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Visitors Review

djdavignon 2012-05-26 00:43:07

Let's Roll - Don't Walk, Run To See This Movie

Rarely will you ever see a movie more inspiring than this epic treatise onthe nature of good and evil. In this new millenium "Braveheart" it is thegreedy, self-absorbed corporate charlatans versus the selfless tribalwarriors, who, knowing they are fighting a losing battle, decide to fightonwith the utmost honor and bravery imaginable. You will want to stand upandcheer just like the dozens of people I saw voicing their thanks for thisrousing story. It portrays America as many unfortunately see it in therestof the world today, as an untrustworthy and greedy bully using itssuperiortechnology to stamp down the downtrodden and line its own pockets. Yet itis an American Civil War hero (Cruise) who redeems his terrible crimesagainst humanity in the Indian Wars and teaches the brave Asian warriorswhat it takes to win against a far superior enemy.... not just honor,courage, integrity, and passion.... but faith, hope, and an undying willtosee the good triumph over evil, no matter what the odds or the price. Thebattle scenes are fantastic, characters sympathetic, sub plots engrossing,and you will wish as I did that the movie would not end. I walked away abetter man, the snickering cynics be damned. You will too! I doubt any ofthem have ever fought valiantly in a battle to the death, even when theyknew they would probably lose. Remember 9/11? If only we modern dayAmericans could live every day like the last samurai, like it was our lastfight, and understand that ours is mostly a battle between good and evilwithin the mind. Our words are our swords and to die in battle is a"good"death. "Every man dies, but not every man really lives." (Braveheart)Let'sRoll!!!

Special-K88 2012-05-25 18:17:05

gripping and visually stunning

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

AJ Gallucci 2012-05-21 03:15:20

Death Be not Proud

When I first heard about The Last Samurai, it seemed to be just a rip-off ofDances with Wolves. Here you have another story of a White Man, scared byCivil War fighting, who discovers another culture and learns to prefer theirculture to the White man's. But what makes this movie different from Dances With Wolves is that it's notdifferences that unite Nathan Algren and the Samurai, it's common traits.Both Algren and the Samurai have the same spirit in war and fighting. Theyhave both seen many wars, killed many people, and must live with pastmistakes in battle. This is the fascinating tie that hold themtogether.Another fascinating thing about The Last Samurai is how the differences indeath are explored: Samurais see honor in death, while people of the westattempt to avoid death at all costs. Samurais kill themselves to avoidliving in shame. Western solders flee to avoid death. Death means differentthings to different people.All the performances in this movie are wonderful, especially Tom Cruise andKen Watanabe. I can't wait to see him play the villain in Batman Begins nextyear.Grade: B+

cordedpoodle 2012-05-20 20:54:32

Slick Action but the premise is nonsense

Great camera work, locals, sets and good actors wasted on fairy talewith no real link to reality. American vision of "honor" among thugs.This is a repeated theme in American westerns. The "dignity" and"honor" theme among violent thugs is exposed for what it really is inmore complex films like the Godfather and Apocalypse now.Like many of these films it pretends to have a deeper moral message,linked to extreme self discipline and Zen without any real expenditureof thought.No need for a spoiler here, the plot is telegraphed way ahead andanyone with a trace of brainpower knows what is going to happen afterabout 10 minutes.It's basically a vehicles for Tom Cruise to further his career. He'saware of what consistently sells and he's willing to deliver. Farbetter and cheaper films about feudal Japan have been made for TV.What gets me is an honest film would have been very interesting. Whyyou would want to make a mediocre film full of clichés about such asubject is beyond me.

jelloman-1 2012-05-18 08:34:00

Outstanding Movie

Love the movie, the action, the story line. It captures your heart. Onlybadthing is the unrealistic part at the ending and several other parts whenthesamurai's were getting shot by bullets, but not many died. At the ending,Tom Cruise, was shot so many times but still survived, I think that partisunrealistic.

tamarat 2012-05-18 06:20:25

Well Worth Seeing.

