrayal of Katsomoto, which was just a brilliant performance). The last sammuri has a little of everything. This is a movie that you will feel. You'll laugh, you'll be inspired, you'll be anxious, and you may even get a little watery eyed at some of the more tender moment. There's martial arts, humor, sword fighting, ninjas, battles, love, philosophy, drama - you name it. The movie has some great action sequences and battle scenes but these are not over-done - there is much more. The movie feels almost poetic at times, and the cinematogrophy is beautifully done. Many gorgeous shots are in the movie. And, unlike many movies, the slower scenes don't leave you yawning but are very well done.The music and audio too, was top notch, some of the best I've seen in a while. all in all this became one of my all time favorite movies the moment I saw it. Many of the ellements reminded me of a slightly less gritty version of brave heart. And while Im not sure about the historical accuracy of the plot, the film does an AMAZING job depicting the beauty of japanese culture and the fascinating ways of the sammuri. Context-wise, the film hit it right oin the nose in terms of accuracy and really got it's points across all while being very entertaining. And while some people may feel it a bit slow-paced, I found every last moment of the last sammuri to be a pleasure. I wouldnt hesitate to call this a masterpiece and the best film of the year.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: This is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Tom Cruise has alway been a good actor, but I consider this to be his best work to date. I've have many movies in my library and I'm very selective about which movies I will purchase, this is one such movie. If you like action/adventure then this is the movie to watch. It is the story of a man who has done things not of his choosing and has suffered for it. It is the sory of a man who found the meaning of who and what he was, in anouther land, and found the piece mind that he had thought lost forever. I am happy to add this movie to my library!
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful and Awe-Inspiring Epic
Review: Edward Zwick's The Last Samurai sends a powerful message that is difficult to describe and even more difficult to achieve. The film is bold, dynmamic, and beautiful. The cinematography done by John Toll (of Braveheart fame) is simply astounding. Ken Wantabe and Tom Cruise are magnificent as well. The entire movie plays out like a captivating story one cannot put down. And the Hans Zimmer score will put tears into your eyes. I have not felt this emotional in a movie before in a long time. Not only the best picture of the year, but one of the greatest films of all time. I reccommend this movie 110%.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Strong Story & Acting Despite Historical Inaccurateness
Review: A very strong movie despite historical inaccurateness and a Hollywood ending. I understand that this movie is not an accurate portrayal of the history of the Samurai or the history of Japan, but I do not believe that that in and of itself makes it a bad movie. For instance, I enjoyed watching "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" even though I know people can not fly. Even though I knew when I was watching this film that the historical portrayal was inaccurate, I still found the movie a very entertaining story. And it is my understanding that the making of this film was an attempt to honor the noble life of the Samurai that once existed in Japan. This is a 2 and 1/2 hour movie that for me went by in what felt like minutes! I was very pleasantly surprised by this movie. I avoided seeing it in the theatre because I really didn't believe it would be so good nor did I think that I could find Tom Cruise believable as a Samurai. I'm not sure that I was ever convinced watching the film that Tom Cruise had truly became a Samurai, but none the less the strong storyline makes this film work! As does the great support acting from Ken Watanabe! And the other Samurai characters are developed enough in the plot that you do care what happens to them and feel sad when they die. I did have a few reservations about the film. Most notable, I was a little disappointed in the ending in that the film had to go completely Hollywood and have the Japanese girl and the white man get together and presumably "live happily ever after". I thought a much better ending would have been to have Cruise's character die on the battlefield. If he had truly became a Samurai wouldn't he have wanted this as was the fates of the other Samurai?
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie, but very Disappointing DVD
Review: Wonderful movie, one of the best you'll ever experience and since most reviewers wrote a lot about this movie I won't. The DVD was very disappointing to me because this movie was based on Japan and it's history, however, it doesn't offer you to watch the movie in Japanese or it doesn't even offer the Japanese subtitle!!! They offer the typical, Spanish and French! It would have improved this DVD greatly if they had an option to either watch it in Japanese or to watch it with Japanese subtitle.
Rating:
Summary: Sweet Flick
Review: I really enjoyed this movie. I was most impressed by the actors portrayal of the warriors courage & Cruise's character's determination. I don't care if the movie was acurate historically or not, it wasn't made to be a documentary. It was entertaining and enjoyable, what a movie should be. Great story & great job by the actors. Highly Recommended
Rating:
Summary: C'mon you purists!!
