The Last Samurai (2003)

It is the same old stupid Hollywood cliche, folks!

Think You Only Live Twice or Littlerock or Oh Lucy.

The last samurai was a Hollywood drunkard. OK got it.

Fmovies: The Last Samurai is a strictly by-the-numbers samurai epic set in 1876-1877 Japan. All the necessary ingredients are here - beautiful Japanese landscapes and costumes, larger than life battlefield sequences, and eastern philosophy.Although the pageantry is not as beautiful as such samurai epics as "Heaven and Earth", it is more than adequate.

Do not, however go into this film expecting "Kill Bill", grindhouse type swordplay nor the poignancy of a Kurosawa piece. Instead, "The Last Samurai" occupies the middle ground; a human story of one Westerner learning to embrace another culture kind of a mixture of "Dances With Wolves" and "Shogun", films from which it derives almost directly. And this is the films greatest flaw. It is utterly predictable. No spoilers here, we all know what happens to the samurai. If not, the title ought to give you a clue. Every scene is one 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, and a climactic (despite it's predictability) ending, and that is why "The Last Samurai" is such a great film. As the Zen saying goes, "Success is a journey, not a destination". It is equally applicable to the samurai in the film, and the film itself. A success. 8/10.

As expected in a bad American movie, the protagonist completely transforms from a shaky drunkard to an American gigolo bedding the local women who are wet for him and becomes a military and political leader in 2 weeks. After being recruited to lead an army whose function is to exterminate a village of samurais, he is captured by the enemies when losing the battle and there begins its transformation. Yup the Japanese need a white man to pursue their restless dream of a pure Japanese country!!!

Next for people who like this crap: Memoirs Of A Geisha where all the Japanese geisha are... Chinese!!

The Last Samurai fmovies. The Last Samurai is a brilliantly crafted aesthetic pleasure, studded with supernal performances from Ken Watanabe and Tom Cruise. In fact, Tom Cruise unarguably gives his best ever performance, surpassing his portrayal of Jerry Maguire in the eponymous flick. His plaintive portrayal of Nathan Algren, not only evokes pathos but also seeks sympathy of the contemporary viewer, who can vicariously relate to Algren's disconcertion, owing to his inner conflicts of patriotism vis-à-vis humanity.

However, it is Ken Watanabe, who steals the show with his mesmerizing and poignant portrayal of Katsumoto, the leader of the last clan of Samurai. His screen presence and delivery is truly amazing and even outshines that of Tom Cruise, which is a compliment in itself. The scenes between Watanabe and Cruise are pure gold, depicting fluctuating feelings of hostility, compassion and camaraderie.

Watanabe's intense and powerful performance in which he displays a wide range of emotions, is definitely worthy of the coveted statuette, but the academy never fails to disappoint. Watanabe's brilliant portrayal, not only mesmerizes the viewers, but also convinces the critics of his acting abilities. The tacit adoration between Algren and Taka (subtly played by Koyuki), enormously adds to the beauty of the movie. All this coupled with some brilliant cinematography and a mesmerizing score, makes it a treat to watch and a truly surreal experience.

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Absolute trash, don't waste your time like I did. I watched this on free to air TV and believe me it was a really bad night for choice or I wouldn't have lasted to the end. If you like Americans going overseas and overnight becoming idols and worshipped and seeing the local emperor and don't mind a nonsense movie give it a go but I did try to warn you!

He saves the noble samurai

He saves the honor of Japan

He gets to meet the emperor of Japan for all his hard work (and because the emperor is bored kinda)