**WE SOB** watching The Last Samurai (2003) Reaction: FIRST TIME WATCHING
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*WE SOB* watching The Last Samurai (2003) Reaction: FIRST TIME WATCHING
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"You believe a man can change his destiny?"
"I think a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed."
very poignant line, indeed.
"The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." - Proverbs 16:9
Katsumoto was not talking about lilies, he was talking about spending your whole life looking for the perfect cherry blossom. As he was dying was when he realized that all blossoms are perfect.
the line about "they're all perfect"
he was talking about the perfect blossom. in the context of talking about bushido. bushido is the way of the warrior "life in every breath." Essentially, he's making it analogous to the warrior looking for the perfect death.... you can spend your whole life looking.. then at the end, "they're all perfect." every fallen warrior fighting for the right cause has a perfect death just like every blossom is perfect
"He finally fight for what he want to fight for, not just by the order"
That was so eye opening comment, i've have never thought of that before
One of my favorite movies ever. Tom Cruise was great but this was Ken Watanabe's movie from beginning to end. Beautifully shot and gorgeous music. One of Tom's best.
Watanabe got an Oscar nomination for this, and it put him on the international stage as an really damn good dramatic actor. Every time he shows up in something from Godzilla to Inception, he jsut elevates the script lines he's given!
It wasn’t his movie, and Tom cruise out acted him in many scenes. Stop being anti white, and enjoy great acting.
@VictorLugosi Uh ... calm down. We're just admiring Watanabe. Also, Cruise wasn't nominated for this film, doesn't mean he's a lesser actor. White-bashing? Gimme a break. ✌🏾
@@VictorLugosi I'm not sure how I'm white bashing by complementing Cruise more than once. I literally said it's one of his best movies. I guess people look for things to get triggered about. It's just my opinion about a movie. It's not that deep.
One of Tom Cruise's strengths is that despite having been the biggest star in the world for 40 years almost, he has no problem with letting someone else shine for the benefit of the movie. He holds his own but he lets whatever is best for the story happen.
Bob was indeed there to guard Algren, but to make sure that none of the villagers decided to attack and kill him and make it pass as an accident or as if he tried to escape.
That's one of the main functions of a guard. Nowadays, most guards are prison guards, when in history, guards were mostly to protect kings, emperor's, generals... (VIPs)
You know the sadness you felt when the samurai all died. That's how many of the old generation feel as things they once knew are no longer. I know many young people make comments such as the old are irrelevant like all those who wanted to take the right to vote away from senior citizens or mock elders for living in the past. Change is a necessity, but respect for the past is also important.
Change is only a necessity in response to differing circumstances.
Change for its own sake ends with... well take a look at basically any modern college campus for details.
@@ephraimwinslow yes, of course...change must be productive, not regressive.
@@rxlxviii
Thank you for saying productive rather than progressive.
Self-described "progressives" haven't had a single clue what they're progressing towards (or away from) in like... 3 decades at least.
@@rxlxviii
Thank you for saying productive rather than progressive.
(The latter term has dropped precipitously in value recently.)
Yea, we all long for the days of Jim crow and people need to respect that.!
This movie is storytelling at its finest. I saw this in a college town movie theater, and it is the only time I’ve ever witnessed a crowd leave the movie in near silence, aside from the muffled tears/sadness.
18:36 That piece of music is literally called Beating In The Rain. Amazing piece. Another Hans Zimmer masterpiece.
All the actors were absolutely incredible, no doubt. However, I would also like to recognize Hans Zimmer for the AMAZING soundtrack to this movie. It's one of a kind
This period in Japanese history is fascinating. Imagine going from the European middle ages to the industrial age in something like 30 years, not hundreds .
That's basically what happened and this movie details the clash between the old and new.
L'ère Meiji 😅
I watched this with my mom when it first came out and haven’t seen it since, we’re huge Tom Cruise fans. I don’t think I ever watched it again because I didn’t like the ending, but now so many years later I realize I was just too young to understand the culture and deeper meaning that really makes this movie beautiful. So glad you two reacted to this, I def cried with you and now I gotta rewatch it properly with my mom ☺️
I love watching movies with you guys!
Perfect…They are all…perfect!
