Saw "Last Samurai".... ehh...

[Dookus]

I'm pretty disappointed. I'd heard good things about it and found it very formulaic, predictable and hokey.

I actually like Tom Cruise and think he generally makes good choices about which films to appear in. This was a mistake, though. He added nothing to this movie, and the role could've been played by any reasonably talented actor.

Yup... a disappointment.

[ArkDem]

1. I hate Cruise. Usually his movies become "Tom Cruise movies"

and are all basically Cruise being Cruise. This one is different. I thought it was the best movie I've seen in a long time. The cinematography was great as was the acting (especially with a "subdued" Cruise. You are right though, it probably would have been better with a real actor in Cruise's place!

[mmm]

2. Cruise can't act at all

(Please compare Johnny Depp, modern master.)

[Beetwasher]

3. My Girlfriend is Japanese and saw the film in Japan

Yesterday. She really liked it and so did everyone she was with. She said if it weren't for Tom Cruise being in it, she would have thought it was a Japanese film...She said it was pretty authentic...

She wants to see it with me when she gets back to the US and I can't refuse her!

On a side note, she's getting back on Wednesday and I'm VERY psyched because she's been gone for a month!

[7th_Sephiroth]

4. i need to get back to japan

i was verry popular there

[ZenLefty]

5. Well, it was a helluva lot better than Godzilla

:D

Tom Cruise didn't bother me too much, except that he acts too much like Tom Cruise. I wish he could have acted a little different for this role; I'm too used to seeing Tom Cruise in other movies.

Hey, they could've done worse. Just imagine Russel Crowe, or Mel Gibson, or (gasp!) Leonardo DiCapprio.

[ZenLefty]

6. Okay, now let's post some SPOILERS...

The whole film just seemed a little too Hollywoodized for me. Kind of like I'd seen that plot before. I found it ironic that there was a requirement for Ninjas, a bit of a pointless love story, and a head honcho samurai that reminded me more of Vin Diesel than Toshiro Mifune.

The worst of all: Tom Cruise lived.

I am of the distinct and strong opinion that he should have died. It's a movie about Samurai for fuck's sake. The Way of the Samurai is found in Death. The fact that he lived to go back to the village and "get the girl" was a big disappointment. Instead, the ending reminded me more of the end of some Tom Cruise film.

I don't know how much the story deviated from actual history (I expect movies like this to deviate quite a bit). I do know that this was a tumultuous period in Japan's history, and that the traditional Samurai did indeed lose. Perhaps not in a blaze of glory being ripped apart by howitzers and gatlin guns in slow motion cinematography, but they were phased out. The Sword and The Abacus, as this chapter of history is called, where the samurai fell to the growing merchant class.

But overall, I enjoyed it very much. The fighting was spectacular, the Ninjas rocked the house, the village was way cool, the scenery was very good, the flow of the movie was not bad. It was a very entertaining $8.50.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Kitsune]

7. It was better than I thought it would be

Despite Tom Cruise, not because of him. :evilgrin: Still can't stand 'im.