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"The Last Samurai"

Saw it on the weekend. Pretty good - a bit like Braveheart set in Japan. Cruise is okay in it although some of his lines are so corny they could feed a chicken for five years. But it is quite an epic sweeping story with that undefinable hint of grandeur about it that should convince most people to see it.
There are some decent battles scenes in it as well - obviously not on a par with the sword fights in Kill Bill but good nonetheless.
What? You want a quick synopsis of the story? Ok but if you reckon this'll spoil it, then don't read on.
Cruise plays a disillusioned captain in the US army. Except he isn't in the army any more - he's got a contract with Winchester to promote their weapons. He's haunted by the reckless killings he committed whilst in the army and he's offered a new contract; to train the Japanese army against the Samurai who are staging rebellious uprisings. Anyway, he goes to Japan and gets captured by the Samurai and is kept as a hostage. However he also learns their way of life and comes to respect it. He joins forces with the Japanese Samurai to fight against the very people he was supposed to train. The film culminates in a good battle scene. Obviously, I'm not going to tell you what happens and this is the bare bones of the film but you get the gist.
I'd give it a whirl if you like that sort of thing.

Oh yeah, before any mindless cretins scream "It's not out until Jan 9!", I wish to say that I've just got back from Thailand (again) where it was widely available on DVD for the princely sum of £1.50...

Well at first glance i thought that.

OPLAR wrote:
> Is Cruise meant to be playing a Jap? :0|


NO! FFS! How many times...

Is Cruise meant to be playing a Jap? :0|

Silent-Scope wrote:
> Sorry to pop this but this film doesn't appeal to me at all because it
> sounds (very) dodgy with an american in it. I don't know what the
> storyline is but i'll go watch the trailer, but still an 'heroic'
> american turning into a samurai and to train a japanese army?

It did happen, however, what I want to know is whether any of the americans were captured by the Samurei? If so, how close is the history to the film?

Silent-Scope wrote:
> Sorry to pop this but this film doesn't appeal to me at all because it
> sounds (very) dodgy with an american in it. I don't know what the
> storyline is *-but* i'll go watch the trailer, but still an 'heroic'
> american turning into a samurai and to train a japanese army?

Sorry to pop this but this film doesn't appeal to me at all because it sounds (very) dodgy with an american in it. I don't know what the storyline is but i'll go watch the trailer, but still an 'heroic' american turning into a samurai and to train a japanese army?

MoJoJoJo wrote:
> Oh don't worry, if I ever make it as a director, I'll be sure to
> re-write American history.

--

Thank God that we've got a sure thing answer to the Yank film generation then.

Back to the film in hand...

The Japanese writing they used in the trailors is completely modern - certainly not from the time the film is set. Is it used throughout the film?

Also, does anyone know how truthful the film is to real life? Was there really a captured american who was meant to train the army? I should really read up on this... with a little luck I'll be studying it next year :D

Sonic

And of course recovered all the highly advanced Roman technology which they'd thieved off them from the great American Trade Markets in ancient Norway, where the Vikings in fact also stole the US design for the longboat and attacked the Americans in Saxon lands.

Right, I'm off to bed. If I watch any more Footloose on BBC1 I'll end up hurling my tv through the window.
Those were my first posts for about 6 weeks...see you later.