The Last Samurai (2003)

Directed by Edward Zwick. Starring Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Tony Goldwyn, Masato Harada, Timothy Spall, Shin Koyamada, Koyuki Kato, Billy Connolly, Shichinosuke Nakamura, Hiroyuki Sanada, Seizo Fukumoto, William Atherton. [R]

Army captain Cruise, an embittered and alcoholic veteran of the American Indian Wars, grudgingly accepts an offer to travel across the Pacific to assist in the training of the Imperial Japanese Army using modern weaponry and tactics so that the emperor can suppress a samurai uprising. When his unprepared troops are overrun by the enemy, he’s taken captive by the samurai commander (Watanabe), where he grows to respect the traditions and values of his foe, eventually joining their cause and sharing an understated romance with the widow (Kato) of a man he had killed in battle. Not quite Dances with Bushido, but the similarities are hard to shake—and the “white savior narrative” accusations applied to Kevin Costner’s epic are far more befitting here—but even though the old-fashioned Hollywood storytelling in a more enlightened and well-meaning package stumbles badly in the final act, when it comes to expressing strong, uncomplicated emotions and filling the screen with soaring sights, the picture delivers. John Toll’s photography is as majestic as one has come to expect from him, and the battle scenes have the bloody, atmospheric sweep of Zwick’s earlier Civil War drama, Glory. Though the characterizations are often shaky and indebted to stock types, most of the cast acquit themselves well, with dignified Watanabe being the standout (his first English-language role). Zwick also co-scripted, and he and Cruise are both among the credited producers.

75/100