The movie Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise and directed by Edward Zwick is a truly great film, a classic, and a must see for any movie go-er. The setting takes place in ancient Japan at a time when the samurai warriors controlled the country.
However, the new Japanese leadership has taken over and instead want to introduce new customs and a naw way of life that go directly against the samurai way of life. The Japanese military hires American army men to help them fight the samurai and enlist the hep of Captain Nathan Algren, played by Tom Cruise.
Cruise desperately needs the money and takes the role despite hating his commander, a man who gives him flashbacks to when his army unit was forced by his commander to slaughter innocent women and children in the Indian wars.
Tom Cruise trains Japanese men how to fight who have no idea how to use rifles in combat. Unprepared for battle but forced to go up agaisnt the samurai warriors who fight with swords and special battle gear, Tom Cruise’s army is killed and his is taken as prisinor. THere Nathan Algren meets a man named Katsumoto, played by Ken Watanabe and is the leader of the samurai. He keeps Tom cruise alive to study the american way of life and to see how his enemy fights in combat. The two become deep friends and have much repect for each other.
Tom Cruise learns the samurai way of life and how it is different from anything he has ever seen. He spends time with a samurai family and develops a romance with a widow, whose husband he killed in battle. Towards the end of the movie, the new Japanese army is well trained and battle tested this time, Their numbers of men are tens of thousands while the samurai are only five hundred men.
The samurai make one last final battle stand, highly outnumbered, and without the cannon and new battle technology. In a scene that makes everyone shed a tear, the samurai make tehir best stand, using tgactic and skill, yet in the end they all die except Tom Cruise who witnesses Katsumoto die honorably according to samurai way, by ending his life with his sword. Finally, Nathan Algren brings Katsusmoto’s sword to the new emporor and tells him to remember the samurai way of life and the life of Katsumoto.
Last Samurai is one of the best films i have ever seen. There is not a dull moment throughout the film and Tom Cruise is an amazing actor in it. As a viewer you really connect to the characters in the film and there is great suspense, not to mention amazing fight scenes throughout the film. This all makes this film very enjoyable to watch and a great picture.
I highly recoment this film to everyone.
