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Director: Edward Zwick
Release Date: December 5th, 2003
Rating: R (for strong violence and battle sequences)
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 Having seen many "epics" throughout the years, I have come to the conclusion that no movie can be deemed an "epic" upon the first viewing.
While an inspirational story mixed with an enormous cast seems to be the formula for brewing up an epic, the movie actually needs to be good as well.
After seeing Gladiator for the first time, I thought it was decent, but nothing to get exasperated about. Then, upon seeing it a few more times, I couldn't get enough of it.
The opposite can be said of The Patriot. Some deemed it another "Braveheart" immediately (I guess because it stared Mel Gibson and involved a small country struggling for survival). I saw it and loved it as well. But seeing it a second time, I found the movie slow-moving and tiresome.
So where does that put The Last Samurai? I say that it definitely has the potential to be the next big epic that people add to their DVD shelves.
The story
The film takes place in the late 1870's. Tom Cruise plays Captain Nathan Algren, a Civil War veteran who recently helped hunt and eliminate Indian tribes. Being very skilled at what he does, his skills land him a job promoting Winchester guns.
Being recognized for his knack for war, Cruise gets a job to train soldiers in Japan. At this point in time, Japan is in the middle of being modernized. The emperor is quickly dressing all of his people in western clothes and recognizing this way of life as the future.
Cruise soon learns that he has been brought to Japan to train the soldiers to hunt and kill Samurai. When Cruise is injured in combat and captured by the samurai, he learns about their warrior honor code from their leader, Katsumoto, which forces him to decide which side of the conflict he actually wants to be on.
Slow moving, but action packed
While I want as much content in my movies as the next guy, some parts of this movie seemed slow. Luckily, the shots of Japan were very pretty to look at.
The slowness was quickly overshadowed by intense action sequences that involved fearless samurai charging everything from ninjas to cannons. I've seen brave men before, but if these guys had more than swords, they may have conquered the world.
Samurai life
In this movie, the Samurai work from sun up to sun down perfecting their skills. The overwhelming amount of discipline and commitment leaves Cruise in awe. As with any 19th-Century culture, the women do all the "women stuff", but even they work to perfect their skills.
As Cruise's time goes by in captivity, he forms a bond with the leader of the Samurai. "Knowing one's enemy" becomes the excuse as these two continue to have conversations throughout the movie about each others' way of life. These conversations were fascinating as the viewer watches to vastly different cultures get to know one another.
Beautifully crafted
Some may recognize Edward Zwick was the same director who gave us Glory, one of the greatest movies of all time. His directing gift shines through in this movie as well. The costumes, music, choreography, and acting all come together beautifully to give us this inspiring film.
You will, as I did, feel the struggle and internal conflict going on within the players of both side of the story.
See this movie. And then see it again to make sure it was as good as you thought.
Related links:
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