The Last Samurai

[Zidargh]

[color=silver]The Last Samurai, a film set somewhere in the 1800's where the American army had captured Japan and thus began the influence...

That's how I chose to begin this post anyway. What can I say? I am highly anticipating this film, not because of the reason that there will be alot of intense sword upon sword action, but Tom Cruise is actually going to play a vulnerable role.

What I mean is in films such as Vanilla Sky, or Mission: Impossible 1 and 2, he somehow always managed to get by still in an arrogant persona as he wouldn't change himself. But this all changes, I won't spoil the trailer but I highly recommend you see it.

England appears to even be getting an anime in the cinemas so it seems alot of Japanese influence is coming onto the modern screens of England, always a bonus. So before seeing Master and Commander I just couldn't look back from the screens.

We'll just have to see what happens, so what do you think? [/color]

[Yu Yu Hakusho!]

[color=hotpink][font=arial][size=1][b]
I'm really looking foward to see this. I've never really been a big fan of Tom Cruise, but he looks pretty good in this one. My dad and I have been obsessing over Japanese history since we watched the series, "Shogun" recently. x.x

Nevertheless, it looks like a movie worth seeing. As well as the Cat in the Hat! ((XD))[/color][/font][/size][/b]

[No]

[i][color=lightpink]I [b]really[/b] want to see this movie! I seen the poster in the theater for it and i saw a trailer before the movie [b]Kill Bill Vol. 1[/b] I thought this movie sounded great and I would love to see it. I am anticipating it. My brother even looks interested in it and he doesn't like many Tom Cruise movies, but this one seems really interesting.[/i][/color]

[Gavin]

[color=#707875][size=1]I must agree with the current opinion about the film. I too saw the trailer to it while watching Kill Bill and I must say I was impressed by what I saw, I will more than likely go see this film as it looks quite good and has a lot of what I look for in a film.[/color][/size]

[WW2]

Heh, I've been waiting for this movie ever since I first heard about it this Summer.

I'm a big fan of Japanese period peices, and "The Last Samurai" looks great. The set designs really capture what 1860-70 Japan was like. Plus is has already gotten some good reviews.

But I think the story isn't all that original. Its basically "Dances with Wolves" set in Japan. But who cares, just as long as there are some great battle scenes.:D

[Amorphous]

[color=crimson][size=1]This movie is defiantly on the top of my list too see this winter. Along with Lord of The Rings: Return of The King. The previews and trailers are great, it really has captivated my attention and kept it there ever since I saw the previews in Kill Bill: Volume 1 and The Matrix Revolutions and I?ve also downloaded the trailer to watch. As far as I?m concerned this is a absolute must see movie and not because of Tom Cruise. More hopefully because the history that will be contained within the movie, but the acting in this movie looks like it will be at a pretty big peak as well. As far as I know I?m going to see it the day it comes out.[/color][/size]

[DuoMax]

I'm dfintely seeing this movie. In fact, I'm probably gonna see a sneak preview of it today. The entire movie, 3 days before it's supposed to be realesed! :D

[scrmngfangrl]

it looks kinda dumb in my opinion, but ill prob see it cause movies are free here on post...

[SaiyanPrincessX]

I plan to see it friday if possible. I've been wanting to see it since summer. I haven't seen many fully Japanese settings in American movies such as this. It looks like an exciting story. Although I'm not a fan of Tom Cruise.

[Dagger]

Oh man. I just came back from seeing The Last Samurai, and my current mood can only be described as giddy.

It is [i]amazing.[/i] No, scratch that--it's easily the most beautiful movie that I have ever seen. Though several shaky scenes do take place, particularly towards the beginning, TLS's final battle sequence is absolutely perfect--elegant, powerful, heartrending, and impeccably choreographed. This film contains some incredible action, but its characters--and the relationships between them--are what truly make it great. At least in my opinion.

The cinematography simply blew me away. It's so lush and gorgeous... between that and the battle scenes, it's a wonder that my eyes didn't fall out of my head. Tom Cruise performs his role admirably, but Ken Watanabe really steals the show. The woman who plays Taka is both breathtakingly beautiful and a skilled actress. Though she has relatively few lines, her expressive eyes alone more than make up for that.