Well, the movie was shot in New Zealand, you can recognize the landscapes from The Lord of the Rings
I love the scene where he tells the conscript to fire at him, cause you see all the new recruits duck immediately, while General Hasegawa, Colonel Bagley, Omura's bodyguard, and Sergeant Gant don't even flinch. Really demonstrates the difference between those who have experienced battle from the green troops.
31:45 The topknot is a sacred part of Samurai culture. When Nobutada cries out as his topknot is being cut off, it’s like he’s begging his ancestors' forgiveness for allowing himself to be publicly dishonoured like that.
it's more than that... if u cut off your own topknot it was basically u denouncing your titles. sometimes defeated samurai who didn't commit harakiri also had their topknot cut off. cutting his topkknot waa utterly disrespectful beyond measure
@@vkdeen7570 Exactly. At least doing it himself would have been by choice.
Samurais helmets & masks looked the way they did was to scare off their opponents during battle and to strike terror in their enemies hearts.
That General was committing seppuku as it was a practice {from 1177 to 1970} performed by Samurai to avoid falling into enemy hands and to attenuate shame also to avoid torture.
As a lifelong student of history, I tend to wince at "historical period pieces", however a good film such as this cannot be ignored. Great script, casting & cinematography combined with a terrific score makes for a quasi modern epic. Ken Wantanabe is absolutely brilliant in his role as Katsumoto. My only complaint is the cheese that popped up now & again. The main is how Algren begins to train & in a short time almost attains the proficiency level of Ujio enough to obtain that draw. One article I read stated the Japanese received this very well as it portrayed their people in an honorable & accurate manner in terms of the societal depiction. Great reaction & analysis, very much enjoy your commentary.
As someone with over 30 years of martial arts experience including classical kendo (kogen itto Ryu), it bothered me as well that the Cruise character would achieve skill equivalence. I would note thought that Algren was a trained soldier and highly decorated soldier, who did know how to fight with a cavalry sword. So it’s not outlandish that he became proficient with the katana, but not likely that he’d equal the best fighter among the samurai.
So many reactors do not understand defeated samurai's suicide (11:46). Seppuku, the honourable method of taking one’s own life practiced by men of the samurai (military) class in feudal Japan. The word hara-kiri (literally, “belly-cutting”), though widely known to foreigners, is rarely used by Japanese, who prefer the term seppuku.
Samurai was not something someone 'became'. It was a social class you were born into. The kid was already a member of the samurai class because he was the son of a samurai, it was just assumed he would grow up to be a warrior like his father. On certain occasions yes a commoner could be elevated to the rank of Samurai, but only on the order of his Daimyo or lord. For instance in the scene were Katsumoto hands Algren the sword he is essentially elevating him to that status though it is more a matter of needing him to fight than any social reason.
I'm pretty sure he was referring to his psychology, not his rank.
why do you have that pride D&D picture? keep that crap out of it please.
@@xhelan131 No
@@xhelan131- Perhaps you should keep your opinions and bigotry to yourself.
@@Parallax-3D no thanks, you people need to be reminded we will never be silenced :)
Perhaps the most poignant aspect of the movie is something common in civil wars. The combatants knew or were related to the opposition. In this case, the modern army was called upon to kill their heros. It's as bittersweet as victory can be.
You both clearly felt all the emotions. I hope this adds to your understanding of the social implications.
You haven't reacted to, or seen it yet, but this scene at 7:19 reminds me of Glory and I just realized this, but it's the same director so that makes sense. I consider Glory one of the best war movies ever and it has a STACKED cast. 5 Oscar noms and won 3. 34:46 - Peter Pettigrew coming in clutch lol
9:06, Sergeant Gant is a loyal one for sure.
Its been long held military tradition, that young newly commissioned lieutenants are usually given an older non-commissioned officer (NCO) like Gant to be their advisor. These lieutenants are usually fresh from college or the academy so they have a head full of theory but no real world military experience. So the NCO respectfully advises and teaches the young officer so they don't screw up.
I've heard of one Colonel who hit it off so well with his first NCO advisor that they teamed up for the rest of their careers. When the Colonel got a promotion or transferred to a new base, he made sure his sergeant got promoted and transferred as well. Last I heard they were stationed at the Pentagon and the Colonel was being considered for promotion to General.
