Excellent Samurai movie that never seems long.

Rating: Null/10 (30 July 2004)

Students of film invariably turn to the older 'Seven Samurai' as one of the better movies of all time, but to me this movie, 'The Last Samurai' is much better for viewing by most of us modern movie-goers. That is not to say that 'technically' it is a better movie, because that doesn't matter for most of us. What matters is whether we can become emotionally immersed in the story, and this one allows that. While there are a number of good actors, only two carry the story -- Ken Watanabe, superb as Katsumoto, the leader in a remote village of last remaining Samurai in 1876 Japan, and Tom Cruise, equally superb as Nathan Algren, a battle-scarred American soldier who is in Japan, along with others, to help them come into the modern world, and part of that is to develop an effective force of soldiers.
While historically significant, and based on the real transition Japan was going through in the late 19th century, the story here is fiction. The Japanese government in pushing its modernization was also bringing an end to the feudal system and the role of the Samurai. Carrying the sword became illegal. The bands of Samurai rebelled against this and the lead character, Katsumoto, both swore allegiance to the young king, and at the same time fought to keep the Samurai tradition. The finale features a defining battle between the village of Samurai and the newly-trained and weaponed Japanese troops.
The title, 'Last Samurai', refers to the group of Samurai, the last ones in Japan. The word is either singular or plural, depending on its context.
Overall a very worthwhile story and movie. The DVD is superb, and the extras are worthwhile.