Review of The Last Samurai (2003) by Ibraheem M — 27 Nov 2014

A good story, while it drags at times the pace is fast enough to keep things entertaining throughout. The story of a troubled american veteran of the civil war traveling to Japan learning their ways and teaching them his own was captivating. This movie does a good job of creating a story using key figures during a very interesting time period of Japanese history.

Algren's character is a skilled fighter and sharpshooter to begin with but he does learn the way of the sword rather quickly.. I would also say somethings are cliche of other Tom Cruz movies.. There is great beauty in the shots, a good deal of comedy and drama to the characters who develop well through the movie. There's an unspoken understanding to ideologies of honor and a certain way of life.. There is alot more depth to the culture that could have been explored in the story but witht he movie being so long already I'm not to critical of it.. Other than that it was quite believable and enthralling.

(Alot of people take shots at the title about Tom Cruz as "the last samurai" because he's white. But if you watch the movie it's a pretty believable story that makes a relatable explorative link between american and Japanese culture. The title I don't believe is meant to be taken so literally. In which case Katsumoto was the last true samurai imo anyway, Algren was just there to help and learn his story.).