Visual masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (9 May 2004)

Edward Zwick's The Last Samurai is one of those films worth seeing.
Regardless of how it sounds [that being "Tom Cruise goes to Japan"], it is much better than I and other thought it would be.
Before I go any further I want to make one point: The story is accurate to
Japanese culture on a superficial level. That being said, it is very easy to criticise this film because of its accuracy to cultural matters. Is it historically and culturally accurate? Depends on how deep you look and how much you know.
Suffice it to say, the film's accuracy was sufficient for it to not be a significant [not even minor] problem.
Moving on: As it has been said about many films in the past few years, it is unfortunate for Last Samurai that Lord of the Rings came out the same year.
This film would likely have swept Art Direction, Costume Design, and Sound. It also would have garnered nomination a nomination for Cinematography.
Visually, the film has perfectly integrated and flowing imagery from beginning to end. Ignoring minor issues there is really nothing to complain about in depth. The Score is phenomenal. Hans Zimmer should have been nominated for his
work in this film.
Of the many things this film excelled at, the costume design was by far the best of it. [In particular, the Samurai armor.]
Ken watanabe is another good point. His work in this film will undoubtedly be the start of a prolific career in Hollywood filmmaking.
Problems: Well, quite simply, there is nothing that stands out. Many have criticized Tom Cruise's performance. Is it necessary? Not really. Could the role have been done better? Well, sure. But that's true about most roles. Cruise did a good job. Writer John Logan could have given the character a bit more depth and, in
doing so, given Tom Cruise more to do. Then, criticism of Cruise could be
warranted.
In short, the best criticism one can make of this film was that it could have done with another 30+ minutes of character exposition and study which would have
given the characters more depth and turned the roles of Cruise and others into Oscar-worthy endeavors.
8/10