Movies The Last Samurai

heh...well as ive said before i know very little/nothing about Europe. now its a interesting stance that the movie takes. at the beggining your lead to believe that the samurai are worthless and outdated...but by the end they become a noble warrior class....its a very well written movie.

 

The only actor who got a nomination was the guy who played Katsumoto. I think his name's Watanabe or something, but I can't remember.
They have a preview of the DVD release tonight at school. I'm VERY tempted to go.

 

His name is Ken Watanabe.

And yes, I've seen this movie and I loved it.

Seraphinx, I'm wondering if there are any other ways around your post on the first page. maybe they weren't ninjas, maybe they were just bounty hunters or assasins that wore black cause it blends in with the night. *shrug*

And i think they did say eventually in the move that the assasins were sent by the emperor...maybe.

 

I thought the assassins were sent by Omaru? Anyway, I watched this movie twice and I wont mind if I watched it for the third time xD~! I loved Hiroyuki Sanada in this movie in particular =D He's Uijo - the one that fights with Nathan with a stick
The movie has many goofs and the obvious one is carrying weapons at the emperor's presence. I remember this fact from chinese movie I watched along time ago =/
I wish I could take the same actors and put them in another samurai movie lol They didnt go wrong with the cast... they're perfect~!

 

um...thats not really a goof, its ok to carry swords infront of the Emperor or any daimyo, but what is an offense, is to draw your weapon in front of him. doing so is giving up your honor. and also after doing so its mandatory to commit seppuku.

and its not a stick but a bokken, which was and still is the best way to practice japanese swordsmenship. Just as the katana is suited to its master so is the bokken, so those bokken that those kids were carrying were waaayyyyy too long for them. when grasped at the tsuba *handgaurd* the kissaki *tip* should just be off the ground.

another thing i thought was odd was that the sword that they forge for Nathan is traditional except for the fact that the saya *scabbard* had two belting cords, called sageo. So when he rode into battle the katana was suspended edge down by both cords. The katana is always supposed to be slipped through the waist band, called the obi, edge up. but perhaps that was proper as he was wearing a full suit of yoroi *armor*.

 

Details, details, details.

When making a film such as this, the director is largely counting on the fact that most of the people in the audience don't really care about little things like that. Of course, they know that somebody will, but the law of large numbers states that overall, no one really cares.

 

quite true...but im one of those freaks f nature you dont want to talk to cause i notice and point out those little things...

 

Bokken [writes it down]
Wow HGensai you know a lot about Japanese history, culture and etc... ^_^
I used notice those kind of stuff [microphone peeping from above, shadows of the crew workers, disappearance & reappearance of partical of clothings in every scene] lol that was irritiating >_< Now I try to enjoy the film and not pay attention to small detials like this...

 

well, unfortunetly im a complete *** when it comes to keeping things traditional. Only about japanese tho... its one of my passions...and ive studied it so long...that i end up keeping things as strictly traditional as i can...which is maybe annoying to some people.

 

Ah, the old "progressive conservative" mentality, eh?
Tradition is important, yes, but not at the cost of advancement. Remember, if Japan had remained perfectly traditional, we'd be watching the latest masked musical theatre instead of anime .

 

quite true indeed. i mean there are things that i do wish had stayed traditional.

 

!!!

OK OK. this movie wasn't bad, but i mean you get TOM CRUISE to play the last samuri. come on you could have at least got a person who is a little asian or knows martial arts fluently. do you get my point?

 

well, thats kinda the point. He wasnt trained to be a martial artist, but Katsumoto saw he had the spirit of a warrior. and i wouldn't say that Nathan wasnt "the last samurai" but Katsumoto. so...thats my take on it.

 

i seen this movie, i though it was excellent. i cant believe all the critics were so mested up about this movie, it was awesome.

 

this movie == Dances with Wolves in Japan.

Hollywood has this weird attitude towards European culture. On the one hand, sometimes it seems that no matter what they do, a white guy is the main character. Windtalkers, a move about Navajo code talkers had.. a white guy as the main character. Glory, a movie about black soldiers in the civil war had.. a white guy as the main character. Last Samurai: white guy. Tarzan: all white guys.

On the other hand, all these movies are about the white guys coming to repsect the other cultures and see how their own is flawed.

Hollywood just can't stop talking about white guys who wish they were something else. Anyway..

 

ah. the ways of hollywood. te be honest, i think they do that so more people can make a personal connection to the movie...and being released in america...the majority of people are? right! white. so...there you have it.

 

I saw it, I liked it, I'd like to see it again. If someone hasn't seen it, then i suggest they do. It was really good.

-sephiroth

 

My bro bought the DVD, so that's good. I just love the sceenary . . . it's just so beautiful. I love how they portrayed the Japanese culture, it's makes me want to learn so much more about them. The fighting sceens are so awsome and so bloody . . . but I like that. My favorite sceen is the ninja/samurai fight sceen. :anime:

 

I love this movie. I'm not a big fan of Tom Cruise, but I think he did a great job in the movie! I especially liked the part where Nathan gets kidnapped and has to live among the samurai for the winter. It was interesting to see more of the lifestyle, especially because anime doesn't give you much of that. And the kimono were just GORGEOUS.