VCDQuality Forums - Review: The Last Samurai (2003)

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Posted by MovieGod on 08-17-2003 06:57 AM:

Review(2003)-The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise (Exclusive)

The Last Samurai Movie Review w/Tom Cruise Guaranteed Oscar Winner

Since I got the green light for this one, am going to plug it right here.

In a film which I think will win Tom Cruise is much sought after Oscar.

From the director of Glory, Edward Zwick brings is period epic, The Last Samurai to the big screen, and boy does he do it in a huge way.

Tom Cruise plays an ex-Civil War Veteran who in 1876 decides to take a trip to the Orient and to Japan. He is first approached at a "trade show" in San Francisco to become a spokesmen for the "Winchester Repeating Arms" by his old commander a Colonel Benjamin Bagley (played by Ghost's Tony Goldwyn) to meet with 3 powerful Japanese businessmen, one is a Prince Mitsui a Western Entrepeneur, who has ties to a powerful family business back in Japan. Thus the country of Japan hires Algen to come to their country and help run their military.

The Emperor of Japan, Meiji was recently restored to the throne of Japan was trying to bring their country into the 19th Century, by upgrading their military which has spurned the insults of the countries Samurai (The Old Warrior), which leads to the conflicts Algen has brought with his guns, all leading to the eventual conflict at the end of the film.

You see the United States wants to gain favored Nation status in Japan, and Winchesters celebrity pitchman Algen was assured to help them Gain that status.

But through an early battle between the old Samurai, and the new Japanese military, Algen is captured in a bloody battle. Katsumoto (played by seasoned Japanese Actor Ken Kawamoto) studies Algen and teaches Algen the ways of the old warrior.

But Algens actions have impressed Kawamoto, as he kills one of the samurai and defends himself alone. Algen is cared for by Taka (played by the beautiful Koyuki Kato) the wife of the man Algen had killed.

Now torn between the old guard, who he comes to respect, and the new army, whom he helped train, it all leads to an explosive finally, that Edward Zwick knocks literally out of the ball park with a home run.

The Last Samurai is a brilliantly filmed movie and should garner it an Oscar or two, as it will give Return of the King a huge run for the money.

I was literally impressed with the sword fighting, sort of reminscent of old Toshiro Mifune movies, and Akiro Kirosawa.

The Last Samurai so far gets my vote of movie of the year, but wait til you see my review of two other movies.

Until then, The Last Samurai is not yet rated, by expect an R rating. The film almost hits 2 Hours and 45 minutes

My rating: a 10 out of 10.

One of the Best of the year.

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Posted by petrocs on 09-08-2003 02:34 AM:

can't wait for this one

nice review

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Posted by MovieGod on 11-07-2003 10:51 PM:

Thank You...

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Posted by AnDy_LiN on 11-08-2003 05:21 AM:

heh yah i wanted to see this one ur review just make me want to see it even more

Posted by fuzmixman on 11-08-2003 06:11 AM:

You can't just put a white man as the star of a movie with "samurai" in the title and expect everyone to take it seriously just becuz the white guy happens to be tom cruise. Maybe the previews don't do the movie justice, but I didnt see anything that caught my attention in the least bit.

Posted by Bobby-Whiskey on 11-08-2003 08:48 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by fuzmixman
You can't just put a white man as the star of a movie with "samurai" in the title and expect everyone to take it seriously just becuz the white guy happens to be tom cruise.

Actually, it's BECAUSE it's Tom Cruise that everybody gets all giggly during the trailer. Nobody takes the fucking guy seriously for some reason.

The trailer for TLS can't possibly do the movie justice, because I don't think it looks too impressive either. I do have a lot of faith Zwick and Cruise though, Glory rules, and you can't go wrong with Cruise.

Posted by pHo on 11-08-2003 09:08 AM:

can't say i have much interest in the movie. i'll give it a watch, but what i've seen so far hasn't really done much for me.

as mr fuzz says, shortass white guy...samurai....sigh..... just leave it alone people.

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Posted by XeroFightsAlone on 11-08-2003 09:20 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by Bobby-Whiskey
Actually, it's BECAUSE it's Tom Cruise that everybody gets all giggly during the trailer. Nobody takes the fucking guy seriously for some reason.

show me the money.

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Posted by Medievalchimp on 11-08-2003 09:02 PM:

Re: Review(2003)-The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise (Exclusive)

quote:
Originally posted by MovieGod
The Last Samurai Movie Review w/Tom Cruise Guaranteed Oscar Winner

reminscent of old Toshiro Mifune movies, and Akiro Kirosawa.

And you call yourself MovieGod? BLASPHEMY! lol its Akira Kurosawa

Great review by the way even if you did misspell the greatest director ever's name

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Posted by Bobby-Whiskey on 11-08-2003 09:16 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by XeroFightsAlone
show me the money.

Respect the cock.

Posted by fuzmixman on 11-09-2003 12:08 AM:

lmfao!

Posted by Mystic Slippers on 11-09-2003 02:04 AM:

I think i will like this movie. But i love Chinese/HK/Japanese cinema far too much to be swayed by this.

Nobody makes genre movies quite like our friends in the Far East, and they never will.

Posted by dc_man on 11-10-2003 08:22 AM:

I saw this trailed at Revolutions and my only words were, "that looks gay". *shrugs* I'll give it a watch when I get a DVDScreener down the line.

