Critique of Western Ideals - Excellent Film.

Rating: 10/10 (31 December 2003)

Many the raters I would guess are either a bit young or American, possibly giving this movie a lower grade than it deserves. As the film reaches 96% of the rest of the world's population, most probably the appreciation for this magnificent film will result in a much higher grade for The Last Samurai.
Scanning through some of the reviews here, I was amazed that few if any mention the essence of this movie - and that is, presenting two different cultural perspectives and how they (somewhat exadurated) contrast each other. The aggressive American imperialist approach is well depicted and, despite the fact that the movie takes places a 150 years ago, the resemblence to a modern day leaders of some Western or so called "civilized" nations is stunning and offers an interesting spin on modern political affairs that we are all too aware of.
The actors, music, direction and production in general will most likely harvest a great deal of the Oscars this year. In fact, this is one of the finest films I have seen in a very long time.
9 / 10