I couldn't stand the butchering of the word 'samurai' in the other thread, and besides that thread has descended into an argument over the movie industry. The Last Samurai: Edward Zwick returns to direct a war epic movie that surpasses his previous attempt at the genre, "Glory". It's no surprise to me that he accomplished so much as he also produced one of my favorite movies of all time, "Traffic" and directed another favorite, "Legends of the Fall". He has a distinct skill in fleshing out poignancy. The cinematography is brilliant, although much of the credit has to go to the location of filming as the landscapes help introduce certain themes. Tom Cruise delivers Academy calibur work as Nathan Algren, an American soldier hired to modernize Japan's army. Ken Watanabe should get a supporting actor nomination as the samurai who rebels against the Emperor. There really isn't any weak spot in the casting or acting as every supporting actor plays his/her part perfectly. High points: Comic relief - Take note Peter Jackson, here is comic relief used effectively. Comic relief has to be funny to work, and it gets more and more distracting with repetition. Love story - It's been a long time since the love aspect of a movie like this has been more than just a little T&A action before the big batttle. Kudos to Zwick for handling this with class. Action - The sword fighting was intense, and it didn't seem fabricated. The big battles had the raw energy expected from these big epics. Problems: The film was nearly flawless, but there were some low points. It borrowed HEAVILY from Dances with Wolves, and also during the battles, Braveheart. I didn't really have a problem with it because it was done well, but some might have concerns. It suffered from the usual problem with a lot of these types of movies. A bullet to a normal person in the battle takes them out. Yet a central character can take 8 bullets to the torso and still struggle on. All in all, The Last Samurai is the best movie I've seen this year, and frankly in a long time. The beautiful Koyuki is one of the most entrancing actresses I have ever seen. I didn't have a problem with an American coming to Japan and assimiliating well. After all, he was a decorated war hero, and this is an American movie. Of course it's going to be made with American bias/arrogance. I still loved it. Grade: A+
Slightly off topic, should we have a separate movies forum? Or is it just that time of the year? We've had a lot of movie topics lately or is that all the time and I'm just noticing it or is it not a lot and I just perceive it as a lot?
Isn't it "calibre?" Anyway... I think the movie stinks. It just seems to lack that "greatness" that you expect. Grade: B- See it... just as a matinee. Would have been better in a time of year with no competition... like April or something.
Bear in mind that I really don't like Tom Cruise...but I thought this movie was ok. Kill Bill did a little better job with a true representation of Japanese culture, but this was all right for a samurai movie where Tom had to be the star. I guess I would have been happier if Ken Watanabe lived and TC died in it.
Here's my problem with the movie. I would be dying to see it if Tom Cruise wasn't the star. He would have to do an outstanding job to convince me in any realistic manner that he is a credible American samurai type, fighting in bloody battles. It's not really Tom's fault either. In this case the celebrity of Tom is bigger than the actor Tom. It would be hard for me to watch this and not think of him as a pampered pretty-boy who would be wetting his pants were in situations at all like the ones in the movie.
I haven't seen "The Last Samurai" yet, but I can't imagine anything being better than "Glory" - it is on my list of top 10, maybe top 5 of all time.
He plays a character that is one of the most decorated soldiers in US history, with enormous combat experience in the Civil War and in fighting Indians in the west with Custer, etc. Yet it wouldn't be reasonable for that character to handle himself well in a bloody battle in Japan? I don't understand. He can't handle a sword? He is a cavalry officer from what I could tell, so he would have extensive experience in fighting with a saber... Also, Kill Bill represents Japanese culture well? That is pretty ****ed up. I never want to go to Japan then.
Didn't you know? The Japanese have mastered the art of blood compression. It allows them to contain 2-3 times the normal volume of blood in their body. Thus the spraying anytime they are cut. I think it's got something to do with bukkake...
My girlfriend and I just saw it. It's more like an A-. The movie should have ended 5 minutes before the current ending. It's like Zwick filmed a good ending, but the reality was too harsh so then he got the actors together to do another one. Oh yeah... one good reason to see this movie: it has a ninja attack! It was pretty intense. Oh yeah, the people in the theater clapped 3 times in this movie. I seriously can't remember another movie in which people clapped 2x DURING the movie.
I watched in Rudder Theater here at A&M, I don't know what capacity is there, it wasn't full but there had to be about 1000 or more people there. People clapped about 3 times too, including at the end I believe.
I couldn't disagree with Nomar's review more. Better than Glory? Not even close. Glory told an unquie and compelling story. This movie is Dances with Wolves:Japan Style. Oscar worthy performance by Cruise? Cruise isn't even the best actor in this picture, Ken Wantanabe is awsome as Katsumoto and puts on a much better preformance. The big battle at the end was great. I loved the period setting of the movie and the sets and costumes were well done. But I just didn't buy into the whole story as being believable. Japan was an extremely closed society and I don't think that a group of people fighting to maintain the old customs would embrace and accept a Westerner like they do in this movie. Overall I enjoyed it, but as IROC it said, it is matinee-worthy only. 3 out of 5 flaming moes
You registered to write that? Sounds like a fair assessment. So do you recommend it? Regardless of being realistic or not, was it entertaining?
Sorry, but story alone can't carry a movie, and Glory was very lacking in many aspects. I hate Broderick, and the focus on him completely ruined the movie and nullified any compelling aspects for me. The fact that Watanabe delivered a better performance than Cruise doesn't make his performance any less Oscar worthy. I gaurantee that both will get nominations. In fact, I never said that Cruise was better than Watanabe. Maybe you should read my post carefully before registering just to disagree with it. With regards to the acceptance of Cruise not being realistic, did you pay attention to the movie at all? Watanabe's character had a dream at the beginning of a tiger being cornered by his forces and fighting. When Cruise was cornered, he fought with a banned that featured the very same tiger. Watanabe's character was religious/superstitious, and that is probably why he spared Cruise's characters life. I had no problem whatsoever with Cruise being accepted into the camp. Thanks for playing.
Saw it tonight...freakin' awesome movie. I didn't think Tom Cruise could pull a role like this off, but he did it quite well. The characters, most of which seemed like a stretch, were all completely believable. I'd give it 5 out of 5 and call it the movie of the year.
I didn't register just to reply to Nomar. It just happened to be the first thread I posted in. I just got home from seeing the movie and thought I would add my review to Nomar's. Why you are being snotty over a freaking movie review, I don't know. Are you that insecure? Yes I understood that Katsumoto's vision in the beginning and the Tiger Banner scene was supposed to be the plot veichle that explains Katsumoto allowing Captain Algren to live. It's a movie so I suspended my reality sense and accepted this motive, but historically speaking, I don't think it would of happened- that is all that I was saying. It was a good movie, not great. On Dec 17 you will be able to see a great movie; Return of the King.
