Movies The Last Samurai

well as far as an american sound track goes it was decent although i think it needed to have some traditional japanese music

 

And what, pray tell, is that supposed to mean? Need I refer you to AMERICAN films like Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Star Wars, Highlander and White Christmas?

Sorry, I'm off topic there, but I can't stand people ragging on a really good thing.

 

American sound track probably just means western music. ^_^ Some traditional music would be nice, but even just lotr type of inspirational music would have been good.

P.S.
"Life's too short to spend it pissed off."
That's a really good quote, Novus. ^^ Let's keep it in mind? Who said it, btw?

 

im simply saying that its hollywood...being a film about Japan a bit of traditional music couldnt hurt. it really is quite americanized in the music. very Hollywood which isnt bad but it is a film on Japan.

 

But films are about business first and art second. Until the majority of the American populous decides it would rather hear Japanese traditional music instead of contemporary American, we'll just have to bear with the studios.

 

tis a pity that movies are more about business...

 

Welcome to Hollywood

The 1980's began the Corporate Era of American film. And since then, well, you know the rest.

 

I just saw this movie today, and I thought it was pretty awesome. I mean, I thought I was watching part of the Kenshin OVA's at one point, actually!

I don't know much about that era of history, so I won't get involved in that discussion. And as to the soundtrack, it was pretty nice.

I loved the movie though. I liked how it managed to be funny, serious, and AWESOME all at the same time. Some parts of it were predictable to the average anime fan, but I thought it was predictable in a nice way.

 

the movie was awesome from start to finish! i saw it twice already and can't wait for the dvd release... tom cruise was ok, though i think any decent actor could have been cast in the part and the movie would have made that unknown into a megastar like what Gladiator did for russell crowe...

 

On a scale from 1 to awesome this movie was extra-fantastic.5 I thought it was the best film I've seen in theatres all year (also the only movie I've seen this year :sweat2. If you haven't seen it yet go before it's out of theatres.

 

i really enjoyed this movie too...
i saw it 3 times without getting bored (well, hopefully, i didn't go three times in the same week, i took my time)...
Usually i don't like the movies with tom cruise, but this is not about the actor... He's simply amazing in his role and... well the story is good.

The only thing i disliked, but on the other hand it gets the end of the movie stronger (and i guess it's the name of the movie) is that there's only one survivor... i think it's too much "american"...

 

There was only one survivor in Battle Royale (Japanese). There was only one survivor in Hamlet (English).

I just remembered that there were two survivors in Battle Royale. Still, same thing.

 

yep, but only one survivor in last samourai... i mean, he's american, he fights with much bravour against the samourais, which allows him not to be killed and then he fights with much bravour against the japanese army...
i mean, in battle royal, it's the purpose, only one of them can stay alive...
here, it's just too much of "american"...
anyway, the movie is good !

 

I thought The Last Samurai was a beautiful movie. It made me think how the influences of the western world destroys other peoples ways of life. I was glad that this wasn't a romantic movie, it had some romance but not a lot to distract you from the real point of the movie. I think some movies are ruined by overly romantic scenes.

 

This is true. A lot of screenwriters and directors seem to think they need the obligatory romance to attract a broader audience, not realizing that they may in fact be driving some of the audience away, or at the very least annoying or disappointing what audience they have.
Of course, adding a romantic theme would have just destroyed the whole point of the film, because then Allgren might have been fighting for something other than honour or justice or whatever, and then there would have been no change in his character at all. In a character-driven epic, development is quintessential.

 

Yes, I was glad he wasn't fighting for a girl, for once.

 

It's good to find other people who believe in such a thing as "too much romance." The Last Samurai proves that an action movie can be just as good without the sex.

 

As of yet, I haven't seen the movie. Recently the Discovery channel had a documentary comparing the movie to actual history. Just the thought: in history, the samurais were the "bad guys." Nothing against the movie, I just thought it was interesting. The samurais fought for a feudal society. Women had no rights. Life for the majority of the Japanese was equal to the life of a European serf in the Dark Ages.

But hey, it still sounds like an awesome movie. :anime:

 

the samurai werent neccesarily the bad guys rather somewhat oppressive. Japan before the Bakumatsu was governed by a centeral system which consisted of the supreme power, Shogun, and his Daimyo which would be like the equivilant to a governer of a state in the US. and the President is like the Shogun. now they also used a very set class system.

at the bottom you had the Eta which were the outcasts. they primarily handled corpses and served as slaves for different jails and other things.

somewhat of a subclass were the Farmers. now not of the Eta but not of the Merchant class. one interesting note was that the Eta only had a given name. they were really allowed to have a family name. the farmers usually didnt have a family name either although after a few centuries a samurai family might become a farming family therefor owning a family name.

next you had the Merchant class. they were considered the backbone of anciet Japan. now, obviously a merchant could get immense ammounts of money depending on how he set his business. but no matter how rich he was he would never be able to become one of the Samurai class. for a long period in history a commoner was able to carry the Wakizashi (short sword) or a Tanto (knife usually about 12-18 inches long) but he could never carry the katana. this was changed shortly before the beggining of the Bakumatsu. now everyone could carry both the long and short sword and wear their hair in a samurai topknot.

next you have the Samurai class. the warrior class of noble birth. although you had lower and higher class samurai familes no matter what they were still considered samurai and had the privilage to carry both the Katana and Wakizashi (long and short swords). now, the Samurai had a very set code of honor. it declared that the samurai's duty was to serve their lord, their han (province) and the Shogun. this was very strict in that if one managed to mess up, he would lose his honor and the only way to regain that was through Seppuku, or ritual suicide. as it may be interperted as "bad" the samurai possesed the right to kill a commoner without concequence. if he was insulted he could kill the commoner who insulted him.

as for the women. although social positions changed around the 1700's before that the women were trained in the same arts as the men and followed their husbands into battle.

in terms of matching them with the European society...there are major difference....while a serf usually wasnt very rich the merchant class and parts of the farming class could obtain major wealth. many other difference appeared as history continued...but...as im a Japanese Major...i know very very little about Europe.

 

Actually, a serf was nothing more than a slave you had to pay. Farmers couldn't achieve wealth until the major agricultural revolution of the eleventh century. Western European merchants couldn't amass much wealth because gaining profit was forbidden by the Church. The few who did were an immensely tiny minority.
Really, though, any side to any war can seem evil or good, just depending on how the film is written and shot. It really depends on the stance the filmmakers decide to take.