Tragic Warrior

Rating: 7/10 (26 January 2004)

Tom Cruise plays Nathan Algren, a drunken shell of a man racked with guilt over his participation in the genocide of Native Americans as a U.S. soldier. He is convinced by representatives of the Japanese government to train their ragtag troops to fight against the samurai.
In their first battle against the samurai, the army is routed and Algren is captured. He switches allegiance to the samurai after staying with them, learning their ways. I suspect he is trying to find honor as a warrior by reversing his role into the Indian's.
This is where I find it hard to embrace the picture. I don't think the samurai are noble. Indeed they are foolish in the face of modern weaponry. And Algren is a tragic figure. He can't return to America where his demons lie but he also stands apart in Japan as a foreigner.