IMDb > The Last Samurai (2003)
The Last Samurai
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The Last Samurai (2003) More at IMDbPro »

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The Last Samurai (2003) -- An American military advisor embraces the Samurai culture he was hired to destroy after he is captured in battle.
The Last Samurai (2003) -- An American military advisor embraces the Samurai culture he was hired to destroy after he is captured in battle.
The Last Samurai (2003) -- An American military advisor embraces the Samurai culture he was hired to destroy after he is captured in battle.
The Last Samurai (2003) -- MattTrailer.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
7.8/10   97,022 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 11% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
John Logan (story)
John Logan (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Last Samurai on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
5 December 2003 (USA) more
Tagline:
In the face of an enemy, in the Heart of One Man, Lies the Soul of a Warrior.
Plot:
An American military advisor embraces the Samurai culture he was hired to destroy after he is captured in battle. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 39 nominations more
User Comments:
Beautiful more (886 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Ken Watanabe ... Katsumoto

Tom Cruise ... Nathan Algren

William Atherton ... Winchester Rep

Chad Lindberg ... Winchester Rep Assistant
Ray Godshall Sr. ... Convention Hall Attendee

Billy Connolly ... Zebulon Gant

Tony Goldwyn ... Colonel Bagley
Masato Harada ... Omura

Masashi Odate ... Omura's Companion

John Koyama ... Omura's Bodyguard

Timothy Spall ... Simon Graham
Shichinosuke Nakamura ... Emperor Meiji

Togo Igawa ... General Hasegawa
Satoshi Nikaido ... N.C.O.
Shintaro Wada ... Young Recruit
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Samurai (USA) (working title)
The Last Samurai: Bushidou (USA) (poster title)
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MPAA:
Rated R for strong violence and battle sequences.
Runtime:
154 min
Country:
Colour:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Tom Cruise narrowly escaped potentially fatal injuries after a sword was swung within one inch of his neck while filming. He and his co-star Hiroyuki Sanada were acting out a sword fight scene when the incident happened. Sanada swung a sword at Cruise who was on an off-camera mechanical horse at the time. But the machine reportedly malfunctioned and failed to duck at the right moment. Sanada stopped the blade just one inch from his neck. more
Goofs:
Continuity: In the beginning, when Algren is doing the performance for the Winchester company, he fires a bullet at a bell. Before shooting the bell, he blows three whistles off of a calliope in the back of the room. When the camera does a close-up after he shoots the bell, only two of the whistles are missing. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Simon Graham: [narrating] They say Japan was made by a sword. They say the old gods dipped a coral blade into the ocean, and when they pulled it out four perfect drops fell back into the sea, and those drops became the islands of Japan. I say, Japan was made by a handful of brave men. Warriors, willing to give their lives for what seems to have become a forgotten word: honor.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Top Gear: (2005-08-07)" (2005) more
Soundtrack:
Kagura-No-Netori more

FAQ

Is Omura fired as the emperor's adviser?
Was the Samurai really against using firearms?
Were ninjas used at the time the movie is based on?
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207 out of 254 people found the following comment useful.
Beautiful, 21 May 2005
10/10
Author: mstomaso from Vulcan

After my third viewing, I can finally admit that this film has me. I enjoyed it during its theatrical run, enjoyed it more the second time around, and now, I can only say that I love it. The cast is exemplary. Tom Cruise is so good in this film that it is very often easy to forget he is Tom Cruise. Easily his most powerful role and best performance since Jerry Maguire. Ken Watanabe, however, is incredible in every scene - acting with a rare sensitivity and intensity and breathing life into a character much larger and more human than the grand story of which he is a part. Though the entire cast is excellent, I feel that I must also single out Koyuki and Shichinosuke Nakamura for, respectively, the female lead and the emperor, for the subtle strength and believability they each give their very challenging roles.

The story takes place during the early modernization of Japan, in the 1870s and 1880s. The Emperor's power has been weakened by the political and economic power of his cabinet, by his young age, and by the political influence of the United States and other western powers pulling the strings of his cabinet and supplying modern weaponry and tactics to the modernizing Japanese army. Cruise plays Captain Allgren, an alcoholic veteran who has seen and participated in too many massacres of innocent people, and is offered an opportunity to reclaim some of his honor by helping to train the Japanese military in the use of firearms. When he arrives in Japan, we learn that the first test of the Japanese army and its new weapons will be against a rebellious group of samurai who believe themselves to be in the service of the Emperor and Japan, but resist the Emperor's cabinet and the influence of western nations. In the power void left by a passive emperor, Japan seems poised to enter into a civil war against its own values, faith and honor. During the first attack on the Samurai, Allgren is captured by the Samurai and begins a spiritual, physical and philosophical journey which will bring him a level of self-respect his own culture could never supply.

My interpretation of this journey is that Allgren has found a place and people that offer him redemption, where, in his own world, he can find none. But Allgren's is only a small part of the story - which ultimately revolves around what is right for Japan, for the subjectivity of a whole nation, and how to portray such a subject from its own perspective. Traditional Japan is treated with empathy here, not aggrandizing exaggeration, as some of the film's critics seem to suggest. This is not a film about what is objectively right and wrong, but a film about struggling to understand and empower tradition as a means to control and benefit from change. I find no grand moral statement here, but rather an intense, sympathetic, human drama with a strong sense of honor and sacrifice.

Edward Zwick has made a film which operates well at every level, carrying simple but profound philosophical ideas, but avoiding the mistake of making these ideas and the characters that express them super-heroic. Ultimately, this beautifully shot film conveys powerful messages about war, tradition, ethics, honor and culture, which, though not particularly original, are sensitively and intelligently brought forward. There is a lot of action, including some remarkably well-acted sword fighting and martial artistry, but none of it seems unnecessary and the whole film is truly tightly woven. My highest recommendation.

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Ujio and Nobutada ShenStyle178
All The Swords are CGI? luis1734
All The Swords are CGI? luis1734
All The Swords are CGI? luis1734
This film makes me cry cooluone
How the Samurai Could've Won the Battle? attentionspike
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