Excellent Action Movie!

Rating: 10/10 (15 June 2004)

The Last Samurai was not what I expected. Not only is it an excellent action movie, but I feel the content is very good for history buffs. After watching this movie I felt I would enjoy doing some research on the history of Samurai and Japanese culture.
SPOILERS AHEAD...
Tom Cruise was excellent as Captain Algren, an alcoholic who finds himself as he resides in a Samurai village as a captive. As he watches the Samurai train, he rediscovers why he is a soldier. He finally joins in the training and as he's constantly defeated, he challenges himself to do better each time. His relationship with the rebel Samurai leader becomes strong and each man helps the other in some way. Although there is a woman in the picture, that storyline is thankfully not developed as I feared it might be. Thus, the action and historical parts of the movie are given center stage.
I now know why Ken Watanabe was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. I think he's the new Chow Yun-Fat. His English was excellent in the movie. His demeanor as Katsumoto, the leader of the rebel Samurai, is somewhat conflicted, but in a good way. He's at once thoughtful and inquisitive and at another bold and dangerous. His relationship with the other Samurai, including his son, is strong and they are very respectful of him. It was good to see the respect the villagers showed the Samurai as they passed through, bowing low. It showed how much the Samurai once meant to this culture.
Tony Goldwyn and Masato Harada (Col. Bagley and Omura) are villains you love to hate. They're each excellent as the forces attempting to suppress and overcome the remaining Samurai.
The interesting thing about the movie is that much of what they show us, we know is true. For example, the way Japan (and possibly other Eastern cultures) tried to lose its identity by becoming more like the European West. That part of the movie was very sad to me, to see the Japanese Emperor and his ministers willing to give up their traditions and identity in favor of guns, armies, suits and ties.
This movie is very graphically violent and bloody, but I guess I'm nuts, I loved it. I wouldn't let a youngster (under 12) watch this. I had visions of blood and chopped off heads later and I'm an adult, so you might want to watch this first before allowing your child to see it, or if you're very squeamish, you might want to reconsider.
Lastly, the subtitles didn't bother me at all. Although I watched it on a large screen TV, the print was rather small and I had to read it out loud for people sitting farther away from the screen than I was. That is the only negative thing I have to say about the film. Please see this movie yourself and make up your own mind about its worth. You won't be sorry.