In a word, poetic.

Rating: 10/10 (30 November 2003)

This is my first time ever posting a movie review on this site. I think from what you will read is that I am an average movie-goer. In regards to this movie... I am not going to go into detail about how historically accurate it was or why or why I didn't like the dialog (which was brilliant by the way), but rather I seek to give you an average movie-goers experiance watching a lovely, poetic film.
When I saw the preview for this I didn't have the highest expectations. Tom Cruise as a samurai? Sounds like a reason to pull in the middle-aged women who hate their husbands. I was wrong. Tom Cruise is perfect for the part of Nathan Aldwen. This movie has allowed me to have a new found respect for the man.
I don't want to go into too much detail, but this rather lengthy movie (At 2 hours and 20 some minutes) flows seamlessly and is never boring. This movie is about much more than shameless battle cinematography, but for people who enjoy that, believe me it's amazing. The way it flows, is in a word, poetic.
Amazing movie, best picture noms.