I've been excited about The Last Samurai for weeks, and it definitely exceeded even the highest of my expectations.

~Dagger~

[SaiyanPrincessX]

I just saw it aswell. I agree, it was very good. It reminded me of [SPOILER]Ninja Scroll aswell as Rouroni Kenshin[/SPOILER]. [SPOILER]The sword fighting was amazing and the story was very good. They also captured the beauty of the Japanese countryside well.[/SPOILER] I recommend seeing it.

[Dagger]

Yes, I saw [i]many[/i] parallels between The Last Samurai and [spoiler]Rurouni Kenshin. The love story is very similar to that found in the Trust & Betrayal OAVs, and even the final battle, in which the samurai are shot down by an array of newfangled Gatling guns, closely resembles a scene in Kenshin's eleventh episode ("Farewell, the Strongest Men").[/spoiler]

~Dagger~

[Kent]

I just got back from this and thought it was great.

The story was good and the acting wasn't bad at all. I think it may have awards lined up. (I mean, if gladiator can take an award, this movie will take all the awards.)

The action was also really good and to compliment that was the use of actual cinematography. I just love seeing a well put together movie... nothing beats a good movie.

Two big thumbs up on this one

I strongly suggest seeing this movie now that the initial hype is over with.

[InuyashaDeamon]

Yesterday I saw the last samurai. [b]9.5/10[/b] It was a pretty good movie. It about a war hero goes to japan to train the army in modern war fare[color=black] who learns the way of the samurai and the sword[/color]

[SasukeUchiha]

I really loved the movie alot, and that means alot. I really dislike Tom Cruise on so many levels, and still even though I do not like his acting ect. I Loved this movie so much. I would say more but I do not want to give anything away from the movie.

[KKC]

Great movie, but it took alot of convincing to get my parents to take me to see it (Parents and rated R films...). I thought it was great. The action is awesome and the way that the main character changes is awesome development. I found many parts very interesting. The whole thing with honor and how you can search your whole life for a tree with perfect blossums. The whole thing with the white tiger was good too, made me think alot. And of course the action was great!

[SadClown]

I thought this movie was amazing as well. Thats all I really have to say...everyone should go see it though!! =D

[Shinobi]

My Lord! This movie is a masterpeice! Impecable, delightful, adventurous. Everyone please go see this, magnifico!

PS: Anime on Cinema screens in UK? Where?! What?! When?!

[Zidargh]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Shinobi [/i]
[B]My Lord! This movie is a masterpeice! Impecable, delightful, adventurous. Everyone please go see this, magnifico!

PS: Anime on Cinema screens in UK? Where?! What?! When?! [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=silver]Yep it turns out I'm going to see it either this Friday, or sometime in the weekend. I never knew Scotland would get it before England though Shinobi.

Oh and in answer to your question, there happened to be a film names [i]Spirited Away[/i] which would be classed as anime. Research it. But this is not the thread for that film, so carrying on.

Well reviews have said it is a complex film that one would not think Tom Cruise would star in, but apparentley he does a good job so I'll see it.[/color]

[haruno_sakura]

This film was awesome. Not only was the cinematography beautiful but the on-shoot locations and costumes totally took my breath away. The fight choregraphy was captivating and the ending fight... it was Rurouni Kenshin right there haha.

And yes, Tom Cruise actually did a good job as a humbled soldier, which I hadn't been totally expecting. However, I found that Ken Watanabe was the star of the entire film, with his portrayal of the samurai leader Katsumoto. He brought the film to life and gave it so much emotion.

I was also instantly captivated with his son, Nobutada, played by Shin Koyamada. Interestingly enough, this was his first venture into a feature film, which I could not tell at all because he had such a natural presence on screen. I was totally impressed with his performance...and with his archery, he reminded me a bit of an asian Legolas >.< (did anyone else feel that way, or was I just seeing things lol). Anyway, haha I've got a new crush because of him LOL.


~haruno_sakura

[Mitch]

[size=1] This film was [i]amazing[/i]. Anyone that doesn't see it just "because" Tom Cruise is in it should be shot. The guy [i]is[/i] a good actor, no matter what anyone says. You can't deny that fact, at least.

