The Last Samurai

By Mal -
7 out of 10
Enjoyable tale of one man’s embroilment in the downfall of the Samurai. While I’ve not checked the blurb or the extras on the DVD, I can only assume the film was based loosely on fact. Tom Cruise played his role pretty well, letting the character and story take centre-stage rather than himself. The rest of the cast, too, played their parts well.

My main reservation, however, is the degree of culture-worship on show, casting samurai culture in an almost beyond-criticism light whilst denigrating anything Western. True, I have no personal experience of the Japanese side of things, but I’m a sceptical sod who thinks we’re all as bad as each other. ;) Regardless, this was a well put-together film and well worth a watch.

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