Yar, you be here: The Last Samurai (Widescreen Edition) > Customer Reviews

The Last Samurai (Widescreen Edition) Customer Reviews (115 - 117 of 150 Reviews)

An excellent movie
I really enjoyed it. I love historical movies of any kind and although this was a somewhat romanticized view of the historical events that occured, i still thought it was a very good film. I also bought the soundtrack-it was excellent.

Beautiful film
I cannot say enough about this movie. A lot of people were turned off before they even saw it because Tom Cruise plays a samurai. I say their loss. This was a fantastic story about a man whose past haunts him. He plays an American soldier who is captured by the enemy whose culture he is supposed to be helping destroy and the experience changes his life forever. The story was fantastic, the scenery was gorgeous, the costumes were exquisite, the acting was phenomenal. This movie is definitely on my 10 best of 2004.

The Satsuma Rebellion -- History versus Hollywood
Ray Bradbury once wrote a short story about medieval knights jousting with an oncoming train. Naturally, they got flattened. The story was an allegory of old versus new, modernism versus traditionalism. This movie is that short story expanded to feature length and moved to the Orient. In the place of the medieval knights is a true historical figure, Saigo Takamori, who led a rebel army to glorious defeat in the Satsuma Rebellion, a futile insurrection against the Japanese government during the early days of the Meijin Restoration.

As far as history is concerned, about the only thing the movie got right was Saigo's last valiant (or quixotic) mounted charge into the murderous firepower of the modern Japanese Army. Saigo was not the reactionary champion of Samurai privilege and custom that the movie depicted. He was one of the chief architects of the dismantling of the Shogunate and the dragging of Japan kicking and screaming into the modern world. For a time, he was even the commander in chief of the modern Japanese Army.

Many are recognized as great decades after their death. Saigo was that rare individual who was rightly recognized as great by his contemporaries. It makes for a fascinating story to learn how such a man could end up dying in a futile rebellion against the government he helped to create. But you won't find it in this movie. For the real story of Saigo, read "The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori," available from Amazon.com.

While the movie got the sequence of events and the motivations of the protagonists wrong, the scenery, costumes, and weaponry appeared to be quite authentic. Most Samurai of Saigo's time practiced swordsmanship with cane swords. This practice lives on in Japan in the sport of Kendo. Saigo, however, subscribed to a school of swordsmanship that prescribed the use of hardwood sticks. The movie accurately depicts Saigo's disciples practicing with hardwood sticks. Watching the movie depiction of that practice readily shows why most Samurai used cane swords.

Another area the movie got right was the archery with the assymetrical bow. When we Westerners think of Samurai, we think of them as swordsmen. The Samurai were primarily archers, and the movie accurately reflects the importance of archery to the Samurai.

Notwithstanding the many inaccuracies of the movie, it is a stirring adventure of epic proportions, and quite enjoyable viewing. To borrow a phrase from another source, it is a movie for guys who like movies. Just remember as you watch this very good movie, it is not, I repeat, not history.

Previous Page

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Next Page