Review: Okay! Okay! It's not Kurosawa! It's not some fantastic hard to locate Samurai classic! It's not worth taking your hand out of your laps and getting out of your mom's basement long enough to go and purchase it!!! However, Mr. or Mrs. Purist, it certainly serves as a decent introduction into the Samurai film genre!!! Before I go any further, here's the lowdown:
Story- It really is "Dances with Wolves" with Samurai! Admittedly, it also reeked (in essence) of Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" and "The Patriot"!! Shogun lite??!! Nevertheless, it still was a good film despite a lack of originality and the usual "cliché's" of honor, loyalty, integrity and love. Noticed that I said that it was a GOOD film Mr. and Mrs. Purists, not a great one!!! Its good family fare and I hope will provoke interest in some of the other Samurai films (which usually are poor family fare). In all fairness, it should be stated that the purists are right in the fact that it's not exactly historically accurate and a little more research and a better script would have helped out a lot! One issue I would like to address is this racist notion that a "white guy" running around playing Samurai is a "bad" thing. Admittedly, it's not exactly historically kosher but it isn't necessarily a horrible thing. Nevertheless, playing pin the label on the "white guy" isn't exactly kosher either! Action- The action sequences are tightly and neatly done. The Samurai fan in me wanted more!!! I would point out that I did think it a little over the top for Tom Cruise's character to become such a astoundingly formidable Samurai in such a short period of time! It did kind of remind me of the old Tom & Jerry cartoon skits where Tom learns how to "Play the piano in three easy lessons!" and just after hitting three keys he then rips into Chopin!!! Despite this, the fights were still entertaining, just far and few between! Parents should be warned that there is some blood involved but not on the level of "Barveheart". Acting- This is where the good and the bad comes in. The good was the attractive performance Wantanabe gives. He appears to be enjoying the role and that is always infectious! Hey, Hollywood! Here's the guy for an updated version of "Shogun"! Then, there is Tom. Tom! Tom! Tom! It's not that he's bad in this, he really is not. However, he really didn't fit the role. Most folks won't care and that's not a bad thing but Tom is certainly not Samurai! I couldn't say who would be but I know for certain that it isn't him! The problem really lies at the feet of his celebrity. He's just too well known. Every time he stepped into a scene, his being TOM CRUISE detracted from the moment and his decent performance. I would have to say that a more gruffly someone (the beard didn't sell Tom!) of less renown or an up and comer would have benefited the role a little better. This would have also placed more visual emphasis on a scene as a whole and prevented any celebrity distraction. Yes, Tom! You CAN be too popular for a film's good!!!! Nice try though! The other actors gave us fine to solid performances but I'm sure that plenty of other Samurai lovin' "Amazonians" will try and learn us different. DVD Quality- Issssss goooood!!! Why on earth anyone would want the full-screen version of such a film is totally beyond me??!!!! Death to full screen!!! Trust me; it's for your own good!! Extras- The extras are fairly generous. I know that there will be those who will have demanded more but what more could they really want? I never quite understood the desire in demanding that every film have 4-6 hours of extras. I guess these folks have too much time on their hand (I know what I said)!! I would like to point out that the Hollywood vs. History was a slight let down. Instead of expert analysis, we got a fairly informative and slightly inaccurate historical overview on Samurai history. It would have been nicer to see a discussion between a panel of dusty old scholars rather than the movie promo we get. The rest of the extras are informative if a little on the short side. In closing, Last Samurai is good but not a masterpiece but then it's not the master-piece of ca-ca as the purists would have you thinking. It not without it's faults but only after one devours a few of the films listed below will one begin to see what those faults are. Next!!- Now then, where to go from here. Obviously, there are plenty of fine Samurai films to watch but not all of them are easy to come by. Here is small but decent list: Older- Difficult to find comes with a *
Seven Samurai
Yojimbo
Sanjuro
Samurai 1, 2 and 3
Chushingura*
Zatoichi (The Japanese T.V. series)
Shogun Assassin*
Sword of Doom*
Tenchu*
47 Ronin*
Kill! (Kiru)*
Newer- Some of these are coming to the theater soon.
Azumi
Zaotoichi (Darkness is my ally)
Zatoichi (Directed by Kitano)
Twiglight Samurai
Samurai Fiction There are far more but this will get you started. Thanks!!! Pred88
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: This movie is awsome watched first day it came out can't wait to buy it. Alot like mel gibson in braveheart. This movie is the best thats all u need to know lol.
| 
