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David McK (3562 KP) rated The Last Samurai (2003) in Movies

Feb 6, 2021

The Last Samurai (2003)

2003 | Action, Drama, War

7.2

(33 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Who is The Last Samurai?

In the early noughties, following the success of Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator', there was a rash of historical epic films - 'Alexander', 'Troy', 'Kingdom of Heaven'.

And this.

Which is a strong contender for one of the best of those films.

The film stars Tom Cruise (who, for once, is not playing Tom Cruise) and Ken Wattanabe, with the former a world weary US Civil War veteran (suffering from PTSD?) who is hired to train the modernising Japanese army, and the latter a Samurai leader who thinks Japan is losing its identity; moving too fast into the future.

Captured by that Samurai leader following an early battle, Algren (Cruise's character) soon finds himself beginning to wonder is he fighting in the right side...

Yes, the plot is somewhat akin to 'Dances with Wolves' (or even 'Avatar'), and I've heard the charge of the film being a White Saviour story - a charge, I have to say, that I do NOT find any merit in: indeed, I would argue the opposite (that Cruise's character is saved rather than the one doing the saving) is more true.

Kudos

Allan Arkush recommended Seven Samurai (1954) in Movies (curated)

Seven Samurai (1954)

1954 | Action, Adventure, Drama

7.7

(19 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"My father was a film buff. He instilled in me an appreciation of the art of movies. He felt that there was no cinema artist greater than Kurosawa. At a very young age he took me to see Throne of Blood and Seven Samurai. Since then I’ve seen Seven Samurai over fifty times, in theaters, on VHS, laserdisc, and DVD. The latest Criterion edition is my favorite version of my favorite action movie. I love all the extras, especially the history of the samurai, which really enhances the movie’s historical context. In the second season of Heroes, we did a story line set in seventeenth-century Japan. The Seven Samurai box set was an invaluable resource for the costume and art department. About half of our crew watched it and were really inspired by what they saw. It’s one of those movies that I can’t turn off. One minute of viewing and I’m hooked. I’ve heard many people say that about the first two Godfather films, but for me Seven Samurai is the one that lures me into watching multiple hours of a movie I know by heart."

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Kudos

Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Sep 22, 2020

Sneak a peek at the Christian historical fiction novel SOMETHING WORTH DOING: A Novel of an Early Suffragist by Jane Kirkpatrick on my blog. There's also a GIVEAWAY to win a $25 or $10 Barnes & Noble gift card, a copy of the book, and/or an Oregon map bag - THREE WINNERS!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/09/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-something.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Some things are worth doing—even when the cost is great.

In 1853, Abigail Scott was a nineteen-year-old schoolteacher in Oregon Territory when she married Ben Duniway. Marriage meant giving up on teaching, but Abigail always believed she was meant to be more than a good wife and mother. When Abigail becomes the primary breadwinner for her growing family, what she sees as a working woman appalls her—and prompts her to devote her life to fighting for the rights of women, including the right to vote.

Based on a true story, Something Worth Doing will resonate with modern women who still grapple with the pull between career and family, finding their place in the public sphere, and dealing with frustrations and prejudices when competing in male-dominated spaces.