Still an Enjoyable Film and even Impressive in Some Parts

Rating: 7/10 (5 April 2020)

There are many films with similar similar stories to this one, both older and newer. Despite that, however, this film remains to be my favorite of them. My first exposure to this film was in high school when, during our global history class, we watched this as a way to introduce the Japan unit. Of course, there are a myriad of historical inaccuracies which numerous people have already pointed out but there are some aspects and themes brought up by the film which do touch on some very important historical and cultural themes which can't go ignored.
The biggest issue I have with this film is how Omura is kind of an evil guy who distorts the wishes of the Emperor and acts on them. In making a historical film I believe that introducing greater nuance in the motivations of the villain might help us understand the scope of the division between the two factions. Katsumoto is afraid that Japan is changing too quickly, but why? There's no explanation about why the Japanese government wants to push for modernization so quickly. The only real explanation- which is all implied- is that the Japanese government and Japanese society as a whole believes the Samurai to be relics of an less-civilized past and should, therefore, be eradicated at any cost. Samurai are treated more like an ethnicity in this film than a class of people and as a result, Japan's move towards modernization appears more to be something to push back from because it is inherently evil with evil intentions. Again, not to criticize this film for historical inaccuracy, but, this missing bit of information could help broaden the film thematically and give a greater impact to the Meiji Emperor's refusal to sign the trade agreement with the American ambassador at the end.
As far as the rest of the film goes, on an emotional level, it is quite effective. You feel attached to nearly all the characters Algren meets while in captivity and watching them be slain at the end of the film is surprisingly more impactful than one might expect. For me, this was especially so with "Bob."
I really enjoy this movie and I can't help but feel that its extensive use of the Japanese language as well as English, for a big budget Hollywood blockbuster in 2003 makes it feel quite progressive in many ways, as we all know multilingual (or non-English) films still have a hard time enticing American audiences in 2020. It's not necessarily the most educational film ever produced, and there is a little bit too much of the glorification of the Samurai and Bushido which would cause trouble (historically speaking- especially during the Second World War) for my liking, but I do still think it offers a close-enough broad overview of what things were kind of like back then. If the history doesn't entice you, then it is still quite a well-made film which is enjoyable to watch simply for the entertainment value or the immersion in this alternate universe of sorts.