The relationship between Algren and Gant strikes me as the same kind of dynamic. Even though Algren has been promoted up to Captain, Gant is still by his side teaching and supporting him. So in this situation he not only has his old student Algren at risk but the young men they have been training. So Gant is showing a lot of loyalty to stay at the front with the unit.
With Gant's death, Algren is forced to finally begin to grow up and become the soldier, the warrior he could be.
Fun fact:most ninja were simple farmers and most if not all their weapons were farmers tools repurposed into weapons
Most ninja that we know of were also samurai
Sorry but ninja in the old Japan where the equivalent to modern special forces. They where used as spies saboteurs and assassin's. And the misconception about them beeing farmers and their weapons are farming tools came from the fact that as spies they often pretended to be farmers and so their weapons had to look like tools.
Because of the secret nature of their profession real facts about them are really rare but it seems to be sure that they existed since 794.
The name samurai was commonly used much later for warriors.
The ninja were neither farmers nor samurai. The latter is modern fiction. They were trained assassins and spy’s and would not last very long in a 1:1 sword battle with a trained samurai. That’s why they used trickery and deceit. They would much rather poison, stab someone from behind, or kill then while asleep than fight 1:1.
The ninja didn’t come from the samurai class, more likely from a lesser status caste like farmers or merchants, but they weren’t either from an occupation. More likely criminals.
There is a lot of mud on the 'history' of ninjas - as is evidenced by just this short comment thread :D.
Now, I am not a Samurai, nor Japanese, but I am a (former) historian who has spent a good few decades immersed in the story of Japan. I am also a student of the Japanese martial arts, specifically, Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Iaido, so I have had some contact with the myths and legends of the military side of things.
There is a strong suspicion that the Ninja never existed at all (sorry, Sensei Hatsumi :)) but the most credible version of the tale is, as Barney said here, that the 'ninja' were Samurai tasked with missions of espionage and assassination for their lords. Even tho' a Samurai's honour was protected, no matter what he did, as long as he was obeying the wishes of his lord, it was possibly the case that the Ninja persona was a 'cover story' to alleviate the guilt of behaving so dishonourably and to prevent that stain from spilling onto their family name.
Ok yeah! Nice reaction you two! Now you are ready to react to the best show on TV right now “Shogun”. It will be winning all the awards this year. It also has the famous Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada as a lead. He plays the senior Samurai that teaches Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai. I hope you guys consider reacting to it. Thanks for sharing your video with us!
A great movie. Ken Watanabe was exceptional as Katsumoto. HOWEVER, it shouldn't be mistaken for history. The U.S. played little, to, no part in the Meiji Restoration. Less than a decade before, we had just emerged from the most destructive war in our history, and, our military, which had been seriously drawn down, was pre-occupied fighting Native Americans on the frontier.
Love your reactions thanks!
This movie is one of the best
One of my late grandfather's favorite films. Some recent films I hope you two will check out are Master and Commander (2003), Down Periscope (1996), the Patriot (2000), and Stardust (2007). Also, the How to Train Your Dragon series as well. Older films you should watch are The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Dodge City (1939), Forbidden Planet (1957), and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958).
For everyone who loves this movie I recommend the 2004 movie Hidalgo
everyone is a quarter japanees after this movie :D
Well if you like Samurais, check out the remake of Shogun (2024) - earlier mini series version was 1980 - and both were of course based on James Clavell's novel by the same name.
And Clavell’s novel is based on the rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Aw hell yeah, an all timer!
"I will tell you how he lived" - one of the best quotes and deliveries ever.
Amazing line and perfectly delivered by Tom.
This movie was a huge hit in Japan. It came out right as younger generations were rediscovering traditional culture.
I LOVE that they let the camera stay on Ujio for a little while after he gets unhorsed just so we get to see him tear through Imperial soldiers like an absolute blender.
While it's a very romanticized samurai movie, it's still the most emotional samurai movie I've ever seen. Maybe one of Toms best. I mean, the whole cast is amazing. I've watched it dozens of times. If you want another good one, watch the new Shogun series. It's amazing, and much more realistic of the Samurai/Japanese at the time. And it's more or less based on a true story.
