The Last Samurai (DVD)

...sits on a hilltop amongst the sweeping mountains and forests of Japan; he is the last leader of an ancient line of warriors, the revered Samurai. Katsumoto’s (Ken Watanabe) way of life is crumbling. After a dedicated life of service to the Emperor his future is being replaced with one of survival. Dying are the old traditions and values, fading are the codes of honour the Samurai live by, their homes, their lives, the very fabric of their existence ...
...traditional Japan. The year is 1876, America, a country recovering from a civil war, civilisation and modern philosophies are spreading westwards. The Union Army still battle against the Native American tribes and former Union Officer Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) sits awaiting his announcement at a rally. He is a war hero, a decorated man of honour and courage, the protector of American life and he is a drunk! He is a man in who is disillusioned, ...

melodysparks 16.05.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

...all start skimming down to the bottom of the page thinking martial arts, spurting blood, and loads of action with no plot, please read on as you may get a surprise or even quite a shock as I did. I actually avoided this film for quite some time for the reasons above and it was only because of a fluke occurrence that I have come to watch it. My Father has made a will and he has a vast collection of Video tapes and DVDs. He has left me the entire collection ...
...home alone, (I didn’t think the women would want to watch this) I sat down to what I thought would be an easy watch and a bit of blood and gore. I wanted to relax and not have too much to think about. By the end of the film I found myself very deep in thought and relating the story very much to some historical and modern day events and our prejudices and ideas about other cultures. I also cried at the end of the film, that shows how emotional I felt. ...

milleniumzeus 19.10.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

...has been reduced to promoting the latest models from Winchester rifles in a carnival side show, whilst wallowing in drunken depression, as a result of his part in the Battle of Little Big Horn. After being sacked from this less than lucrative position, his saviour comes in the form of Zebulon Gant, Billy Connolly who looks the part of an army sergeant major but who seems to have a problem making his mind up whether he is irish or Scottish, judging ...
...offers Algren the opportunity of making some real money. The USA are wooing the Japanese Imperial hierarchy with the hope of obtaining some exclusive rights regarding arms agreements and supply contracts. Algrens and Gants job will be to train the army to help keep order in the fractured land. Despite the fact that Algrens boss will be his enemy Colonel Bagley, he takes the job and soon finds himself in the land of the rising sun, a new job and a ...

steerpyke 30.03.2005 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

...Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the Jet Li movies, I was thrilled to see a trailer for THE LAST SAMURAI. Not only did it involve great fighting scenes on the trailer, but it included Tom Cruise......looking very fine! So as another xmas pressie, I got this movie and stuck it in my video player at home with a large tub of popcorn. So now that I've watched it, here's my review on it! THE LAST SAMURAI ***ACTORS AND ACTRESSES*** Tom Cruise - Minority ...
...Spall - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Gettin' Square ***CHARACTERS*** Captain Nathan Algren Played by actor Tom Cruise. Once a captain in the cavalry, Algren is now retired and totally dependant on drink to get him through his days. He is this way because of his participation in a massacre of a group of red indians a few years earlier. Now he works for a weapons company, promoting thier ...

LR_17 04.01.2005 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

...Algren, a soldier haunted by the massacres that he was, in some way, a part of, during the Indian wars of the 1870s. It is now 1876 and he is well on his way to becoming a drunk and a joke. He is offered the chance, by his former commander (Tony Goldwyn) - spot the tension between them - to train Japanese peasants how to be a military force. Emperor Maiji is listening to his advisors who desperately want him to accept the Western culture into Japan. ...
...of greed goes against the ancient Samurai, the Emperor's legendary warriors, who think Japan should remain pure. It is against the Samurai, led by Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), that Algren is training the new Japanese army to use American rifles. This technological advantage against the sword-wielding Samurai should be sufficient to wipe the old ways from Japan forever but Algren is forced into leading his men into battle before they are confident using ...

