So Tom Cruise blew our minds in Vanilla Sky, but can he do it again wearing a kimono?.
"The Last Samurai" was one of the most accurate films depicting the ancient traditions of Japanese Samurai. It was astonishing to see such a film finally shown in English that was not poorly dubbed. .
Director Edward D. Zwick, who is better known for his past films "Legends of the Fall" and "Glory" just added another hit historical film to his resume. The actors in this film were so thorough, that many people stated that they felt an inner connection with them and their ongoing battles. .
The film begins by introducing us into the world of Nathan Algren, a Civil War hero, played by Tom Cruise (Minority Report, Mission Impossible II). Through his title, he finds work in Japan teaching non-Samurai how to fight effectively in war against their Samurai counterparts. Algren is then captured by Katsumoto, a Samurai, played by Ken Watanabe and learns about their many traditions and beliefs. Algren's past is disruptive, showing the viewers images of battles and murders against Native Americans. Unfortunately Algren tries to mask his pain with alcohol and is a drunk for part of the movie. .
What's miraculous about this film is that it precisely portrays the lifestyle of his captors, the Samurai more so than any other film. I also believe that many of the actors involved felt a kinship to the subject, due to their Japanese heritage. It was also interesting to hear how close Cruise is to the film learning Japanese, lowering his multi-million salary to keep budgets low and turning down a part in Anthony Minghella's "Cold Mountain," to name a few things.
That said, there is no way that this film will be relying on Cruise's star power to give it high ratings, it was well presented through and through and all actors deserve recognition for a job well done!.
In my personal opinion, I would have to say that Mr. Zwick has just made up for the seven dollars I spent to see "Shakespeare in Love" and Tom Cruise just changed my opinion on his dirty and unfaithful ways!.
The Last Samurai The Last Samurai was an excellent historical-fiction movie. ... The samurai comply and escort Algren back to Tokyo. ... The story impresses the samurai and he readies his army. ... In the end the samurai are eliminated by machine guns. ... The Last Samurai was an incredible movie and its action scenes carry the film and keep the viewer on edge through out its whole two hours....
Samurai And Religion Introduction When speaking about the history of Japanese society, the samurai is a very interesting phenomenon. ... Samurai, a history The history of the samurai started around the 8th century. ... Samurai fought for their daimyo. ... Bushido is also known as the way of the samurai. ... It had a great influence on the lives of the samurai. ...
The samurai were below, the shogun, in power status. Each samurai was kept in a portion of the country to maintain order and stability. ... Knights and samurais used horses in fighting and competing for honor. On the other hand, knights used one sword, while the samurai used two curved swords. ... In conclusion, the similarities and differences of the English and Japanese feudal system are as expansive as the years that it all lasted. ...
Many historical events have made Japanese society today, however the Meiji Restoration was the most significant event that happened in the last millenium of Japanese history. ... The Samurai clans were happy for a while, until they were stripped of their status, however, the lower ranking samurai didn't seem to mind at all. ... These groups were the Choshu and Satsuma clans of the samurai. ... However, the samurai had their last run in 1877, in the Satsuma rebellion. The governments" newly drafted army, trained with European infantry techniques and armed with modern western guns, defeated...
Samurai and Bushido: What You Didn't Know It is fairly common for people to have heard of samurai. ... There is a huge association between samurai and bushido. ... Navy and thus the retirement of the last shogun (Hall, 9-11). ... Boys born onto the samurai class were schooled in many areas, but expected to become a samurai above all other things. ... Shinto was a major part of samurai life. ...
With seeds for the "restoration" brewing in the last years of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the Meiji Restoration ultimately exploded with changes that changed the character of the Japanese nation forever. ... During the periods of peace under the Tokugawa shogunate the samurai had time to study. ... Because of this the samurai became restless and began to rebel against the shogun. ... This caused trouble in Japan and the samurai began to rebel. ... The young samurai dominated Japanese society for the next forty years. ...
The Tokugawa Empire, which began in the seventeenth century, lasted for two hundred and fifty years in Japan and saved Japan from a country headed towards an anarchical state and turned into a success story by the great leader Tokugawa Ieyasu. ... Chikamatsu was born into the Samurai family, who later dropped from the rank of Samurai and joined the townspeople; it was for (and about) the merchant class that a majority of the greatest writers wrote about and the Samurai's status was on the decline due to their moral code of life. ... Everyone was ranked according to caste: samurai, peasant...
The warrior class which ruled Japan at the time were called the Samurai. ... Their lord, the Shogun, was the only person the Samurai was answerable to. ... A peasant could never strike a Samurai. ... Hatsumi is the last variable true Ninja grandmaster having a direct line of decent from feudal Japan. ... During the samurai time, ninja were very poor. ...
