"Good War Drama!"

Rating: 7/10 (1 December 2013)

Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Tony Goldwyn and Timothy Spall star in this 2003 war drama. This takes place during the Civil War where we meet Captain, Nathan Algren (Cruise) who is hired to train an army of Japanese soldiers to fight against the Samurai, Japanese warriors. Watanabe (Batman Begins) plays Samurai leader, Katsimoto who takes Algren to his village after he's injured in battle and learns about him. As Algren gets to know him, his people and their culture, he starts to admire them and is trained to become one of the Samurai. Goldwyn (Ghost) plays Algren's mentor, Colonel Bagley and Spall (Harry Potter films) plays writer, Simon Graham. This is a good film and I think it's one of Cruise's best. He & Watanabe are great and Hans Zimmer's score is excellent as usual. I recommend this.