Saw this movie tonight, followed by an interesting Q&A with Zwick. Articulate and intelligent man and filmmaker. Samurai is well written anddirected, beautifully shot, a major undertaking and achievement. A bigscreen movie, for sure. The acting was good too. Cruise does a great job,and allows other fine actors to have their moments as well. Overall, anexcellent film. A good story, well told. A rarity in this town. Still, for some reason, The Last Samurai did not move me all that much.There were some places where I know I should have, I was supposed to be, intears, but I just, well, wasn't. Don't know why. So, I can't call it agreat film. But, it is certainly well worth seeing.

mOVIemAN56 2012-05-12 15:58:26

Hollywood's Inaccuracy and Entertainment

The Last Samurai (2003) I've watched numerous times. The last time(last night) I found the movie a lot better than I remembered. Setmostly in 1870's Japan during a time when Japan was beginning tomodernize its country. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is hired along withother US soldiers to modernize the Japanese Army currently caught incivil war with the samurai. Even though this movie is based on actual events the United States hadnothing to do with the modernization of japan. It was mostly France,Britain, and Russia. Yet the movie is still good. The portrayal of theway of the samurai is fascinating and the idea of rifles against swordseems utterly insane. This movie is the first movie for Ken Watanabe to speak English in anddoes a fine job as the Samurai leader Katsumoto. Even though I'm notexactly a fan of Tom Cruise I feel he did a good job with his troubledsoldier character. The story isn't original (a soldier trying to findhis honor and the right path) yet it's does fine. The action is wild:the first battle in the forest to the last battle with the fires allaround. The Last Samurai. Starring: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Timothy Spall,and Shichinosuke Nakamura. 3 1/2 out of 5 Stars.

kwongers 2012-05-12 00:05:34

one of the most moving movies of 2003

I love this movie. It's a brilliant, well-made, moving epic. The moviefocuses on a disgraced man, Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), who has nightmaresabout being ordered to kill innocent American Indians. He is enlisted tohelp train the `modern' Japanese army to fight against the samurai, who arein rebellion. In the time he spends with the samurai, learning from them,he learns something about honor and ultimately, about himself. The storyline is fantastic, merging great action scenes with a moving storyabout a man's journey to find his honor. The battle scenes are convincingand exciting; one battle scene involving a surprise attack on the samuraihad my heart going. Hans Zimmer's music is bold and original; sometimes themusic alone brought me to tears. I haven't heard too much of his workbefore (it's a travesty, I know!) but I love his work here. The acting is top-rate. Tom Cruise is superb as Nathan Algren, embodyingthe conflict, pain, anguish, and honor of his character. We feel his painand understand why he eventually decides to fight with the samurai. (Hisperformance is one of my favorites all year…he's a deserving contender forthat Golden Globe.) And Ken Watanabe is phenomenal as Katsumoto, the leaderof the samurai. He plays Katsumoto with a lot of grace and nobility, and Iappreciated that. Watanabe is nominated for a supporting actor Golden Globeand SAG award and he totally deserves both of them. His portrayal ofKatsumoto is bold, funny, and heartbreaking. Undeniably one of my favorite movies of the year and the one that touched myheart the most, `The Last Samurai' deserves many, many awards. It made melaugh, cry (a lot), and truly understand honor. (Props also to Tom Cruiseand Koyuki (Taka) for creating one of the sexiest moments in the movies thisyear - without the actual sex.) 10/10

dballred 2012-05-11 01:46:01

Check Your History at the Door and Enjoy!

Overall, I liked the Last Samurai--as a story. As a representative piece ofJapanese history, though, I'm sure there are plenty of purists out thereholding their noses.Hollywood has this real penchant for producing historical figures who areuncharacteristically 21st Century Politically Correct for whatever era theylive in. Tom Cruise is no exception in this film. He, with conventionalwisdom no older than forty years, had no respect for Lieutenant ColonelGeorge A. Custer or his tactics. A genuine military contemporary of Custer,however, would realize he was the youngest US officer to reach the grade ofBrigadier General during the Civil War. He didn't reach that rank for havinga good filing system.What about the premise of the film? Tom Cruise, a has-been hero from thewild west, is hired to help develop Japan's new modern Army. How does beingan individually brave person who can handle a weapon and ride like a trickshot artists translate into being an organizer and trainer of an entirearmy? Had such a person demonstrated all those skills in military service,he would have been promoted like Custer was.Beyond that, it's hard to believe his purpose for being in Japan: buildingthe Army. The film seems to imply it is for fighting an internal rebellion.Sure, there have been people like Katsumoto in the film known to operatebriefly even in modern times (Noted author Yukio Mishima, who committedseppuku about 35 years ago, is a recent example of such a person). Nonetheless, they haven't been a serious threat to Japan's order since theearly shoguns a couple of hundred years prior to the Meiji era. Japandeveloped a modern army, all right, but the purpose was external--there wereissues with the Chinese and the Russians. I think the intent here was to turn the tables for the character in thefilm. He went from fighting on the side with the guns against the side withthe bows and arrows to the opposite situation. In that respect, the filmsucceeds. The characters had depth and the story was fascinating. Unlikemany American films with Japanese themes, I would have no problemrecommending this film to a Japanese--provided he doesn't take history tooseriously. I gave the film a seven.

