The Last Samurai review

Directed by

Edward Zwick
Featured cast

  • Ken Watanabe (Katsumoto)

  • Tom Cruise (Nathan Algren)
Ratings / Reviews

aelst's review

Tom Cruise goes to Japan as a hired Office to train a bunch of Japanese troops to fight against an uprising by their native Samurai. Obvious contrasts are made throughout this movie between greed and power, and honour and culture.

Lots of costumes and old weaponry, including swords and guns.

3 out of 5 stars.

ratbag's review

Sure, "The Last Samurai" may have beautiful cinematography, setting, costumes and so forth; however, it is lacking in believability. One of the problems lies in the casting of Tom Cruise as the protagonist. Although the Japanese cast are brilliant, and their performance remind me of the old samurai movies, the characters seem a little too caricatured:

Tom Cruise plays a reluctant hero with his usual American gusto. Katsumoto, the samurai leader is wise and complex. His sister Taka is so subservient that she willingly tends to the man who slain her husband (and perpetuating the white male's fantasy). Of course, you have your usual greedy, slimy American mercenaries, bumbling sidekicks, etc.

To add insult to injury, the film also romanticises the relationship between Tom Cruise's character and the dead samurai's children. It gets worse towards the end, during the battle scenes, where the film attempts to tug at your emotional strings with glorified slow-motion death scenes, swelling music, etc.