This great looking film only looks better in high definition.
Tools:
Recommend review to a friend »
Regardless of what has happened over the past two years with Tom Cruise and his TomKat behavior and involvement with the cult religion of Scientology, he is still a big star. He is a very talented actor and is capable of tackling difficult roles and placing himself into various genres of film. Although he is known for his action films, such as the "Mission: Impossible" films, "War of the Worlds" and "Minority Report," Cruise has done some great work over the years. His performance as Ron Kovic in "Born on the Fourth of July" is powerful and moving. His character role of Lestat de Lioncourt in "Interview with the Vampire" allowed Cruise a little villainy. "Jerry Maguire" showed that Cruise could offer up a little heart and humanity and his "You complete me" line is now cemented in pop culture. His portrayal of Nathan Atherton in "The Last Samurai" finds Cruise in a difficult role where he must shift focus from being a drunken veteran of the Indian wars during the time of Custer and then be a stranger in a strange land in two different situations when the film shifts to a post-feudal Japan.
"The Last Samurai" is about changing times within Japanese society. The Emperor (Shichinosuke Nakamura) is being pressed to bring the ancient Empire of Japan into a more Western way of living and stop relying on the Samurai as defense, but bear arms with American guns, howitzers and tactics. The Samurai reject these drastic changes in society and continue to defend Japan with their swords. A civil war erupts between the Samurai and the newly trained Japanese Army and the last tribe of Samurai is targeted for eradication. Led by the charismatic, noble and wise Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), the final tribe continues to serve the Emperor, but is unaware of their nation´s intentions and desires. Katsumoto has been removed from council and Samurai are no longer held in high regard by the Westernized Japanese culture. To aid in training the Japanese Army to fight and defeat the rebellious Samurai, the Japanese Army enlists the help of American war hero Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise).
Algren is quickly forced into combat with unfit and unready troops and although his trained soldiers fight, they are no match for the Samurai and old honors force other soldiers to resist fighting the Samurai. During the rout, Nathan kills a Samurai in red armor, but is taken captive when Katsumoto barks orders to the Samurai to not kill Nathan. When Nathan awakes, he is under the care of the widow of the Samurai he has killed in combat. He is captive to the Samurai and cannot escape. Katsumoto desires to practice his English with conversation between he and Nathan, but Nathan is not happy about being forced to live with his captors. The Samurai harshly train Nathan to fight with a sword and slowly bring the ugly American into their community and he becomes a respected member of their society. When Spring comes, talks between Katsumoto and the Council fail miserably and the last great Samurai are facing eradication by the Japanese Army. Nathan chooses to fight alongside the Samurai and face the American trained Japanese Army and fellow American soldiers.
"The Last Samurai" is a film that takes a historical look at the Samurai, there strong belief system and their amazing skills with a sword. The film looks at the slow evolution of the Japanese to a Western society and the days when the historic Samurai slowly lose favor with Japanese politics and society. The film shows the redemption of a man who has lost himself with alcohol and depression and finds himself while living with noble, respectable and honorable people. Katsumoto and the Samurai face certain death and as they die and lose their own lives, Nathan Algren finds himself and is reborn as a new man who lives with honor and lives with a respect for what he has learned from his conversations and time with Katsumoto.
Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe are powerful in their portrayals of a powerful and respected Samurai leader and a drunken cavalry soldier who has lost his will to continue. Watanabe is a fine actor and Hollywood is finally starting to learn the value of this man. After "The Last Samurai," Watanabe has found roles in "Batman Begins," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Letters from Iwo Jima" and the upcoming "Wolverine." He is a great actor and this film was his breakout performance. Regardless of his personal life and beliefs, Tom Cruise is an actor that is going to continue to impress for many years to come. He is a talented actor and this film would not have been nearly as effective in its ability to entertain without Cruise fighting alongside Watanabe.
The story is strong and the various relationships and personal growth that occurs within and surround Nathan Algren is beautifully done by director Edward Zwick. The emotions and situations involving the main characters are wonderfully acted and written. Joining these emotional segments are amazingly choreographed fighting sequences with katana and musket. The exterior locations are absolutely gorgeous and the Samurai armor contrasted against the beautiful Japanese countryside are riveting and help deliver a powerful and epic feel to "The Last Samurai." I had a lot of hesitation in watching this film and avoided it theatrically. It was the first HD-DVD title I had bought and I looked forward to watching it again on Blu-ray. Cruise, Watanabe and Zwick form a powerful trio that deliver an entertaining, captivating and interesting film and a beautiful entry on either of the high definition formats.
Video:
As I mentioned above, "The Last Samurai" is an absolutely gorgeous film. Director of Photography, John Toll, did an amazing job shooting this picture and the film´s director Edward Zwick deserves mention for spending days trying to get the perfect shot. Much of the epic splendor of "The Last Samurai" is its depiction of turn of the century Japan. The costumes and sets are a sight to see. Fortunately, the VC-1 codec handles the 1080p/2.40:1 transfer very nicely. I was overly impressed when I watched "The Last Samurai" on HD-DVD and I still remain impressed watching it nearly a year later on the competing Blu-ray format in a perfectly similar transfer. The picture is highly detailed, vividly colorful and pristine. The outdoor scenes are as lovely as it gets. The textures of the Samurai armor shows the strong level of detail and Watanabe´s armor is richly detailed and showcased by the transfer. Black levels are deep and the darkest scenes keep their visually strong characteristics. This great looking film only looks better in high definition.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]20189[/release]