total cop-out **may contain a spoiler**

Rating: Null/10 (15 May 2004)

i remember when i saw 'gladiator' i feared that maximus would not die at the end, as he should have because hollywood bigwigs would want him to fight another sequel. thank fully it was directed by an englishman and starred an australian and he did die and the film became a masterpiece. i had my reservations before watching 'last samurai' not because it starred tom cruise, but because it is directed by ed zwick, the ultimate mills and boon director as anyone who has seem the brad pitt lovefest 'legends of the fall' will testify. but you know what? i was pleasantly surprised, and as an hour passed by i totally forget ed zwick was at the helm and the film started falling into place. alas, the pleasure was short lived. this film had 2 things going against it. tom 'happy ending' cruise and ed 'homoerotic' zwick. after spending over 2 hours watching the film head towards a majestic finale, just before the end....someone cops out! 'hey we cant let tom cruise die' ' yes but its like baghdad in that field' 'i know, well kill every jap but keep the toothy american alive so he can tell the emperor about honour ... and he gets to keep the girl' 'but that doesnt sound right' ' will add on another $50m to the box office' 'ill go tell tom and ed' hence the death scene is drawn out like a pantomine, losing ken watanabe the oscar in the process. that bit with the token female just rang hollow throughout the film as the japanese are a very closed people, and the idea that theyd let a foreigner, especially an american mess around with a dead samurais wife just didnt add up. as good as it was, they totally blew it in the last ten minutes. so, i cant help thinking of 'gladiator' if tom died in a hail of bullets along with the samurai, because lets face it, thats where the bottle was taking him, this would no doubt become a mini masterpiece. as it stands, its hollywood fluff.