I avoided watching this film for ages...thinking it would be just another Tom Cruise "showpiece." Then I watched it and have fallen in love with it. It is one if not the most favourite film of mine now. It has beautiful cinematography and the acting is superb. The storyline is not completely historical but WHO cares! There are subtitles when the japanese is spoken in places but honestly it makes no difference. The soundtrack is perfect. It compliments the film. Tom Cruise is superb in his performance. The storyline is strong and the fight sequences are brilliant.
This will be in a few decades time a golden hollywood great - no mistake.

at this price 'the last samurai' is a steal.
captured by the 'samurai' after leading a under trained
company of 'japanese' regulars, 'tom cruise' after a period of being a prisoner becomes a respected addition to the order of the 'samurai.
plenty of good action with a strong story-line.
if you havn't yet seen the film i have only one question for you.........why not ?

The last samurai is an epic. It has an amazing storyline, with some jaw - dropping action, especially the final battle! Tom Cruise did not get the credit he deserved for this he was truly incredible and so where the supporting cast. I recommend this film to anyone and everyone!

Great Story, Great Battles, Great Film! Period.

You SHOULD Watch This!!!

TOM CRUISE in fine form and probably his best acting performance ever on screen!! This shows the developement of a decorated soldier disaluisioned by events of his past finding a peace within himself with a tribe of samurai;that he had been sent to kill. The emotions run high within this movie and it is such a sensative movie to watch,the change of culture within one country and the impression it leaves on the people who lived it.

Great Film, I love this film the music is excellent, Tom Cruise is great in this. as is all the actors, Sets are perfect. Battles scenes that seemd to use thousands of extras in and far more realistic rather than cop out and use cgi to make battles seem big like other films do. I'm not to ashamed to admit I had a bit of a lump in my throat at the end of the film, and my girlfriend who only walked in and watched the last 30mins blubbed. Yup you can call this an epic

Not the greatest film made but still a brilliant film. The film is so perfectly written because it is based on true events, Billy Connely adds a bit of humour at the beginning but then the story becomes far more serious. Instead of being "Savages with bows and arrows" Tom Cruise soon realises how unique thier lives and where their loyalties lie.

If you want to watch Tom Cruise's best film this would definitely be a strong contender.I watched this film at the cinema and at the end of watching it I wanted to watch it again straight after.
Truly beautifully filmed, well acted,fantastic action scenes all in all a near perfect film which i think deserved a bit more attention in terms of awards than it got! Tom Cruise puts one of his best performances to date and the film is 2 and a half hours of pure pleasure.

This movie is, by far, one of my favourite movies to date. It's so beautifully written, captured, scored and perfectly cast. It's definitely deserving of a 5 star rating. It vastly shows the difference between the Japanese culture to the western world and how, even within a country with so much history... how some can be so loyal to their old ways, yet others who are so willing to leave it behind to join with the new.

Tom Cruise may be the star in this movie, but in my personal opinion, it is Ken Watanabe who captures this movie in all its glory. He is charming, charismatic and most definitely captivating in his debut role for western cinema. He plays the character of Katsumoto, the General in the Bushidou Samurai who's views on life are admirable who looks at his enemy Algren (Tom Cruise), and instead of the brutality of wars in the western world, takes him prisoner but treats him with the same respect anyone would a welcome guest in your home, while learning from him and his culture as well as allowing Algren to do the same with theirs.

Algren, for sure, is a soul who's lost his path. A life time of savage wars taking its toll on him leads him to sink lower and lower into a pit of self-loathing and without a care in the world, for nobody... not even himself. It is only until finding himself held captive by the Samurai he releases there is more to life than what he has ever known. Finding peace and tranquility within his strange surroundings and inhabitants, he slowly begins to find his path once again and soon realises it's a much stranger destiny that he would've ever guessed for himself.

"The Last Samurai" isn't 100% in its history, but then, a politically correct Hollywood movie isn't always the right way to go. I believe so wholeheartedly with this one. If you want to see a movie that is pretty much all true references to the Samurai, maybe this film isn't for you. As a lot of people know, the Japanese are a proud race and teaching a non-Japanese the ways of the Samurai would not happen. Even in today's societies. But without such a small thing, the movie wouldn't be quite so beautifully captivating as it is.

The movie will touch your heart and really make you think about a culture other than your own and what people with a dedication live and die for. An astounding creation. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as i did and still do.