Powerful, innovative script mixing post-Civil War America and the end of Samurai Japan.

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2003)

Amazing. Absolutely astounding. Tom Cruise is, for once, not the only main focal point of this film, and it does nothing but benefit from that. Ken Watanabe has moved to my A-List of actors. The dialogue is moving, and incredibly well-written. The acting is phenomenal. I have not been so moved by a movie in a very, very long time. The relationships between characters are extremely well-constructed, and it's one of the movies of its kind (Dances with Wolves, Glory) that does NOT make the "white man" of the group the hero, saviour, and victor. There is a great amount of respect for Japanese culture evident in this script. I am so very impressed.