Ujio acknowledging Algren with a nod when he walks out of Taka's house wearing her late husband's armor legit felt as satisfying as Luke Skywalker blowing up the Death Star or Rocky Balboa going the distance against Apollo Creed.
It kind of reminds me of Wind In His Hair talking with Kevin Costners character in Dances With Wolves about his friend dying because he was coming. Acceptance as one of them beyond being an allie.
The nod is great, but the moment that gets me is the fit check. That respect of "if you're wearing it to battle, I will confirm it is properly fitted and will serve the function." They were true brothers in arms.
Better: Luke Skywalker is forever disgraced by the later actions of Disney and Mark Hamill.
@@pistonburner6448 ah yes, another person who pretends to be a SW fan so they can spew vitriol where it has no place, classy look.
@@BigSeth1090 You have been programmed well: you spew tribal hate and vitriol while falsely claiming to defend against it. And as always: you have no actual, real accusations or argumentation whatsoever. You don't even try to converse, you are only fighting a culture war of hate and greed for power and subjugation of others.
One inaccuracy in this film is at this time period samurai were used to using firearms as they had been using them for a long time they didn’t strictly use Kantana and wakizashi they used any means they needed
They say Katsumoyo "No longer uses forearms" because he feels they dishonor him, so presumably he did use firearms previously. It's the conscript soldiers they being him in to train not samurai
@@Metaljacket420 "No longer uses forearms". A bit conceited lmao.
This cracked me up.
Katsumoto's historical precedent fought his last stand at swordpoint because he ran out of ammunition.
Though neither he nor his men wore armour, they where essentially (noble) officers with experience in mid-19th century warfare as they recently had fought an intermiate/modern modern war ousting the Tokugawa Shogunate and as such of course wore no (16th century...) armour as it would only make gun wounds worse.
Also the Samurai fought to retain a position of social privilege which included things like killing commoners at will....
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
In my humble opinion, when Katsumoto was making that last poetic statement, he was indeed making a call-back to the lilies. But in that final instance he was using it as a metaphore for all of his fellow samurai who fought and died there.
Their perfection was crowned in their honorable and valiant death on the battlefield (also like the final falling away of the beautiful and perfect blossoms)
"My soldiers, rage! My soldiers, scream! My soldiers, fight!"
- Erwin Smith
This movie helped make life bearable, for me, in a time where I didn't feel like I was deserving of life. Such a perfect movie. Also, I love the intimacy of Taka helping dress Nathan into the red armor. It's intimate and sensual, without being perverse or showing anything unnecessarily graphic. Thank you both for the reaction and insight!
I've seen this movie four times now. It gets better with each viewing. Excellent reactions!
Winn thought there was only one Samurai 😂😂 she’s amazing. Love u both ❤
"What is your name?"
"Tom Cruise." Good joke that went under the radar.
Yes! Thank you! This is my absolute favorite movie of all time! It is so beautiful in so many ways ❤
Love from Norway ❤️
Someone said once that "She's honoured to have ny guest in her house" isn't even a lie.
More that her chosing her as the lord is an honour to her, whether she appreciates it or not.
Same as Katsumoto being chosen to be General Hasegawa's second when he commits Seppuku, it's considered an honour to be trusted with the task.
I like to think the junior officer who commands the guns to stop firing symbolises the audience, and the modern Japanese people, who realised that they can't forget their traditions.
Y'all are one of the best reaction channels on CZcams. Thank you for the great content. Take care. ✌️
Ujio is a fiercely traditional samurai and the katana, a symbol of his class, is everything to his eyes. Even holding a bokken (wooden katana) is an honor that a stranger like Algren does not deserve, hence his immense anger.
It's very similar to Europe's nobilty (the warrior class) till the 18th century, where owning and holding a sword was a privilege reserved to them.
The last samurai is very loosely based on Jules Brunet a French military officer who served the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Boshin War in Japan. About 20% or so is true. There were only about 10 foreign born samurai in the history of Japan. Three were European and one African.
It is the only movie that let me leave the theatre in trance and it seemed I wasn´t the only one. Most were whispering at best. Entering the main hall I felt almost offended hearing trivial things like people discussing upcoming plans or what popcorn they wanted to buy.
