Cheap The Last Samurai (Widescreen Edition) (DVD) (Ken Watanabe, Tom Cruise, Billy Connolly) (Edward Zwick) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of The Last Samurai (Widescreen Edition)

Oscar Worthy All the Way!
"The Last Samurai" was a story about a man who changes the way that he feels about a certain type of people in Japan. It stars Tom Cruise, but to me he was not the star of the film. I feel that the movie had most of its power from the supporting actor Ken Watanabe. The way that he acted throughout the movie could give him the Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor Catagory. The entire movie could win many different awards, and I'm glad that Tom Cruise was not nominated, because I have seen him in much better roles, like "Minority Report," or "Vanilla Sky." His great scene comes towards the end, where he gives emotion and power at once.

Cruise plays Captain Nathan Algren, a Civil War hero who loves to drink. He's recently come from battling American Indians in the west, and often had bad memories of what took place during those battles. But Algren gets a job when Japanese businessman Omura wants him to train the new army, with somebody that he knows Bagley. Bagley wants Algren because of the way that he battled the Indians. Algren agrees when he is able to bring his fellow Army fighter Sergeant Zebulon Gant. When they make it to Japan, they are met by the translator Simon Graham, and they begin to train the troops for battle. But Omura wants them to fight the samurai and their leader Katsumoto right away, and overrules Algren causing him to take his inexperienced troops to battle the Katsumoto. Algren is almost killed during the battle, but taken back to Katsumoto's village, which is ruled by his son. Algren is trapped, and there is no way for him to be able to return back to Japan. While with Katsumoto, he learns all about the way of the samurai and he finds out that there is nothing wrong with the people that Omura wants to kill. But it also becomes clear that Bagley is getting ready to fight. Algren befriends Katsumoto, and the two learn that they have much more in common then they oringally thought, and it becomes clear to Algren what he must do.

"The Last Samurai" was a beautiful film. It had a beautiful sceney, beautiful action, some beautiful acting, and beautiful direction. I really did love it, and I am including it on the best of 2004, only beause I saw it at the very beginning of this year. This is one of those movies that you have to see in the theatre, otherwise it is not going to be an good. It is a big screen movie, and I have a feeling that I would have been disappointed if I saw it on video first. Try and see it now, before it totally disappears.

ENJOY!

Rated R for strong violence and battle sequences.

---

Outstanding
While no movie is perfect, and all art can be improved, this effort comes pretty close. More than an action movie, a story of personal redemption, or the saga of a nation in turmoil, it is a blending of all three. The film blends the the epic and the personal, the external and the internal in masterful fashion. No movie except Lawrence of Arabia has done it as well.

Cruise does well in his role, but the finest performances come from the Japanese cast. Ken Watanabe's portrayal of the Samurai leader is timeless; an oscar-lock in the supporting category. The technical elements of the film are all impecable, but none distracts from the film. The part never obscurs the whole, the action never eclipses the drama.

This is a film that must be seen, must be experienced. It takes an immediate place on my all-time list, blending the power of Braveheart with the feeling and morality of The Mission. A rare and remarkable achievement. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title

---

Don't expect too much
What's the reason for watching The Last Samurai? The sword-fighting scenes. There are a lot of sword-fighting scenes, they're well-done, and if you enjoy watching them you'll find entertainment value in the movie. Also, the Japanese countryside is filmed beautifully here, so if you have an appreciation for nature, it's another incentive to watch.

Otherwise, The Last Samurai is nothing special. The storyline is simplistic; the samurai are all two-dimensional and unquestionably the fine and good people in the film. They can do no evil, truly. For Cruise it's one of those self-righteous roles where he gets to look angsty for the camera. There's one scene at the end for example, where he's kneeling and holding up a sword, and he's trying to look like someone who is under great emotional strain and there are these ludicrous close-ups of his sweaty face - really gratuitous. The movie defintely would have benefited from some editing and character development.