In the late 1800s, Japan has undergone a change to an age of modern advancement with trades from the United States and other western countries. The Emperor of Japan sensing the need to progress Japan’s economy to that of a modern economy in order to compete with other countries, decided to hire American advisors to help properly train his people to adapt to the modern age. One of these people is Captain Nathan Algren, a civil war veteran whose past action in the war haunts him. Nathan Algren is in charge of transforming the Japanese army from an army with swords and arrows to that of a modern army with guns and cannons. This change from the traditional way of life to that of a modern western age didn’t sit well with the Samurais, whose way of life is to dedicate themselves to defending the emperor and the country. With a new Japanese Imperial Army being created for the purpose of defending the Emperor and the country, a Samurai’s way of life was being phased out. Under the leadership of a Samurai warlord name Katsumoto, the Samurais began a rebellion and revolt against the changing economy striking at the heart of Japan where the impact of western influence is felt the most. Under the order of the Emperor, Captain Algren and his new regiment of Japan’s Imperial Army engaged with the Samurais is a battle for control of the railroads. The outcome resulted in total defeat of the new Imperial Army and the capture of Nathan Algren. However to Algren surprised, instead of being executed upon captured, he is taken to Katsumoto’s village to be held prisoner there throughout the fall and winter seasons. Katsumoto sense a kindred spirit within Algren and wishes to learn more about Algren and the ways of the modern world. During his seasons in captivity, Algren finds himself influenced by the traditional ways of the samurais and has come to admire and befriend his captors. When his days in captivity drew to a close and a new war campaign against the Samurais began, Algren finds himself at the center of an epic struggle and he must decide which of the two worlds will have his loyalty and heart, the traditional ways of the Samurais or the modern ways of the United States.
Hope
Honor
Good
Ok there’s a lot of good stuff I like about this movie. First is the way the story is told. We all know that modern technology is the way to go but yet here we can see why that even though modern technology is meant to improve our daily lives, it can also infringe on those that live their life base on the old way and may take their livelihood away. You still see it today as advancement in technology slowly phase out jobs where machines or computers can do jobs that workers used to do. Being a samurai is one’s job and life. If one was train as a samurai since the beginning of childhood and one was told your job is no longer needed then what do you do when you have no training in anything else? It’s a very complex story where if the samurais don’t adapt to the new way of life then their fate is to disappear. Since this is base on historical events, we pretty much know that eventually the age of the sword will end to make way for the age of the guns. Thanks to this movie, I have an understanding on what became of the samurais in Japan. How accurate is the story to the historical fact? I don’t really know since after all it’s still a movie. But thanks to this movie, we all have a better understanding and appreciation of the samurais and what became of them. This movie also boasts in my opinion an all star cast even if it’s made up of unknown actors. With the exception of Tom Cruise, all the other actors are experiencing The Last Samurai as their first big major Hollywood film role or their very first film acting role period. They do an exceptionally nice job in full filling their roles. The chemistry between the actors and actress is very nice and you can tell they like working with one another. I enjoyed each private scenes between the actors and their dialogue. It’s written very well. Every movie has to have a romance somewhere and this movie is no different. However I like to say how I enjoy the approach to this. The movie flirt us with hints of Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) and Taka (Koyuki) of having interests in one another but doesn’t go far into it. This shows that at least the writers seem to have some realistic respect for the dead as Taka is still a recent widower and Nathan is the man who made her that way. Most movies will have them making out within 15 minutes. As much as I want the two characters to come together, I like how their relationship is played out. The costumes and sceneries in the movie were design excellently. You actually get the sense that you’re in ancient Japan and getting a glimpse on what samurais are all about. The battle scenes are beautifully directed and choreograph. I’m a little disappointed in that there weren’t any samurais versus samurais epic battle scenes. The acting in the movie is great. Each actor played their character beautifully. A big thumbs up and credit to actor Masato Harada (Omura). He plays a mean politician. You just love to hate him in this movie. I believe that one of the main reasons why this movie is so good is due to all the actors involved in it. They just make this movie and events in the movie so believable. While the movie is base on historical events in terms of the samurais fight against the influence of the western world, these characters in the movie are fictional. But you really can’t tell if these characters were fiction or not. At times, I can’t even tell if this movie is base on real characters in real events, and that’s due to the director and the cast of the movie.