43:02 the reason they're standing there is because Algren fought in the American and Indian wars, much like the American Civil War, they would stand while being fired upon. That's how it was, Hundreds of men stood in file all the while reloading and firing muskets. This movie rocks and I'm fixing to watch it again soon after
Thanks! Another beautiful reaction guys, ty!
Thank you so much!
Did you recognize, Timothy Spall? He played Simon Graham in this film (the English linguist) but he also played Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail), the betrayer of Harry Potter’s parents, in the movies.
Havent seen your reaction yet, but yes, this is full of the romantic notions of honour, loyalty and being true to oneself
17:27, heck yeah there is just something so freaking cool about swords and learning to use them.
Incredible performance by Ken Watanabe
I believe it was also his first English speaking role.
Every time I watched this movie I cry.
Beautiful work.
BTW... the gatling guns used in the battle... during the Civil War, the South called them the "Devils Breath"
My favorite scene in this movie is when the village/Samurai sees (Tom Cruise)Captain Algren fighting against Ujio in the rain with the wooden swords because it's loaded with symbolism that stretches across the whole movie's theme. On a surface level, it shows Captain Algren's bravery and his intense spirit and perseverance. But from a Japanese cultural perspective, it would have been astonishing and confusing for those people to witness a man continue to get back up again and again after being defeated over and over. Their culture tells them they should give up out of shame and kill themselves to retain/regain their honor if they're defeated, and yet Captain Algren defies that and shows them an alternative way to approach defeat: to get back up and fight until you have nothing left.
In this way, Captain Algren's character represents what the Samurai need to learn and change about themselves in order to continue fighting for their way of life in this changing of an age where the Emperor and Japanese people no longer believe the Samurai are needed or what they brought to their culture with their way of life. This is how Captain Algren fulfills the vision and purpose of the White Tiger meant to help the Samurai through to their ultimate end and communicate with the Emperor.
I only realized when watching this even though I've been rewatching this movie (through reactions, but still) a lot of times, but the samurai armor that Algren wore at the end (the one that's supposedly belongs to Taka's late husband) is a red armor. If I remember correctly, red armor is (at the very least during Sengoku/Warring States period) worn by samurai who are part of a regiment that acts as "elite troops", like the Takeda's "Red Cavalry" or Naomasa Ii's "Red Demons". Meaning that to wear such an armor you have to be considered a very capable warrior. Just the sight of a regiment of red-armored samurai in the field is supposed to strike fear into the hearts of enemies. So Taka's husband - and Algren, too, for that matter - they must've been considered competent warriors.
There is a song by the band Sabaton about this last battle: Shiroyama. The final battle was the battle of Shiroyama. Have a listen if you like some historical powermetal.
Japan still has a lot of history in their present times, a lot of ritual and honor. I went there for business a couple of years ago and they even ritualize business cards. When they hand you a card, it's with both hands not one, the card is always faced to your direction so you can read it (not just shown to you any old way), and you are supposed to accept it in the same fashion, with both hands. If you're meeting with mutiple people, you repeat this for every last person. When it's time to sit, you put the cards out in front of you on the table in the same order as the people sit around you, so it's easy to always address someone correctly, even though you may have just met 10 people in a matter of minutes. And, you never, ever just put their cards in your pants, especially not the back pockets... it's deemed rude. That card is an extension of themselves so to sit on it, for example, would be no different than you sitting on them. A lot of this depends on where you are and what you're doing. At night at a restaurant or bar things are more lose, as you might expect, compared to an office environment. It was some work to watch what others were doing... to make sure you didn't accidentally do anything rude in their eyes, but to be honest, I quite liked it. Most things, even the exchange of business cards, had some weight to it... some meaning. Everything wasn't just cause... there was a style and a beauty to it.
My favorite movie of all time. Watanabe and Cruise deliver their best performances (to me).
There's a wholesomeness and sense of purpose/honor you don't see much anymore in movies...let alone in life.
The Perfect Blossom call back/realization, and I'll tell you how he lived are such great iconic scenes/lines.
Love your reactions, it's those heart string tugs...a shared relatable experience between people that will never meet.
