Great film, Braveheart in Japan

Rating: 10/10 (5 December 2003)

I very much enjoyed the film.
Go and enjoy the film for it's beauty, extremely detailed historical re-enactment, and see it as a glimpse of life, man's struggle to come to terms with change, and ongoing imperialism of the USA since 200 years ago. Exporting democracy for 200 years by the tip of a sword or the barrel of a gun.... And no, this is not about bashing US at all.
I liked the movie because it took the time to dwell over the reasons "why" people were fighting, and how there's so much more always beyond what is going on in one's life. Additionally, the way of the samurai was not glamourized; I do think that the movie went a bit fast over the downsides of living by the sword, but it tackled very well the main issue: change happening too fast will unnerve people and will not be received well. Historically you always had revolutions on hand when people felt their way of life being violently threatened.