definitely worth seeing

Rating: 7/10 (3 December 2003)

Saw the film last night and give it an overall rating of 7 out of 10.

Ken Watanabe's performance is enough to make this film worth seeing again. The Japanese culture was beautifully portrayed. And who can resist those cute little Asian kids.
Cruise did a nice performance, but I felt that some places in the film edited out the intensity of the scene simply to show Cruise's face more.

The storyline is a bit hard to follow in the beginning as Cruise's character was not developed well--I spent the beginning of the film trying to figure out what the deal was with this guy and where all his issues were coming from. But the plot takes off once in the Samurai village and holds you until the very end.
I wouldn't give it best picture, but I would put Watanabe in the running for best supporting actor. I'm not an "official" critic, but that's my 2 Cents, take it or leave it.