The Last Samarai

00Kevin

Indyfan
man, I saw this one and it was great! one of the films of the year for sure! alot of good films coming here in last 2003, and this is one of the best.

Tom Cruise plays an American war hero (well, not really a hero, but kinda...), who is hired to train a modern army for the emperor of Japan to take out the Samarai. He is captured and, compelled by the ways of the Samarai, finds himself joining the ranks of the men he was hired to take out.

It's a good film, if you like action, war, midieval/19th centure Orient styled films, (okay, the last one was kinda overly discriptive) then you will LOVE this....sheesh! If you like good movies, you will love this!

Any of you guys seen it yet?
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
I was privy to the screeplay a month ago, I'd like to see how it translates from page to screen, I am anticipating this one quite abit...
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
When I wasn't mucking out old threads last night, I did go see this film.

I totally agree that it was a compelling film, and worthy to be seen, esp. on the 'Big Screen'. It will be interesting to see how well it fares come Oscar time.

"bob" should get the best supporting actor ;)

(not our metaphysical friend, the character in the film)
 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
For some reason, I felt the critics were unduly harsh on this film. It's a beatifully shot and well-acted production and I ended up enjoying the moview more than I thought would walking into the theatre.

Here's some of the issues with the film:

(1) Cruise's performance won't get the credit it deserves because seeing Cruise drunk and hating himself is something that we've seen from him before in recent films.

(2) I do think that the whole notion of western guy as Last Samarai is a little conceited. I was a little put-off by the rebel Samarai Lord looking to Cruise's character for direction in the same manner that the Emperor attempted to look to the Samari Lord.

(3) I see a small problem with glorifying the bushido (sp?) samarai lifestyle that fostered the Japanese militarism that led to WWII.
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
You spelled Bushido (Way of the Warrior) correctly, and I think your assesments are dead on.

I would hope that cinematography would be considered, and supporting roles (at least actor) while a stretch, might be appropriate as well.

I too thought that Algren was assumed to be the Last, but after watching how the Imperial Army responded to Katsumoto, I think that the movie was to manifest him as the Last Samurai. It was his honor that restored Algren's.

I was a bit discouraged at the obvious digital fixes that kept the horses safe in the final scene, but that is to be expected I guess in a digital age.

All in all, I know it wouldn't go up for Best Picture ( I could have told you that after I read the script), but it should be a top 10 film of 2003, and hopefully it will stand the test of time as it portrays an important lesson, (even if it was a bit laxidazical in conveying it)
 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
Good observations and I think your Oscar analysis is dead on. It'll be a competitive year in cinematography but my money is on Ken Watanabe to win best supporting actor. He's a fresh face -- which I think that will be appealing to the Academy this year for more reasons than one.

[I may have guessed right on Bushido but I can't spell 'samurai' to save my life.]
 
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