The Last Samurai (2003)
The Last Samurai (2003)
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Cast
as Capt. Nathan Algren
as Katsumoto
as Zebulon Gant
as Simon Graham
as Col. Bagley
as Emperor Meiji
as Ujio
as Taka
as Higen
as Magojiro
as Omura
as Gen. Hasegawa
as Winchester Rep
as Omura's Companion
as Omura's Bodyguard
as Ambassador Swanbeck
as Nobutada
as Nakao
as Winchester Rep Assistant
as Convention Hall Attendee
as N.C.O.
as Young Recruit
as Silent Samurai
as Sword Master
as Kyogen Player No. 1
as Kyogen Player No. 2
as Kyogen Player No. 3
as Omura's Secretary
as Soldier in Street No. 1
as Soldier in Street No. 2
as Soldier in Street No. 3
as Guard
as Sword Master's Assistant
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Samurai
as Silent Samurai
as Battle Corp
as Battle Corp
as Battle Corp
as Battle Corp
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as battle extra platoon leader
as battle extra platoon leader
as battle extra platoon leader
as battle extra platoon leader
as battle extra platoon leader
as battle extra platoon leader
as battle extra platoon leader
as battle extra platoon leader
as battle extra platoon leader
as battle extra platoon leader
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as Battle Corp
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Critic Reviews for The Last Samurai
All Critics (219) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (144) | Rotten (75) | DVD (17)
It's easy to stand back and wax ironic about The Last Samurai. But it's not all that difficult to succumb to its full-spirited romanticism either.
Competently mounted in its studiedly immersive, elongated way, Zwick's earnest costume epic dresses a knee-jerk, reactionary sensibility in exotic garb.
The Last Samurai is an idyll in which the savageries of existence are transcended by spiritual devotion. That's a beautiful dream, and it gives the film a deep pleasingness, but the fullness of life and its blackest ambiguities are sacrificed.
Disappointingly content to recycle familiar attitudes about the nobility of ancient cultures, Western despoilment of them, liberal historical guilt, the unrestrainable greed of capitalists and the irreducible primacy of Hollywood movie stars.
There are pleasures to be had in the handsome, heroic The Last Samurai. But they're all on the surface.
The script lays on hokey narration and bombastic dialogue.
Audience Reviews for The Last Samurai
I will never really understand why this powerful epic is so generally overlooked and underrated, when in fact it should be regarded as an extraordinary masterpiece about honor, love, loyalty and redemption, beautifully photographed, greatly acted and with a gorgeous score.
Super Reviewer
Sweeping and emotional. This is truly a bold, near masterpiece that just gets better with each subsequent viewing. I don't know why it's so underrated or why many dismiss it, but Edward Zwick created one of the finest modern epics with "The Last Samurai."
Super Reviewer
Almost 10 years passed between my first attempt at watching this movie and my second, and while I had rated it a 2.5 the first time around (after passing out, late at night, unwilling to invest in it), the problem wasn't the movie - it was me. I think I, like a lot of viewers, was ready to hate this film simply because Tom Cruise isn't Japanese; call it the "But I don't get it, how in the heck could HE be a Samurai!?" effect. What it is, though, is a historical epic about an American who gets a glimpse into a changing Japan. It's well shot, decently paced, and superbly choreographed - with the exception of one WWE-style body slam in the battle scene - and in the end, the only knock against it is that the premise seems rather flimsy. There's this thing called "the willing suspension of disbelief" that all art requires, though; it's not a documentary, nor was it meant to be, and if you're still hung up on factual accuracy, just watch it for Ken Watanabe's Oscar-nominated (Oscar-worthy!) supporting performance. It's basically just "Dances With Wolves: Japan," but some of us call this sort of movie "entertaining popular film." I think it's been horribly misjudged... I kind of loved it.
Super Reviewer
The Last Samurai Quotes
| Nathan Algren: | What does it say? |
| Katsumoto: | I belong to the warrior in whom the old ways have joined the new. |
| Katsumoto: | Life in every breath. That is the way of the warrior. That is Bushido! |
| Nathan Algren: | Hai. |
| Katsumoto: | When I took these, you were, my enemy. |
| Katsumoto: | When I took these, you were my enemy. |
| Katsumoto: | You believe a man can change his destiny? |
| Nathan Algren: | l think a man does what he can until his destiny is revealed to him. |
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