An epic movie in the mould of Gladiator!

Rating: 8/10 (26 January 2004)

OK, I was predisposed to dislike this movie, having seen some of Tom Cruise's questionable prior choices, like the bizarre Vanilla Sky, or the appallingly awful Mission Impossible II, yet here I was more than pleasantly surprised.
This is Tom's BEST movie for years!
But let's ignore the fact that Tom Cruise is in this movie at all and concentrate on just how fantastic this film actually is. It follows the tradition of movies like Gladiator; great music, a great script, fantastic casting, brilliant direction and a wonderful location.
Ken Watanabe is magnificent in his role as the leader of the last of the samurai warriors. The action is brutal, but not graphic or gratuitous. The samurai are portrayed in a way that shows them for the noble breed they were, and when the final fight scene ends (and I will give nothing away about what happens), there were a lot of people reaching for their tissues because the director got his point across so well - the samurai were fighting their own people and it was a total waste and should not have been allowed to happen.
If this movie isn't nominated for Oscars this week, well, there is something wrong with the Academy, and I think my tip for best supporting actor is Ken Watanabe, he really was fantastic in this film.
Go and see this movie if you liked Gladiator, or Cold Mountain, or even Gone With The Wind - it's that kind of an epic, timeless!