The Last Samurai (DVD 2004)

Saw ths in the cinema whn it first came out and loved it.
I must say that the first part of the film does drag a little but don't be put off by that, you soon forget about it when the plot gathers momentum. It makes up for it so well that i'm still going to give this an excellent rating.
Buy it!!

This is not the film that it thinks it is, nor is it the film it obviously wants to be. There is no hidden meaning to this movie, no depth, no underlying current. And it could of been a much better film if Cruise had been replaced with an actor of more gravity and presence as, in my opinion he is too much of an all American pretty boy to carry off the role of a hard bitten warrior. But all that said. This is a good watch. Lots of yelling and spinning round with swords causing arterial spurts from all the surrounding combatants. Some good old fashioned baddies, some honorouble renegade good guys, a bit of buddhist chanting and some unrequited love. Its all perfectly acceptable. My only gripe is that in the pivotal scene where Cruise, predictably, struts out in his special armour, he looks more like one of the Time Bandits than he does a Samurai. But it's all worthy of a viewing.

After seeing the adverts I always wanted to watch this film - thinking
"My god that looks good" I personally really enjoyed it after finally buying it. Especially for someone like me who admires Samurai and martial arts. There are some great action scenes and also increased some of my japanese vocabulary - woo! Very interesting story line too - I liked the reference to the "Kappa" where the main hero is out of his water (The USA) and he's in Japan.

Fully reccomend this film!

Excellent film. Gripping from start to finish. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Tom Cruise at his best. If you like a story that keeps your interest all the way through then this is the film for you.