Welcome to KIWIreviews - product reviews
•  click here to return to the homepage  •
Welcome visitor.Join us or log in

Product reviews on kiwireviews.nz : Friday 29th March 2024 - 07:31:07

QuickSearch for:    What is QuickSearch?
QuickJump to:    What is QuickJump?
logon name: p/w:  

I want to:

You Are Here...

Home > Categories > Movies > Drama > The Last Samurai review

« Kapiti Spicy Blue Cheese reviewKapiti Spicy Blue CheeseGraeme's Coffee Shop reviewGraeme »

Score: 8.5/10  [2 reviews]
3 out of 5
ProdID: 132 - The Last Samurai
Directed by Edward Zwick

The Last Samurai
Price:
$0.00
Available:
Now

The Last Samurai product reviews

Captain Nathan Algren (TOM CRUISE) is a man adrift. The battles he once fought now seem distant and futile. Once he risked his life for honor and country, but, in the years since the Civil War, the world has changed. Pragmatism has replaced courage, self-interest has taken the place of sacrifice and honor is nowhere to be found - especially out West where his role in the Indian Campaigns ended in disillusionment and sorrow.

Somewhere on the unforgiving plains near the banks of the Washita River, Algren lost his soul.

A universe away, another soldier sees his way of life about to disintegrate. He is Katsumoto (KEN WATANABE), the last leader of an ancient line of warriors, the venerated Samurai, who dedicated their lives to serving emperor and country. Just as the modern way encroached upon the American West, cornering and condemning the Native American, it also engulfed traditional Japan. The telegraph lines and railroads that brought progress now threaten those values and codes by which the Samurai have lived and died for centuries.

But Katsumoto will not go without a fight.

The paths of these two warriors converge when the young Emperor of Japan, wooed by American interests who covet the growing Japanese market, hires Algren to train Japan's first modern, conscript army. But as the Emperor's advisors attempt to eradicate the Samurai in preparation for a more Westernized and trade-friendly government, Algren finds himself unexpectedly impressed and influenced by his encounters with the Samurai. Their powerful convictions remind him of the man he once was.

Thrust now into harsh and unfamiliar territory, with his life and perhaps more important, his soul, in the balance, the troubled American soldier finds himself at the center of a violent and epic struggle between two eras and two worlds, with only his sense of honor to guide him.



Tags:
billy connolly   japan   ken watanabe   samurai   tom cruise
Other listings you may be interested in:
The Matrix : RevolutionsThe Matrix : Revolutions
Rating: 9.3
Rapture PaloozaRapture Palooza
Rating: 3.8
Chitty Chitty Bang BangChitty Chitty Bang Bang
Rating: 9.0
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The WardrobeChronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Rating: 8.3
Dead SilenceDead Silence
Rating: 7.5
Mr DeedsMr Deeds
Rating: 6.0
Charlie's Angels: Full ThrottleCharlie's Angels: Full Throttle
Rating: 5.4
The InvasionThe Invasion
Rating: 5.3
Toy StoryToy Story
Rating: 9.0
The Children ActThe Children Act
Rating: 7.8
Green BookGreen Book
Rating: 9.5
A Christmas Gift From BobA Christmas Gift From Bob
Rating: 6.3

Product reviews...

Everyone is welcome to post a review. You will need to Join up or log in to post yours.

Click here to read the profile of wolf_eye

Review by: wolf_eye (Julia)
Dated: 16th of April, 2004

Link to this review Report this review

 

This Review: 7.3/10
Pay to see it again:
Score 6 out of 10
Attention Span:
Score 8 out of 10
Believeability:
Score 9 out of 10
Personal Choice:
Score 6 out of 10

although i enjoyed the movie and the effects, the story that was told took a long time to get to the point at where it was going in some direction.

The movie has some great war scenes and I enjoyed it for the most part, although I do not think that it is one of the all time greats. I liked the fact that it was something different from just the American War epics that you seem to see these days.

I recommend seeing it but do not know if it is quite worth the money to go see it in the movies.

Click here to read the profile of tucker

Review by: tucker (Karl)
Dated: 4th of February, 2004

Link to this review Report this review

 

This Review: 9.8/10
Pay to see it again:
Score 9 out of 10
Attention Span:
Score 10 out of 10
Believeability:
Score 10 out of 10
Personal Choice:
Score 10 out of 10

After putting off seeing this movie, because of more interesting-sounding ones screening at the same times, I finally went to see this. As I walked out, I was not at all surprised by it's nominations for 4 Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (Ken Watanabe), Best Sound, Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction.

This movie was brilliant, an illuminating insight into feudal Japan as it attempted to deal with the 'modern' world's encroachment into it's highly structured and military mentally. The Emperor was known to be a Living God, who's merest whims were law. With the power to simply ask a loyal general to take his own life, the general would willingly, and happily, do so, believing it to be divine command.

So when the young, and weak-willed Emperor is controlled by a business-minded railway tycoon-in-training, Japan falls victim to intrique and deceit, the likes of which it hadn't known for centuries.

Into this corrupt mix of cultures are thrown a soul-torn American soldier who's only relief from the pain in his heart is to be found at the bottom of a whiskey bottle, a Scottish soldier with a quirky sense of humour (excellently portrayed by a personal fave of mine, Billy Connolly - who should NOT have died so early in the movie!), a British photographer with weight issues, and a swag of renegade Samurai who are fighting to save the Way of the Samurai from being diluted and weakened by the Modern World being brought into Japan by the Emperor.

This movie had me hooked, totally. The last movie that enthralled me this way was Xanadu, when I was about 4 years old. (Olivia Newton John, on rollerskates, in a miniskirt, even at 4 I thought she was wonderful!)

Overall I would have LOVED to have given this movie a Pure 10, but the Pay to see it again factor had to be dropped down, simply because of the prices the cinemas charge these days. However, to offset that slight discount, I will say that I will happily pay full price for the DVD when it goes on sale!


Random listing from 'Movies'...

Score: 8.9
Product reviews for listing 7327: Me Before You
Directed by Thea Sharrock

Product image for Me Before YouSometimes love takes you where you never expected to go. Lousia "Lou" Clark (Emilia Clarke) lives in the English countryside. Her normally cheery outlook is put to the test when she faces her newest career challenge: as caregiver and companion to Will Traynor (Sam Claflin).

Now wheelchair-bound from an accident, Will has all but given up. That is, until Lou determines to show him that life is worth living. Embarking on a series ... more...

Go to the listing

General Disclaimer...

Protected by Copyscape Plagiarism Checker - Do not copy content from this page. Creative Commons Licence All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.

"Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are flat?"
unattributed