The Last Samurai

Ken Watanabe
Tom Cruise
William Atherton
Chad Lindberg
Ray Godshall Sr.
Tony Goldwyn
Hiroyuki Sanada
Seizo Fukumoto
Sosuke Ikematsu
Shin Koyamada
Aoi Minato
Shichinosuke Nakamura
Timothy Spall
Billy Connolly

Director	Edward Zwick
Producer	Paula Wagner; Tom Cruise
Writer	Edward Zwick; Marshall Herskovitz

While Japan undergoes tumultuous transition to a more Westernized society in 1876-77, The Last Samurai gives epic sweep to an intimate story of cultures at a crossroads. In America, tormented Civil War veteran Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is coerced by a mercenary officer (Tony Goldwyn) to train the Japanese Emperor's troops in the use of modern weaponry. Opposing this "progress" is a rebellion of samurai warriors, holding fast to their traditions of honor despite strategic disadvantage. As a captive of the samurai leader (Ken Watanabe), Algren learns, appreciates, and adopts the samurai code, switching sides for a climactic battle that will put everyone's honor to the ultimate test. All of which makes director Edward Zwick's noble epic eminently worthwhile, even if its Hollywood trappings (including an all-too-conventional ending) prevent it from being the masterpiece that Zwick and screenwriter John Logan clearly wanted it to be. Instead, The Last Samurai is an elegant mainstream adventure, impressive in all aspects of its production. It may not engage the emotions as effectively as Logan's script for Gladiator, but like Cruise's character, it finds its own quality of honor. --Jeff Shannon