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David McK (3557 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

Wayne Coyne recommended Smile by Boris in Music (curated)

Smile by Boris

(0 Ratings)

Album Favorite

"I've heard their new album about six times on our trips together and I don't think I've embraced it as much [as Smile], 'cos it's got a more 80s sound. It helps that I'm not sure what these guys are singing about. It's not music that could have been done by an American group. I like the fact that it's done by these fucking drugged out Japanese dudes. There's probably something in one of those eight minute long jams that I picked out and thought 'Oh yeah! Cool! Let's hear that again'. There's something about these long passages that aren't going to tell you a story, it's not going to tell you an answer, it's not about a melodic piece playing out. It's just holding you out there on the edge, like, what's happening next? I don't know, I don't know. There's a lot of music doesn't mean anything, so it just spins my mind where I'm not thinking about anything. That's a great druggy calling that their music has for me. It suspends you, and you're free - you're just listening to Boris. That's the only thing in your world at the time."

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