What's up with the Western score in a Samurai flick?

Rating: 6/10 (12 December 2003)

The trailer for this movie got me all pumped up. Set to some Japanese percussion, and wonderfully edited, the trailer sold me on the film. Too bad the trailer was better than the movie.
Not that the inclusion of a westernized musical score should doom the movie on its own, but I think that this decision is very representative of the huge number of poor choices that cause "The Last Samurai" to fail. Funny that the theme of the film is Western civilization's encroachment on the purity of Japanese culture, because the film itself also manages to impose its Western views and Hollywood morals on the world of 1800's Japan, making it laughable in more than one instance.
But I'm not going to get all bitter about it. I still had fun watching the movie. The locations are beautiful, the fight choreography is pretty good, and the costumes are awesome. Although it runs a little long, it's not unbearable to sit through, and it's easy to take an interest in the main characters despite the formulaic script.
Basically, it's a summer blockbuster-type movie that was released during Oscar season. If you don't go to many movies, don't waste your time with this one, go out and rent Seven Samurai instead. And if you're a film nerd like me, well you'll find something to like about it (probably.) 6/10