Review of The Last Samurai (2003) by Mrdavidben — 13 Sep 2014

A beautifully told story with a focus on a number of emotions and feelings setting apart the honour of the Samurai and the modernization of the country they still longed to protect.

The film has an abundance of feeling and emotion with brilliant performances from a range of characters on both sides and the stirring soundtrack of Hans Zimmer. I do not understand how critics could give this film such a bad review, the movie is clearly story driven with the plot not being entirely historically accurate. Most critics probably see the box with Cruise as a samurai and just pass it off as him being some random samurai American and tossing it to one side.

The Last Samurai is very much focused on Katsumoto, one of the last great rebels against the newly modernized ways of Japan, intent on fighting for the emperor and protecting him from such change. Zwick delivers a brilliant story which is paced well across the duration of the film giving the audience a chance to view the conflict from both sides.

Personally this is one of my favourite films of all time and I say that without really needing to doubt it, any film that sucks you in from the start and provokes and emotional response surely must be doing it's job correctly.