19th Century Japan Meets Hollywood

Although the breathtaking battle scenes are its centerpiece, "The Last Samurai" tries to be more than just a big-budget action flick. While it succeeds at doing this, it has major problems.

The biggest problem for me is Tom Cruise. He's pretty much the same character you see in "Mission Impossible," and while I like him in those types of movies he is completely unconvincing as a gritty Civil War veteran. His performance as a drunk is also an eye-roller, and when I saw "Maverick" in Samurai armor it was so silly I had to laugh out loud.

The other major problem for me is the fact that Katsumoto, a villager in rural Japan during a time when Japan was completely cut off from the West, speaks fluent English. Very convenient for American moviegoers, but completely unbelievable.

To its credit the movie makes little pretense about being historically accurate (in fact, one of the extras on the DVD is a mini documentary called "History vs. Hollywood"), yet still has a strong historical feel. When you examine the costumes, the sets, and the overall "look and feel" of the movie, it's obvious a lot of research went into the development and production of this film.

When judging this movie you have to consider that without a Hollywood star in the lead role and other concessions this movie could never have been made. It is a big-budget epic that requires formulaic mainstream appeal in order to have any hope of getting a return on investment. The bottom line though is that this is a movie worth seeing. The cinematography is stunning, the storyline is touching, it is well acted by its Japanese cast, and the closing battle is like nothing you've ever seen before. Just know that the Japan you see in this movie has a lot of Hollywood in it.

I'm giving this 5 stars. While I think this is a 4-star movie, the quantity and quality of the extras included on the second DVD were excellent, hence the 5 stars.

Trite and Been-done-before

Yes, it's been done before: Add Dances With Wolves to the King and I and what do you get? Well, you would get a LOT MORE than this movie, but generally you get the idea...
The acting is generally average, with the exception of the usual Tom Cruise faux intensity, replete with the usual faux intellectual/academic post movie interviews...
As for action scenes, the audience get's to watch a slo-mo repeat of one sword-swingning scene presumably to show us how great the fist version would have been had it been properly filmed...and the epic scenes are, well, simply put, NOT EPIC.
The lack of love interest is apparent in the apparent lack of interest in the female character by Cruise - no surprise - which leaves the male viewer with little more than some OK aikido, iaido and sushi.
The only thing missing was a rice-rocket motorcycle scene.No Top Shogun here.

very good movie

Great performance of Tom cruise...I am not a big fan of him but I just love this movie.