Crazy-Christian 11.02.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

...and directed by Edward Zwick, the Last Samurai is a story of the bringing together of two cultures that was released back in January 2004. ****Story line**** There is a new Emperor of Japan, Emperor Meiji (Shichinosuke Nakamura), and some of the traditional Japanese residents are concerned over his appetite of western world culture. The traditionalists (led by the Samurais) rebel against the destruction of the Japanese culture and the Emperor has ...
...The Emperor decides to appoint Captain Nathen Algren (Tom Cruise), an American Civil War veteran, to train his army of peasants in the art of western world warfare and how to use firearms. Algren gets seriously wounded during a battle that is really none of his concern. Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe) Leader of the Samurai takes Algren back to his Japanese village where he recovers. Whilst Algren is recuperating the Japanese winter sets in and he becomes ...

yackers1 21.04.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

...War hero who blots out the atrocities he committed during the Indian Campaigns with alcohol. He is recruited to train the Japanese emperor’s new army to destroy the ancient culture’s few remaining samurai warriors. But after being captured during the massacre of his troops, Algren is nursed back to health and taught the way of the samurai by the supposedly barbaric Katsumoto and his family. It is then that he realises he may have been fighting on ...
...life must survive. Over the past few years, one genre in particular has experienced something of a renaissance and that is the good old epic. “Braveheart” was the film that kick-started it all and it has continued in fits and starts ever since. Not only has the length of the average film increased to more than two hours, but the epics of our time have made a welcome return to high production values of yore, with strong performances from great ensemble ...

afy9mab 26.01.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

...wanted to go out to the cinema on the Sunday. That was fine, the only problem was that neither of us knew what was actually showing, so we arrived at the cinema and went out on a limb and chose The Last Samurai. Initially, because neither of us had really seen too much about the film we chose it because Tom Cruise starred in it and well we were both very pleased to have chosen this film as it was absolutely brilliant. In fact it left me totally dumbstruck. ...
...When Algren is captured by the supposedly ‘savage’ Samurai he begins to see and to understand their way of life. He sees that their lives are relatively simple and peaceful but he also begins to realise one thing. The Samurai life is one of honour. During his stay with the Samurai we see Algren battling with his drinking and his nightmares of past wars, we also see him slowly but surely adopting to their way of life. During his time there with the ...

Vixen84 12.01.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

The Last Samurai is the 2003 film telling a tale of Civil War in Japan in the late 19th Century. It is loosely based on true stories and accounts of civil war battles and politics around that era, and deals with issues such as westernisation and heritage, but ultimately it is an action film with some very good sequencing and acting. The Plot In the late 19th Century, the Japanese government is embroiled in a civil war with its sanurai, the age-old ...
...to be of the past and rebellious. They draft in the American Captain Nathan Algren to train their troops in the modern Western ways of fighting in order to defeat the samurai. Captured by the samurai, Algram meets their leader, Katsumoto, and their destinies become intertwined. As the Japanese government prepares to attack, their hired and captured Captain finds himself in the middle of a civil war battle of epic proportions, and comes to realise ...

pmcds 06.03.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

...well crafted and carefully executed. The acting is strong and deep. I would highly recommend this film as a must see. It is not only filled with action, but also love, compassion and meaning. ===The Plot=== The film is introduced with the myth of how Japan was created, stressing the main theme of the film from the outset, which is honour. We then jump Captain Nathan Algren, Tom Cruise, and to America, contrasting the mythical Japan with the developed ...
...to see almost instantly how the events of war, and battle, do not sit easily with him. Billy Connolly then appears as the Captain's side kick and Sergeant, taking him to see his Commanding Officer, Colonel Bagley, and Mr Omura from Japan. Algren is then employed as a western hero to train the Japanese army, to fight against Katsumoto and the Samurai. The use of journaling and well-placed flashbacks cleverly adds depth to the captain's character and ...