I absolutely love this film - Beautifully shot. Everyone was amazing in their role and the film was gripping from start to finish.
that was so nice, I wish you both lots of luck and happiness :)
Such a beautiful movie and a great reaction! The true story is fascinating as well.
Edward Zwick made several huge movies and a few just big ones:
As a Director...
- About Last Night - Rob Lowe & Demi Moore in a romance, based on a David Mamet play. One of those "Brat Pack" movies as the two leads were part of that generation of actors.
- Glory - Matthew Broderick, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman, and Denzel Washington in his first Oscar-winning role. A Civil War film about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first African-American regiments.
- Legends of the Fall - Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aiden Quinn, and Julia Ormond - A family drama that was Brad Pitt's first big leading man roie, it was a huge, lush, romantic drama.
- Courage Under Fire - Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Matt Damon
- Blood Diamond - Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Housou, and Jennifer Connelly
- Defiance - Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber
- Love And Other Drugs - Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway
- Jack Reacher: Never Go Back - Tom Cruise's second outing as Lee Child's former Army investigator, Jack Reacher. Despite being too small, physically, for the role of Reacher, Cruise was pretty good...but I really recommend the Amazon series Reacher with Alan Ritchson. Jack Reacher, in the novels is 6'5", between 210 to 250 pounds, with a 50" chest...Richson comes close, Cruise...not so much! Both actors play this amazing character well.
As a Producer...
- Dangerous Beauty - Catherine McCormick (Murron from Braveheart) and Rufus Sewell - Set in Venice during the Renaissance, about the poetess and courtesan Veronica Franco...I love this film!
- Shakespeare In Love - Winner of Best Picture (1998), about a young William Shakespeare with writer's block, and the beauty who becomes his muse. Joseph Fiennes as Shakespeare, Gwyneth Paltrow in her Oscar-winning role, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck, and Judi Dench in her Oscar-winning role as Queen Elizabeth I. Some people hate on it...I still adore this film.
- Traffic - Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Don Cheadle, and Benecio Del Toro in his Oscar-winning performance. About the illegal drug trade and the war fighting it.
- I Am Sam - Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, and both Dakota and Elle Fanning playing the same role at different ages. About a mentally disabled man trying to maintain custody of his daughter, who is exceptionally bright.
This is one of my favourite movies. From here I would recommend Memoirs of a Geisha for an idea of Japanese culture just prior to WW2 . Another recommendation would be HIdalgo, which has the actor who played Aragorn as the main who is also haunted by his actions against the indigenous Americans and ends up on an amazing adventure in Arabia based on a true story. Another classic is Dances with Wolves A Union officer (Kevin Costner) at a frontier outpost befriends the Lakota and adopts their culture (wikipedia)
33:23 · The Kanji written on that paper is the word 'Samurai'.
Tom did a great job with the Japanese Language. It’s my understanding he put a lot of time into it it wasn’t just memorizing lines
According to some, ninja aren't a position or rank. They are professional soldiers and spies. In your own time, I recommend checking out the Metatron, on CZcams on this.
This is without a doubt Tom Cruise's best film and one of my top favs of all time.
Look how good she does it, she's done it many times before
The director, in my humble opinion, was an inconsistent one with his movies. But when he got it right, those movies were just beautiful. You may want to check "legends of the fall" if you like this movie. I think it is unfailry going into oblivion for most people.
Legends of the fall is an awesome film.
@@heather6668 it is ☺
This movie is an absolute masterpiece.
UGH, I HAVE SEEN THIS MOVIE IN THE THEATERS AND 50 MORE TIMES AND I STILL SHED TEARS! KONORONKHWA! TO THIS CULTURE!
In the Samurai Code defeat or failure is the Ultimate Sin as it were and to atone a Samurai must submit to the ultimate pain. The most painful injury is abdominal thus the slit their abdomen this proving they are worthy of forgiveness. There Second then preforms an act of empathy for knowing the pain the fastest and quickest relief is beheading. Ken Watanobe is one of my favorite actors. See the film Tampo-po.
Fun react for a great film. It is important to remember that this is a highly romanticized version of a caste system which could be quite cruel. That is why the people reacted the way they did in Tokyo when Algren returned with his Samurai escort. I suggest Clavell’s Shogun if you are interested in more Japanese historical fiction. Looking forward to your next react.
