| The Last Samurai | | Cast : | Ken Watanabe, Tom Cruise, Billy Connolly | | Director : | Edward Zwick | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | December 05, 2003 | | DVD Released Date : | September 14, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 08, 2005 | | Summary | The Way of the Warrior..... | Content
 | The Last Samurai shows the viewer a look into the lifestyle of the the ancient ways of the Samurai during the 1800's. It is a world that was slowly dying out as more and more Japanese people turned to living in the Western traditions, and for one US Military Captain, it showed him a world he grew to respect and love.....
Tom Cruise stars as Nathan Algren, a captain sent to the foreign land of Japan to teach Japanese soldiers the way to fight as US troops do in America. The preparation is needed to stop a rebellion of Samurai warriors led by Katsumoto [played by Ken Watanabe] who have been attacking railroads and supply trains.
After being sent to the front lines with troops he believes aren't ready to fight yet, Algren is captured after a battle and is brought to the village of Katsumoto's brother in the mountains. Despite some harsh attempts of getting used to the lifestyle of the Samurai, Algren slowly but surely learns how to love the Samurai lifestyle and how they work day and night.
The movie shows us breath taking landscape shots of the mountains the Samurai live in. It even shows some great rain storm scenes as Algren attempts to prove himself by battling in a swordfight with one of the experienced Samurai and refuses to stay down no matter how many times he is knocked down.
This movie also comes with some great fighting style scenes. With the fog war near the beginning in which Algren is captured after his inexperience troops are cut down by the Samurai, to a Ninja attack on the Samurai village where the samurai sacrifice themselves to save Katsumoto, to even Algren siding with Katsumoto for the climactic battle in the end against his fellow officers.
This movie is great in so many ways: The vibrant color of the scenery, the style of fighting is smooth yet terrifying as lots of men die, and even the dialogue between Algren and Katsumoto is great as they have their "Many Conversations."
I reccomend this movie if you really want to see a story of a man who realizes what he really wants for himself in this world......... |
| Rating | | | Date | August 06, 2005 | | Summary | One dimensional | Content
| I'm a big fan a Japanese period movies. In all those films, whether they are "high" art like Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai" and "Ran", or "low" art like "Lone Wolf and Cub" or "Zatoichi", one of the prevailing themes is the inherent hypocrisy and injustice embedded in the feudal society of old Japan. How the characters manage to get by in this oppressive society is almost always a source, if not the primary source, of the drama in the story line. Japanese filmakers know this. They know that ancient Japan, while admirable in many respects, was not a eutopia by any stretch of the imagination. Women were property. Peasants were considered sub-human. If you were born into a certain class you remained in that class until you died.
In "The Last Samurai", all these realities are ignored, if not downplayed. Here the Samurai are portrayed as nothing but completely noble and honorable, innocent victims who merely want to preserve their perfect society. The Japanese who want to bring Japan into the modern world are all portrayed as corrupt and self-serving, who have no respect for their own cultural heritage.
This is the typical hollywood movie; dumbed down for consumption by an audience that that the filmakers assume is too dumb to understand nuance.
If you want to learn something about Japan and be entertained at the same time, I would recommend the "Shogun" mini-series, which gives a much more balanced view, or check out some of the films I mentioned in the first paragraph. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 29, 2005 | | Summary | An Absolute Buyer | Content
| In short, great film to say the least and the music (Hans Zimmer) is excellent and blends perfectly with the movie. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 29, 2005 | | Summary | Edward Zwick has gone downhill ever since "Glory" | Content
| As someone who loves period pieces and really anything that explores history, I'm always excited about a director who tries to follow the direction that classic directors such as David Lean made famous. When Edward Zwick made "Glory" in 1989, I thought it was the start of a career that would bring us many fantastic films. Looking back, while I still consider "Glory" one of the best modern-day historical pieces in cinema, I realize that I probably overrated it and an accurate production design, a top notch score, and superb performances by actors who were relatively unknown at the time such as Denzell Washington and Morgan Freeman probably boosted it more than anything. I write this because Edward Zwick has continued to go downhill since the days of "Glory." He knows his history and always gives us great sets and a period feel, as well as talented actors to bring out the characters, but something is lacking. "Legends of the Fall," "Courage Under Fire," and "The Last Samurai" were all great exhibitions in beautiful scenery and famous periods and places in history, but something is missing. Zwick feels like the Michael Bay of historical pieces. The man does have some talent and sure does make a pretty picture, but when you take into account the screenplay, the characters, the ending... it all seems hollow. This movie starts out promising but ends up as a mediocre film, in part because it is too long considering the material. There's nothing wrong with a three-hour movie, but make sure the screenplay deserves that amount of time! It reminds me of "The Patriot," another historical piece that looked so promising but just didn't deliver. "The Last Samurai" was probably the most disappointing film by Zwick yet and I think I've officially given up on the hopes that he would improve and one day give us a "Braveheart" or "The Bridge on the River Kwai." |
| Rating | | | Date | July 24, 2005 | | Summary | One of my favorite movies with Tom Cruise | Content
| Being a "period" piece, this one was very enjoyable. I liked the part played by Ken Watenabi. He was wonderful. Not being generally a Tom Cruise fan, I thought he did very well in this movie. The scenery is awesome, the music is gentle, and the story is one of those "timeless" movies that you just want to watch over and over again when in the mood for something different to take you away from the stress of today's living. |
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