Posted by MovieGod on 11-10-2003 05:44 PM:

Shoot me, no one said I was perfect. :P

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Posted by dc_man on 11-11-2003 12:45 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by MovieGod
Shoot me, no one said I was perfect. :P

I still love ya bro.

Posted by fuzmixman on 11-11-2003 02:35 AM:

yeah, its that sexy little smirk that does it for me..

Posted by napalmfuzz on 11-19-2003 07:50 AM:

hey now.. IM MR FUZZ!

he can be fuzzy JR. or something..

we might have to have a highlander duel..

THERE CAN BE ONLY 1!!

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Posted by imac6775 on 11-19-2003 11:38 AM:

MG....you gave a Excellent review and as a result i almost got excited at the impending release of this movie.......but, the movie is not my idea of a great film, ROTK yes, TLS no.

Tom Cruise for the best actor oscar.......Aye right, then you wake up with soggy cornflakes, stop dreaming it will go to Bill Murray.

Posted by investor27 on 12-02-2003 04:25 AM:

I caught the sneak preview of the Last Samurai this past Saturday. I don't even know where to begin. I sincerely hope that Tom Cruise will win the Oscar with this movie. I also hope that Ken will win the best supporting actor Oscar, and the Samurai Sword Master character, Ken's character's son, Ken's sister who took care of Nagren all win Oscars. This movie is phenomenal. It is by far the best movie I've seen in years. There were so many memorable moments. The battle scenes were beyond spectacular. The movie has one of the most sexiest scenes that I have seen in years between Tom Cruise and that gorgeous Japanese actress.

I do agree with one of the posters above. The movie's trailers that have been released so far suck. I just can't imagine Tom Cruise not saying anything to Warner Brothers for releasing such lackluster trailers. Trust me when I tell you that the movie is 100 times better than the trailer. Everything in the movie is well done. The music was moving, and it has a sense of timing (perfect timing) that was just so moving in so many scenes. Everything in this movie, every scene has a purpose and the trailers just don't convey any of it. I think it's because the trailer are so abruptly put together.

And the Samurai fighters kick ass. They are true warriors and the movie protrays them perfectly. They are honorable and very devoted in their way of life. They respect their enemies and that's very admirable.

The movie also has a lot of humorous moments, almost comedic and it's very fitting.

I'm rambling I know. But I also know this. If this film does not win an Oscar for the much deserving Tom Cruise, who was just brilliant in the movie (no one can convey so much emotion with just one facial expression better than Tom Cruise in this modern era), I will boycot the Oscar for the rest of my life.

Posted by MovieGod on 12-02-2003 08:21 AM:

I also caught this movie once again with the Sneak preview audiences, and after the movie was over, All 400 peeps who saw movie with me gave this movie a Standing Ovation.

Yes Bill Murray was awesome, but his performance was nothing compared to cruise's.

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Posted by HoldDaSalad on 12-02-2003 10:18 PM:

I so can't wait, I have been wanting this movie ever since I heard of it.

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Posted by AddNtoX on 12-05-2003 04:42 AM:

i finally got to see this movie last night, and yup all of the above is pretty much the conclusions i came too also, since i agree so much with whats up there i'm not gonna review this puppy, just nod and agree

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Posted by Bobby-Whiskey on 12-07-2003 09:39 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by AddNtoX
i finally got to see this movie last night, and yup all of the above is pretty much the conclusions i came too also, since i agree so much with whats up there i'm not gonna review this puppy, just nod and agree

Me too, only I'll elaborate

Zwick has done it again. Glory kicked major ass, and this one, although not quite as powerful, maintained the same feel that Glory had, it even recycled a few scenes and a few actors too. Cruise fucking rules, I don't care how many people try to convince me he sucks, I love the guy's acting, in fact, a few are my favourite scenes in this film are due to his acting, not because of bloody swordfights or gunplay. 2 scenes that come to mind are the 2 times Cruise stood his ground against the samurai, first in the big battle, and second in the rain when he fought the one guy with the wooden stick. Pretty much the same, and they only prove how fucking bad ass Cruise's character was. That, combined with the serious action scenes later, really made you care about Algen and Matsumoto (WHO IS THAT ACTOR, great job there), and it really made the ending hard to stomach. After Kill Bill, the swordfights werent too bloody, but thats like comparing Platoon to Saving Private Ryan, they both did a fantastic job, and we'll just leave it at that.
And yes, if there's any justice, this movie will snag a couple of Oscars.

9/10

Posted by XeroFightsAlone on 12-07-2003 10:01 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by Bobby-Whiskey
And yes, if there's any justice, this movie will snag a couple of Oscars.

To get an oscar, the film needs a nomination, to get a nomination, the film must be taken into consideration, and to be taken into consideration by the academy, you need an academy screener!
*false hope*

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Posted by investor27 on 12-09-2003 02:35 AM:

What on Earth are you mumbling about? Of course, there'll be an Academy Screener. But even if there won't be one, The Last Samurai still has a much better chance than all other movies released in the past year (except for LOTR:TRK) to win Oscars since none of those movies will have an "Academy Screener" either.

Posted by HoldDaSalad on 12-11-2003 05:14 AM:

I just watched this movie tonight, I gotta say it was FAN-fucking-TASTIC. I loved it. 3 1/2 out of 4 stars. All I can say about the movie was WOW. Tommy Cruise can act. I gotta give it to him for this movie.

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