Edward Zwick actually has a lot of really good, powerful movies. Always with a sad undertone to them also. Check out Legends of the Fall and Blood Diamond if you're a fan of this director.
Edward Zwick also directed another emotional movie dealing with war: GLORY (1989) with an incredible cast including Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington. Highly recommend if you haven’t seen it already.
Back then to the Japanese even one defeat you kneel and bow in dishonor you do not get up and keep trying so to them what Algren did by not giving up was something they'd never seen before it was unheard of. Great movie with perfect casting. Japanese culture is truly beautiful.
The only thing about this movie that I really dislike; is how so many people misunderstand the title and believe Tom's character was "The Last Samurai"
Absolutely Honor doesn't exist the way it did before I am a knight in the world that doesn't believe in them anymore
Ken Watanabe is a powerhouse of talent
Assisted Seppuku was the honorable way for a samurai to die if he got captured or execution by samurai and old school Japanese law if convicted of a crime
This movie perfectly encapsulates the romanticized history of the Satsuma Rebellion. Takamori Saigo was essentially just fighting for the elevated status of his caste, who at one point straight up had the right to kill commoners with impunity. But following the introduction of Western culture and subsequent pushback, he has become romanticized as a figure of national pride. In reality, most of the officers in the modernized army were former Samurai, and the rebels used firearms until they ran out of powder. Saigo didn't even necessarily believe in his cause, but was pressured into acting out of loyalty to his caste, much as Robert E. Lee was with his state. It is also generally agreed upon that Takamori Saigo was likely just killed by a subordinate after going into shock from his wounds.
In the flash back Algren was remembering there was one more
Perfect reaction! Tom Cruise's best move by a long way for me and the music is just perfect!
War movies are weird. When a horde of armed samurai charge towards soldiers with the intent to kill, and those soldiers fire on them, people literally cry and claim „have you no humanity, stop shooting“
But moments earlier they cheered people being impaled and cut up violently.
I do not know if you know, but The Last Samurai was inspired by the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion also known as Seinan War (西南戦争, Seinan Sensō), led by Saigō Takamori (or Takanaga) (西鄕 隆盛 [隆永], Born in January 23, 1828 and died in September 24, 1877), because of the Westernization of Japan by foreign powers.
One of the very few things the movie got wrong about Samurai was the thing about them refusing to use firearms. in fact, 200 years before the movies time, the portugese imported the first guns and muskets into japan and some of the samurai took immediately notice and saw the value in them. they even built their own models that were still in widespread use when the americans came to japan 200 years later. The last Samurai rebellion this movie is inspired by used them widespread but ran out of gunpowder at the end.
The Sepukku you have seen after the first battle was often done. And if possible, it was indeed a friend you asked to be the one to cut your head off. if that was impossible, than you asked the enemy you respected most to do the duty. When you do the sepukku cuts you desperately try not to show your pain, because that is seen as shameful and the whole thing of the ceremony is to regain/keep your honor intact. So the guy doing the beheading has the duty to wait as long as possible so you can gain as much respect and honor but also cut your head off before you dishonor yourself again by showing your pain.
Another fun fact, the last ride where Katsumoto died, is kalled Harakiri. Seeking your death in battle in charging the enemy. It rarely happended, but there are some documented events. the last rebels in the historical rebellion did charge to their death.
Its a great movie but far from historical accurate. It overly glorified the "Samurai" side for sure. They were portrayed as this noble protectors while for most peasants they were more of an oppressive force, willing to cut them down for looking at them the wrong way. The Japanese military was originally trained by the French and not Americans, who were considered to have the best military at that time. Later they changed to the Prussians/Germans, after France suffered a humiliating defeat in the Franco Prussian war. Algren was losely based on Jules Brunet a French Officer who didnt leave with his fellow soldiers but continued to fight alongside his Samurai allies. He survived the fight and left Japan to join the French military again.
Also the Japanese had access to firearms from the Portuguese for a long time and had already incorporated them
Better than making Cleopatra and Ann Boleyn black.