revere-7 2012-05-10 21:57:23

"Success is a journey, not a destination" - Zen saying

The Last Samurai is a strictly by-the-numbers samurai epic set in 1876-1877Japan. All the necessary ingredients are here - beautiful Japanese landscapes and costumes,larger than life battlefield sequences, and eastern philosophy.Although the pageantry is notas beautiful as such samurai epics as "Heaven and Earth", it is more thanadequate.Do not, however go into this film expecting "Kill Bill", grindhouse typeswordplay nor the poignancy of a Kurosawa piece. Instead, "The Last Samurai" occupies themiddle ground; a human story of one Westerner learning to embrace another culture kind of amixture of "Dances With Wolves" and "Shogun", films from which it derives almostdirectly. And this is the films greatest flaw. It is utterly predictable. No spoilers here, we allknow what happens to the samurai. If not, the title ought to give you a clue. Every scene isone 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, anda climactic (despite it's predictability) ending, and that is why "The Last Samurai" issuch a great film. As the Zen saying goes, "Success is a journey, not a destination". It isequally applicable to the samurai in the film, and the film itself. A success. 8/10.

2012-05-07 20:25:49

Where have I seen this before???

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.

Nevra 2012-05-07 13:54:47

woke up thinking about the movie

I sure am not capable of saying whether this is a true reflection of theJapanese Samurai culture, yet, I sure can say that what was reflected onthat white screen was something worth seeing and hearing in every way.Thisepic story has a lot to tell !

disdressed12 2012-05-02 19:52:51

beautiful,moving,well acted picture

Tom Cruise is Captain Nathan Algren,who in 1870 is hired by the Emperorof Japan to train the Japanese Army in modern warfare.The Emperor thanhopes to bring about an end to the Samurai,who have remained with theold way of fighting.As events unfold,Algren is captured by the Samuraiand while treated with indifference and disdain at first,he slowlybecomes part of the community.he begins to learn the Samurai ways,andgains their trust and friendship.in turn,he develops a newfound respectfor the samurai way,and in time,becomes a better man for it. Even ifyou are not a Tom Cruise fan,you should still like this movie.Cruiseplays Algren as a man who is at first,deeply flawed,with nohope.Then,as the movie progresses,Cruise convincingly portray'sAlgren's slow,but noticeable change into a humble man who regains hishumanity and discovers what it means to be a man.This Movie is directedby Edward Zwick(Glory,Legends of the Fall.The screenplay was written byJohn Logan(Any Given Sunday,Gladiator).the action scenes are well doneand look authentic.the dialogue is well written,leading to some verytouching scenes.the movie is also visually stunning. everyone involvedput their heart and soul into this project and it shows. 10/10

Glenn Soltes 2012-05-01 22:18:05

Beautifully crafted movie

The best movie of this type I have seen. Wonderful attention to detail.So much is said without saying anything. Cruise played his partperfectly. It was mythology, but well done mythology. Asia and the Westboth have their fair share of angels and demons. The journey ofCruize's character was very compelling.This movie also highlights the dual nature of firearms. Firearms arethe great equalizer and are as much a destroyer of war as a maker.Human nature....if we can do something, somebody will and guns are thelowest common denominator.Glenn Soltes

jldmp1 2012-04-30 11:46:52

The Narcissist

I didn't expect anything from this to be at the level of Kurosawa. Infact this has no style of its own at all...it's all about reassemblingpieces of other movies into a stage for Cruise to strut and fret on.They include Zwick's own "Glory", Frankenheimer's "The Challenge", &Lawton's "The Hunted".You see, Cruise is out to prove he can handle the big budget epic,specifically through topping the physicality of Crowe in "Gladiator" or"Proof of Life", or Gibson's "Braveheart". And that he can top his own"Mission Impossibles".The most frequent comparison is with "Dances with Wolves", but thesimilarities are actually quite faint. "Dances..." stuck to simple,no-nonsense storytelling; its visual structure was that of a horizontalcanvas. This has nothing of interest in terms of perspective (it triesto build vertically, but weakly); and it's loaded with all sorts ofpost-"Dances" clichés -- the worst being the pathetic attempts to tapinto the 'spirit' of a native people. Cruise comes across as thoughhe's pitching for Honda Motor Co. I know Cruise is not interested in art; he hasn't been for at least 20years, since "Top Gun" showed us all he would ever really be as aleading man. He has only one objective for every production he investsin - that elusive golden statue.But I am interested in art, not stardom. And if you share myappreciation of the visual master who gave us "Seven Samurai" and"Ran", you'll be equally insulted by Cruise's vainglorious exercise inegotism.

