[Kazan]

what did you think?

we went and saw it last night: excellent movie

[an0n]

As I said in the thread I posted about the movie ( ), even I almost cried.

[Gloriano]

Last samurai is one of best movies I seen sadly Ken Watanabe didn't won Oscar

[DragonClaw]

The realism is questionable, especially with Tom Cruise getting shot up like he did, and still getting out with only a leg problem. Riight.

It was well done, though. But you really have to ask, why were they fighting anyway?

[Killfrenzy]

I *loved* Last Samurai. Okay, the story was fictional (sort of) but the accuracy was pretty good. I couldn't really find anything wrong with that aspect.

Incidentally, I didn't used to rate Tom Cruise that highly as an actor, but now I do. Ken Watanabe was on superb form and Billy Connolly, despite being in it for a short time, was top notch on the humour!

[Stunaep]

One of the most dissappointing films of the year. 5th grade portrayal of the samurai culture, equivalent dialogue, and Tom Cruise, who I hate with a passion.

The battle-scenes were good though. The rest was rubbish. Go watch Seven Samurai. Or Lawrence of Arabia

[Windrunner]

Originally posted by DragonClaw
The realism is questionable, especially with Tom Cruise getting shot up like he did, and still getting out with only a leg problem. Riight.

It was well done, though. But you really have to ask, why were they fighting anyway?

i have to agree on the part that realism is questionable, but overall i loved the film.

the guy that played the samurai leader was excellent in his roll.

[Corsair]

I thought it was great. Movies aren't usually believeable but that's okay. Hell, that's the point (sort of).

I really wanted Ken Watanabe to win an Oscar...I was very disappointed.

[Stealth]

Originally posted by Stunaep
Go watch Seven Samurai. Or Lawrence of Arabia

Both extremely good movies!

I liked Last Samurai a lot, it was one of my favorite movies of last year

[mikhael]

Yeah. I did cry. It was an awesome film.

As for what they were fighting for, DragonClaw? They were fighting for their cultural identity. It was an armed conflict over whether the soul of the japanese people would remain the it was, or if it would accept and absorb the influence of the Western nations. The businessman and the samurai embodied the two extremes presented. In the end, it was a compromise. The samurai was defeated, but his defeat showed the western style armies what it meant to live and die for a cause, and what they had lost by taking up guns and cannon instead of spear and sword. The Emperor saw the error of his ways in the end, especially when Cruise's character brought Watanabe's blade to him.

[Sandwich]

Originally posted by Stunaep
Or Lawrence of Arabia

Ugh. That's the ONLY movie I've ever fallen asleep in the middle of. Just.... ugh.

[Nico]

I went and see it w/o much hope, never planed to go and see it. But my bro and his g/friend went and asked me if I would come, so I said "yeah, why not?"
One of the best exemples of why I should say that more often: the film bloody rocked.

Originally posted by Stunaep
5th grade portrayal of the samurai culture

you probably are a specialist of that subject, right?

[Stealth]

Originally posted by Sandwich


Ugh. That's the ONLY movie I've ever fallen asleep in the middle of. Just.... ugh.

really?  i would've thought you'd enjoy it...

[Sandwich]

Erm... why's that? I don't even recall what it was about.

[Gloriano]

Lawrence of Arabia

 i didn't like


7 samurais is very good

[Nico]

Originally posted by Sandwich
Erm... why's that? I don't even recall what it was about.

A white dude in the desert saving all the poor natives who cant do **** by themselves.
Unfortunately, it's a true story That said, it was a good movie.

7 samourais is excellent too, btw.

[SadisticSid]

It was very much underrated. I enjoyed it more than any of the LotR films; the screenplay was done very well, Tom Cruise's character managed to come off not as a prick for once, and despite the lack of realism the fighting scenes were very exciting.

[Killfrenzy]

If you want a really good portrayal of the Samurai lifestyle, or indeed fuedal Japan in general, you can't go wrong with James Clavell's Shogun. If you don't have the time or patience to read the book then the 1970s 12-part miniseries is well worth checking out!

[pyro-manic]

True. Just bought that, and it's great

The film was pretty good. Daft the way everyone got shot up and carried on kicking arse (the most ridiculous is where the other samurai bloke - the one that Cruise trains against - gets shot full through the stomach, and then waves away the bloke who comes to help him and carries on). Entertaining, though, and for once Cruise actually acts properly, rather than just being Tom Cruise again. He's really gone up in my estimation on the back of this and his part in Magnolia (amazing film, by the way - watch it). He's getting better

The portrayal of samurai culture was pretty good, I thought. Obviously, it was fairly shallow, being a film about swordfighting, but what was there was pretty accurate AFAIK.

I'd give it 8/10. Well worth the four quid

[Stunaep]

Lawrence of Arabia is pretty much among my top 10 films of all time. And trust me I've seen a lot.

His character is more compelling than any character Tom Cruise has ever played. I mean, truly, in Last Samurai he went from a man with a deathwish with hokey dialogue feeling for the indians to a man with a deathwish with hokey dialogue feeling for the samurai. And the rest of the film was pretty much Samurais equal in terms of pacing. Only Lawrence was so much more interesting as a character, and the cinematography is something truly incredible.

And if you ain't seen it in the big screen, then you ain't seen it.