Much Better Than I Thought

Rating: 8/10 (30 May 2004)

It took me 3 weeks after receiving this DVD to watch it. I'm thinking 3 hrs, Tom Cruise and historical epic. Yeah Right. I figured I'd wait till I had nothing better to do. Well, today was that day, and I was wrong. This is a really good movie.
Cruise may have had top billing, but this movie belongs to Ken Watanabe, the rest of the Japanese cast and beauty of the shooting locations. TLS is beautifully shot, and has a very emotional and thought-provoking take on history. (Don't get me wrong, I have an advanced degree in the history of a sorely misunderstood part of the world, so I know better than most not to look to Hollyweird for any kind of historical or cultural accuracy.) But this movie sure makes the history look and sound good, and one does get caught up in the emotion of it all.
I think Cruise does an adequate job with his role, and eventually one does come to admire his character in the same way the Japanese do. But really, I never took Allgren as being focal point of the film. The movie gets off to a slow start, but the pace and emotion builds and stays almost to the end. The end was somewhat far-fetched, and disappointing in its way.
Overall, a movie worth seeing. I plan to add it to my collection for the battle scenes and armor alone.