@@123457chevy I can't speak to the Cleopatra one, but no one thinks Ann Boleyn had African decent. The series wasn't suggesting that. Rather, because race shouldn't be a relevant quality, there's no reason a black actress can't play her. If a man with a nose shape different from King Henry's real nose shape can play him and no one cares, why should we care that an actor's skin colour is different from the historical figure? Obviously if a film has a setting where race is highly relevant, like _Amistad,_ it makes sense to use modern actors' race as a visual proxy for the roles of the characters; but for a series or film set in a time where no relevant characters would be historically black anyway, there's really no reason not to do it. You might as well complain that the average actor in a film taking place in the medieval period is too tall or something. No one is going for that level of historical authenticity in visually representing a time period in film.
Do you think that in two or three hundred years when virtually everyone will be considered interracial by today's standards that they will have to hunt for sufficiently white actors to play historical European figures? Of course not. No one will care about that.
@@chadfalardeau5396in fairness to this film, it did not say that the Samurai did not know how to use firearms, merely that Katsumoto chose to no longer use them. Yes, it is historically incorrect, but at least explains why they aren’t used in the film.
@@William1w1- Cleopatra definitely wasn’t of African descent either. She was Macedonian Greek, from the Ptolemaic line. Rome had conquered Egypt, and Cleopatra was “pharaoh” because of that, not because she was Egyptian.
The scene with the samurai riding into the capital and all the people screaming and running away is actually really interesting. And it's not the result of propaganda from Omura or anything like that. A lot of samurai were amazing in lots of ways: disciplined, selfless, intensely focused and capable, just as portrayed in this film, but they were also a privileged elite in a strictly class-based society: with lords at the top, then the samurai, then a handful of artisans, and then peasants. And 99% of those people were peasants.
When Japan suddenly industrialised in just a few short years, that class system was shattered and both a middle class and an urban working class emerged, depicted here in the form of Omura, his bodyguard, the other politicians, the soldiers, the citizens in the capital city, and so on. When the samurai appear in their traditional glory, riding through the street on horseback, people probably would have been genuinely afraid that the new system which liberated them only a few years before was going to be undone and they would be forced at the end of a sword into being peasants again. This is why Omura's bodyguard's last words are "The Samurai are finished!" - he's not in it for the money, he's an idealist.
There's no good parallel for this in American history or culture, but there are *a lot* in European history, in fact a similar process happened in almost every European country, and usually extremely violently. Imagine a European king deciding to liberalise the country, abolish feudalism, industrialise, adopt a constitution, build up the middle class, and free serfs from their land so they can move to the cities as free citizens; except that one senior lord and hundreds of knights decide they like the old way better where 99% of the population were effectively their slaves - then imagine how it would feel if that lord and his knights rode through the centre of your city, fully clad in their plate armour and armed with their weapons, with the liberalising king apparently doing nothing to stop them...
if there is an trouble to understand why would someone died fort the idea , than watch V for vendta . if this movie does not explane why , that i dont know what
Zwick has some very good and some very entertaining movies. Glory, Courage Under Fire, Blood Diamond, Legends of the Fall amongst others.
What a fantasy of a film. Dances with wolves in Japan🤣
To play devil's advocate. During this rebellion the samurai were defending their social status and privileges. The modern society didn't need them anymore and they were about to loose what made them higher society members. So it's a little more complicated than just honoring your roots and traditions.
If you're interested, the character of Nathan Algren is based on a real person. A french artillery officer named Jules Brunet who, alongside with other western soldiers brought to instruct the modern japanese army, chose to desert their country's military to stay in Japan to help the samurai when they started their rebellion.
For the putting the armor on scene, I always thought it was what replaced a traditionnal sex scene in this type of movie. But my wife had the same feeling that, Taka was emotional because it was like dressing up her husband again. It's not about Tom. It's about bringing back the memories of the many times she did this.
Ed Zwick the director also directed (or had a lot to do with) Glory.
Godspeed came from Middle English around the 13th century. It was originally ‘God spede’, meaning ‘May God prosper you.’ It eventually evolved into Godspeed and is a way to wish someone success on a journey or endeavor. Sorry, I’m a big Word Nerd. 🤓
A beautiful reaction to a beautiful movie. Thank you