Where do I begin? I don't. Because this movie is [i]highly[/i] [i]under[/i]rated. It's definitely the best move [i]I've[/i] seen all year. Even better than Lord of the Rings, for crying out loud.

It inspired me to write a piece as well. (You can go [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35514]here[/url] to see it.)

Just go see this movie, even if you hate Tom Cruise, even if you think Feudal Japan is boring, even if you think there's better movies to see. You will not doubt at-freaking-all that you went to see this movie.

I would give some amazing critique of the movie...but it's too amazing for that. Just go see it..that's all I have to say. Please. If not for Tom Cruise, do it for me, or do it for the sake of finally assassinating Barney the Dinosaur.

Go see it. Just do it.[/size]

[Xyandar]

I think it looks like a pretty good movie. All my friends say it looks like crap but i dont agree. I will probably wait for it to come out for DVD before i see it though:)

It really looks interesting. I am into movies like that!

[Fatty_McGee]

[COLOR=Blue]Well, i thought it was a pretty good movie. I watched it with my family, and they seemed to enjoy it also.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=Purple] It was kind of long, but i didn't really mind. I thought it was kind of sad at the end where he talked to the emperor. Touching, and inspiring. Just the movie i like.[/COLOR]

**well..not really, but good action though**^.^b

[haruno_sakura]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Mitch [/i]
[B][size=1] This film was [i]amazing[/i]. Anyone that doesn't see it just "because" Tom Cruise is in it should be shot. The guy [i]is[/i] a good actor, no matter what anyone says. You can't deny that fact, at least.[/size] [/B][/QUOTE]

Haha, I heartily agree. A lot of people I've talked to about this movie haven't watched it because of Tom Cruise, but he honestly was superb in this film! This film deserves a lot more attention than it's getting, but I think because it was released right before LOTR, the possible hype that could have drawn a ton of people to this movie was completely ignored under LOTR's shadow. There was already so much anticipation for that film that no one paid much attention to any other movie, which is a shame because the Last Samurai deserves a lot more attention.

~haruno_sakura

[Zidargh]

[color=darkblue]Last Friday, being the 9th (The official release date, save the premier in England) I saw this film, I was shocked... in a good way.

The Last Samurai, a film based purely on what your natural self is capable of. The film bases around a guilt-maddened veteran American captain. Based in the late 1800's, it is during the time of which the imperial cavalry went out to battle the native American Indians. Ordered to carry out things he completely stood up again, the man (Being Tom Cruise) finds a life through alcohol and the odd freelance job. However, after being hired to influence modern war into feudal Japan the Captain goes out and begins. Finding out eventually that the young emperor himself is too weak to make his own decisions, the Captain realises that the Emperor's Samurai were going to become outcasts and betrayed, therefore they became rebels.

After reluctantly being ordered to take out the weak 'newbies' of modern battle, he commands alongside his Lieutenant the troops to protect an old railyard. However it all goes wrong when the Samurai are obviously incredibly superior. Being thrashed terribly, the Captain nearly loses his own life until Matsumoto, who is the leader of the Samurai rebels, sees what this Captain is truly capable of. And so it gradually progresses.

As far as storyline goes, this film is incredible and shows very clever relationships between scenes, for example, the White Tiger scene in the very beginning. It is a very deep and complex plot only for those who pose interest in the tales of Japan. I went with a group of friends, only Russ (Known as the moderator, Break) and I liked this film very much so. I thought it was fantastic.

The battle scenes are very cleverly choreographed and they definitley kept me on the edge of my seat. They really got my adrenaline going and Tom Cruise, no matter what people say, is a good actor, and he does a bloody good job in this film, as do the samurai who have their own stories behind them. It's strange to see what happens to Billy Connelly so fast, and I agree with you, his Irish accent was terrible.

The camera angles and techniques were fantastic and really captured Japan's beauty, for it really is beautiful. The sets are also very well made as you can see the industrial America growing very early on.

As far as acting goes, like I said earlier, it is taken very seriously, and obviously with great pride. This is one of my favourite films of all year, I only wish I could've gone to the premier.

The soundtrack to this film is beautiful aswell and one to look for. That reminds me, I must look out for the sound track. Well there's my short review of the film. So long story short, do see this film.[/color]