Star Wars in Nippon; Katanas instead of Light-sabres

Rating: 2/10 (20 December 2003)

Severely disappointed. About the only good part was the costuming and sets. Story was pure fantasy with zero historical basis. "Too many minds" advice could have come from Obie-wan-kanobie. Lacks a core value; why the "bad" guys were bad was never apparent. Is the message old is better than new?
Cruise looks messy throughout, even when he should be neat as in emperor's throne-room. His hair is greasy and is there an explanation why the length of his beard never changes?
Battle tactics are stupid to the point of inconceivable, not to mention what should be disabling or fatal wounds, are shrugged off a la Monty Python.
Suffers also from the tendency to have overly long battle sequences with hundreds of men and gallons of gore (as do "Cold Mountain", and two "Lord of Rings") After five minutes, you get the idea.
Overall, a waste of money.