veryluckyshorty 16.07.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

...see this film, I mean the basic plot looked good in the trailers, but over his career Tom Cruise has ranged from outstanding performances to almost pantomime acting (MI 2)in the many films in which he has starred. Thankfully though in this film Cruise puts in one of the best and most believable performances of his career and must surely put him in with a great chance of securing that elusive Oscar. The basic plot revolves around Captain Nathan Algren ...
...from his scripted lines, scares the living daylights out of his audience and is sacked in the process. On leaving his place of employment, Algren is met by Zebulon Gant (Billy Connoly), who we presume is an old army colleague though we never know for sure and told he must come to a meeting. It turns out that the meeting is with two Japanese businessmen and Algrens' commanding officer Colonel Bagley (Tony Goldwyn), who Algren hates and holds responsible ...

bosck 02.02.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

...There I was looking at the shelves thinking to myself that there was a total load of c**p to watch, when I saw The Last Samurai. I have been meaning to watch this for sometime but not got around to it. I have to be in the mood for a specific type of film, hope there are others out there that understand what I mean. So off I tootled back home to watch, with the obligatory chocolate bar of course. Captain Nathan Algren, played by Tom Cruise, a true ...
...Late of the United States Army and survivor of countless battles against Native Indians, now a drunk performing in a sideshow. In comes Zebulon Gant, played by Billy Connelly, with a business opportunity. Nathan is hired to go to Japan and train their army in modern military tactics and also to fight the renegade Katsumoto, a Samurai. Injured in the first battle against the Samurai, due to unready soldiers, Nathan is captured by Katsumoto and taken ...

AndyLoz 20.06.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

...between Japanese imperial forces and the Samurai clan, Algren must overcome personal adversity and reluctant Westernisation, in a bid to fight for what he believes to be honourous and just. My expectations for this film were high. Reviews from America have been suggesting that Tom Cruise may well be in line for an Oscar nod for his role whilst the supporting cast, mainly Japanese, have also been highly praised. Being a history student, the prospect ...
...Stone's much praised 'Born on the Forth of July'. Fortunately, the love/romance side is played down, which allows Cruise to go beyond his immediate 'sex' appeal acting. His learning of some Japanese language and above all Samurai swordsmanship adds to the authentitcy of very much a time period piece. Indeed, I have learnt that he mastered 4 of the 7 Samurai disciplines in order to deliver a genuine realness to the fighting. This apparently took him ...

noel007 10.01.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

The last Samurai. Tom cruise I will admit was the main reason I found myself booking a ticket to watch this moving,action packed spiritually captivating film. Some men improve with age and Cruise. is no exception. No longer the skiny looking weed of earlier years, he appeared aptly beefed up for his role as the rugged captain of battles winning the audience over with skilled scenes of battle and weapon,teasing the audience for more. We are taken ...
...revolt. Tom Cruise plays the leading role of a battle hardened beleagured Civil war veteran,a hard drinking embittered captain (well aquainted in blood thirsty revolts grief and deaths,haunted by the memory of the many apache Indians that he slaughtered in his dreams by night. ) He drifts from place to place the taint of death and battle,following wherever he goes,not caring a jot about anyone yet to find his true direction and destiny. His alliance. ...

christina44 17.01.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)

...a grand historical film on the big screen. Sometimes when done wrong they can be complete bores, but when done right they can be thrilling spectacles. Thankfully The Last Samurai is a film that pushes all the right buttons. Tom Cruise stars as Nathan Algren, a military advisor scarred by the memories of the civil war and the lives he took in combat. Now he’s a shadow of his former self, a man who drinks too much and doesn’t really car for the military ...
...when he his hired by the Japanese to train soldiers in western combat. His employers seek to use western firepower to wipe out the ancient Samurai and Algren is content to go along with it. However when an early battle ends in defeat Algren finds himself captured by the Samurai. While living in the presence of ancient tradition he realizes he is fighting for the wrong side. With a new agenda Algren trains in the ways of the Samurai and joins them ...

utero 17.02.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Last Samurai (DVD)