2012-04-29 22:47:53

This was a GREAT MOVIE. You who gave it 4 Stars I don't agr

The Last Samurai was a great movie. For you negative reviewers who decided to only give this 4 or less Stars instead of the 5, your comments are not really relevant to the quality of this movie. I don't agree with your negative comments. Probably the best "American" made Japanese movie of all time. The acting, drama, story, action, characters were incredible. Being that this was based partly on a true event, this makes this movie even more incredible and remarkable. Everyone I know enjoyed this movie. Others including me felt this was the best movie they've ever seen. I have never been so involved dramatically when watching a movie. There comes a time when you are watching a movie when you know what you are watching is a great movie. I felt that way while watching this movie. Incredible. The Special features were incredible also. So many documentaries were incredible. And I especially enjoyed the Japan premiere segment and hearing how the actors felt on the opening of this movie in November. Very interesting comments. I only wished they had also included the other Theatrical Trailer which came out later. But that doesn't diminish the quality of the special feature DVD. It was very thorough and very interesting. For you reviewers such as Joe Haschka, Geoffrey S. Ryder, and Robert who only gave it 4 Stars, ridiculous. Your criticisms had nothing to do with the quality and greatness of this movie. You said it was a romanticized portrayal of the Samurai. Yes, it was more idealized and positive, but nothing wrong with that. If you have a problem with that, don't watch this movie. But that doesn't detract from the movie. And you keep trying to compare this to Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece the Seven Samurai. Don't do that. They are 2 different movies and to compare a movie with another one does not allow you to be unbiased. You can't make a critical review of the movie. To Joe Haschka who said this movie was 30 minutes too long. Ridiculous. This movie went by so fast and I wished it were 30 minutes longer or more. However long this movie, I wish it were more because the story and quality of this movie made it incredible. Nothing disrespectful to Master and Commander...., but I saw that movie. If you like it, that's good. But I felt The Last Samurai was much better in my view. I felt it was a much better movie and story from my view. The Slo motion put even more drama on the characters and movie. It was an incredible technique to use. And please don't compare it to Dances with Wolves which alot have. They have some similarities, but are 2 totally different movies about 2 different cultures. Again, if you compare a movie to another movie, you can't be unbiased and can't make an objective review.To Robert Graves who made a illogical negative remark that the Ninja fighting made the movie like Kill Bill 1, again not necessary review. This movie was not Kill Bill and should not be compared to this. Again, it seems another reviewer trying to find something wrong with this movie just to be negative. The Ninja fight was just a fighting sequence that had nothing to do with Kill Bill 1. And to make a ridiculous remark that you didn't like some of the visual effects such as the Mount Fuji Paintings or others as a reason for only giving this 4 out of 5 is again such a little reason to dislike a film. Alot of you people were just trying to find one little reason to dislike this movie for whatever reason. This movie didn't deserve those annoying criticisms. This was a great movie. I wish you wouldn't give such negative reviews that weren't necessary. Even though I say this, I can't make you change your mind and to each his own. But I felt this was a great movie, and the flaws that you talked about that you felt about this movie don't have much relevancy with the movie I saw.J.

John DeSando 2012-04-24 21:21:35

`The Last Samurai' is formulaic epic.