Courage
Love
Bad
There are a few things in the movie in which I thought could’ve been done better or came off a little bit too over exaggerated. As I said earlier, I love the cast of the Last Samurai. But within the cast of the Last Samurai, only Tom Cruise (Nathan Algren) and Ken Watanabe (Katsumoto) got the most screen time. I guess this is somewhat normal since this is Tom Cruise’s movie and he’s the big star of the film and the movie is about the last samurai which is Ken Watanabe character in the film. However within the story itself, I would have like to see more on Taka, Katsumoto sister and Nobutada, Katsumoto son. Being a widow wife and woman in ancient Japan, I would have liked the story to show more on what life is like for Taka living under the rule of the samurais. In limited time we only see her as a quiet reserve person who doesn’t complain about anything and smile a lot. Nobutada from his first appearance in the film seem like a very friendly person that immediately wanted to be a friend of Nathan Algren. The story also flirts with us by giving us hints that Taka has feelings for Nathan Algren but never really did anything with it. Not to sound like a total fanboy much less a teenage girl but darn it, I wanted them to hook it up in the movie and be a couple. LOL. That’s my biggest complaint. All I get is a tiny little wimpy kiss between the two characters. What is up with that?! Sheesh. And who says I don’t have any romance in me. LOL.
I also wanted to see more scenes of friendship between Nobutada and Nathan of hanging around and being buddies with one another. There are other great characters in the movie that could have given more screen time as well. The Japanese Emperor is a good example. I would have loved to see more of him and what he does. Every scene he’s in, it’s a scene of sadness and helplessness. You just want to help the poor fellow make his decision on what to do. Just make you want to know a little more on why the Emperor is so helpless since he is suppose to be the Emperor after all. The only major flaw is that not all characters have enough screen time but again that’s kind of hard to do when you only have a two hour time frame to tell a story. The last thing that sort of annoyed me was that I didn’t like the ending too much. I guess I wasn’t happy with the outcome. But that’s not it. Having a sad ending isn’t the problem because even a sad ending can be a good ending. It’s the way the major battle sort of ended that left a bad taste for me. Now let me state this for a fact, Tom Cruise is my favorite actor, but near the end of the movie and you have a major epic battle where thousands of Japanese men and one white guy are charging at an even bigger army with guns and cannons pointing at them. Everyone dies except for the white guy. Come on, man. Let’s be a little realistic here. There’s no way would the one lone white guy be alive in the end. In a field of thousand of Japanese men, the white guy would be the first one to be shot at by the other army because he stands out like a sore thumb. I know it’s a movie but the idea that everyone in the battlefield dies except for the white guy is too far fetch for my taste. I also didn’t like how the status of Captain Nathan Algren was left in limbo. The movie tells us of three possible fates to Captain Nathan Algren but shows us one of the possible fates. I don’t like the idea of having to guess which fate he ended up with even though the movie shows the good fate where he ends up with the girl. I prefer an open and close ending.
Bravery
Loyalty
Bonus
The DVD set comes in a two discs set. All the bonuses are feature on the second disc. The first disc does contain one feature which is Commentary by Edward Zwick. The second disc contains a History Channel documentary, a conversation with Edward Zwick and Tom Cruise, a Tom Cruise Warrior Journey, a Director’s Video Journal, an inside look into the how costume and stage designs were made, Deleted Scenes, and theatrical trailers. In all honesty the overall bonus presentation didn’t hold too much of my interests. The deleted scenes were too limited and weak. The History Channel documentary didn’t shred much light in regards to the time period of how the age of samurai ended. Features involving Edward Zwich and Tom Cruise were alright but aren’t something that you absolutely need to see. I watch about 90 minutes in total on the bonus package before I decided the rest wasn’t worth my time. It would be nice if they added some commentaries from the other cast members.
Final Analysis
I love this movie. I love the story, I love the cast, and I love the soundtrack.
This may not be a total action packed movie but the enjoyment of the movie feels just like one. I believe that everything from the story to the music blend together so well that it makes the movie a perfect masterpiece. In all honesty I can’t think of any better actors or actresses that can play the roles of these characters better. It’s amazing how the film makes us cheer for the samurais and their cause against the modern world but in reality in terms of history, the samurais were actually the bad guys. Remember that samurais are warriors that oppress women and chop off people’s head if anyone failed to do their biddings or bow down to them. This is why samurais feared the modern world because the modern world would take away their power. There’s a good side and a bad side to everything. The movie clearly focuses on the beauty in the ways of the samurai and I believe it does a fine job in that aspect. By the end of the movie, I’m pretty sure you’ll be thinking about wanting to join a samurai clan.