`The Last Samurai' is formulaic epic: exotic location, historical shift inculture (Japan on the brink of modernism), a singular hero tested to themax, and warfare on a grand scale. Add grand cinematography with over 21/2hours of screen time, and you have a Hollywood epic.What you do not have is a credible performance by Tom Cruise in thetitularrole. He's athletic enough to play a soldier of fortune but not matureenough to play a Civil-War-weary Captain facing combat with what may bethelast natural fighting machine in Japan, the Samurai. I break no rules ofcritical propriety to tell you that after being captured by the Samurai,Cruise assimilates, much as Kevin Costner's Lt. Dunbar did in `Dances withWolves,' facing the dilemma of fighting his own country to defend his newfamily.John Toll's (`Vanilla Sky') cinematography of New Zealand and Japan issumptuous; the Japanese Samurai clan is as dignified as Chow Yun Fat's in`Crouching Tiger'; and the mainstream Japanese and post-war Americanprofiteers and soldiers, enlisted by the Japanese to squelch the Samurai,are as stereotyped as you could expect from Hollywood. There is enoughsword fighting to make you long for the wide-open spaces of `Tora! Tora!Tora!' enough silly glances between Cruise and a Japanese widow to makeyoulong for the mirth in `Teahouse of the August Moon,' and enough tritedialogue to make you long for the wit of `Bridge on the River Kwai.'Director Edward Zwick (`Glory') may have been influenced by Kurosawa's`Seven Samurai' but still follows technical and thematic clichés whileproducer Cruise makes a middling top-gun shogun. Too bad because thecontemporary parallels about messing on a global scale with othercountriesand integrating on a personal one hold promise worthy of a true epic.

man-man-dot-org 2012-04-24 20:33:14

64 slices of American Samurai Cheese

Definitely not a waste of time or money, but... well, let me put it thisway:***Say you build your own house, and fill it with great furniture, and youreally really love this house you built. And then one day a whole bunch ofguys with bulldozers show up, say they're going to bulldoze your house tomake room for a bypass (you've got to build bypasses!) and tell you it's allgonna go. You get, fairly understandably, quite upset and decide to lie down in frontof the bulldozers and let them run you over if they must, but this is youTaking a Stand.The day before the bulldozers are slated to knock your house down, someschmuck from the road crew -- let's call him Tom -- wanders into your houseand starts touching all your stuff. "Say, this is a pretty cool house," Tomsays. "You've got some awesome stuff here, dude." Tom is, in fact, so taken with your house that he decides to run outsidewith you the next day and lie in front of the bulldozer beside you, andnearly gets run over but doesn't. You die horribly. The next day, Tomchastizes the foreman of the building crew, who shrugs and says "eh, I guessmaybe we shouldn't'a knocked over the house, but whatchagonna do. Let'smaybe spare that tree over there." ***Now... years later, somebody decides to make a movie about all this. Wouldyou prefer (a) a film about the beauty of your house, the craft it took toconstruct it, its elegant and harmonious contents, and your futile yet noblestruggle to preserve it, or (b) the story of that schmuck Tom, who wanderedinto your house, touched all your stuff and became a housegroupie?I was hoping for more (a), and I got more (b). So will you. This film maysuit your needs well as an introduction to the concept of Samurai or as"Dances with Wolves II: Spars With Samurai", but I would have far preferredmore respect for the tradition and its history rather than the surfacetreatment it got. Samurai were also nasty, obsessive, subservient and horribly single-mindedat times; I respect the culture immensely but I don't think the Hollywoodgloss will be a big help in the long run.

2012-04-22 21:58:12

the last samurai

I am indebted to Tom cruise firstly for having taught me to dance inrain man, and secondly... they say one can be enlightened in a splitmoment well, I don't know whether I am or not, but he has beeninstrumental in my search for understanding the fact that if you aren'thappy this instant where else can one be happy. I thank Tom Cruise forthese two things and although I shall never meet him, this is just forthe record. He knows he made one human being really happy. Godspeed toyou Tom. the chances of these few lines getting to him are slim but if he shouldever read them, the message of goodwill on my part will have got to himas this is all I can offer him.. and isn't that good enough, justgoodwill with no strings attached. tom is a good actor and whateverpeople may think of him- no one is perfect- one must remember that healso provides happiness to moviegoers with his efforts.a friend Timothyg@wanadoo.es

tomt60 2012-04-22 05:30:01

Powerful

Ken Watanabe was great. Cruise, slow in the beginning (butunderstandably) Realizes what honor and sacrifice finally means.Personally I think the movie touches your inner depths about service toyour people or way of life. I especially enjoyed the Sumarais'appearance in town and the respect the elders displayed. (Too little ofthat nowadays). Of course in the last chapter after the gatlin gunsfired, when Cruise and Watanabe embraced as friends for the final time,it actually choked me up. So I have to give the film an A+. Perhaps notfor overall acting, but for the strong content of service andfriendship. Well Done. Hans Zimmer puts out another score. Its gettingso when I hear the soundtrack he has produced for any movie, I knowright away. He has a certain recognizable flair with each scene. Itsmood setting content is directly responsible for the emotion each sceneis after. I think this movie overall is one of Cruises Finest. Kenscharacter and acting stole the show however. This is a movie you canenjoy over and over.