The Last Samurai | First Time Reaction | Movie Review & Commentary

Japanese Historian here - Katsumoto was loosely based on a man names Saigo Takamori. Saigo was a Samurai who believed that Japan was modernizing too quickly in this period (The Meiji Era), and losing it's identity in the process. He led a rebellion, like in this movie, to remind the Emperor, though the details of the rebellion were wildly different, because Hollywood Adaptations. This still holds up as a fantastic piece of historical fiction, in my opinion, though!

"The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life." (Looks at blossoms as he is dying) "Perfect. They are all... Perfect." That was the ending line of his poem. This film is in my personal top 10 films of all-time and my favorite from Tom Cruise.

Custer isn't in this movie. He died in the story that Algren told ("Custer's Last Stand"). The guy you kept calling "Custard" was Colonel Bagley, not General Custer.

Just a historical note, the emperor portrayed in this movie is Emperor Meiji. He is the grandfather of emperor Shōwa (who you might know as Hirohito).

Ken Watanabe performance is outstanding ❤

My take on the main character is that he hates himself after having taken part in massacres and genocide. He doesn't think he's good for anything besides killing. He's drinking himself to death because countless battles haven't got the job done. When he'd been sparring with the kids, and is then taking a beat down from the angry warrior, Jax noted that he just never gives up. But I see it as him feeling like he hasn't yet been punished enough for being who he is. The angry warrior is sometimes his enemy and sometimes his companion, but they're usually pretty much on the same page about what he's worth and what he deserves. Their opinion of him evolves together.

"Perfect! They are all...perfect!". What a profound realization as you're dying. Worth living a thousand lifetimes.

6:24 I always read it as faith and regret. He's giving the guy a chance to kill him and wants him to succeed. Win win. If he can shoot, Nathan dies. If he can't, it proves they're not ready

One of the beautiful things to consider about the scene where Taka offered Aldren her husbands armor. It's far more than just giving him a suit to protect him. For the family of a samurai, their name and status within the village is heavily dependent on the honor of the samurai himself. So, to offer her husbands armor is also like offering him the position as head of the family. To represent their family's name and legacy in combat. So, to give that to him, even after being the one who killed her husband, was a far more symbolic gesture than it seemed.

Jax - "I think you guys should become best friends." Me - chokes back tears

The story of how Custer became Custard. 😂

“I think this movie’s gonna make me cry”. Truer words have not been spoken lol.

Examines sword "What does it say?" "Made in Earth Kingdom"

It's not just that he didn't have faith that the recruit wouldn't do it but he is also chasing his own death because his past is haunting him. It is beautiful watching Tom's character evolve out of that and find peace as well as his place, FINALLY.

Just after the US civil war, the Japanese had a civil war. Previous to the war they had a very rigid class system with Samurai on top. After the war the new government abolished the class system and put laws against much of the trappings/traditions that showed the samurai's position. The US essentially threatened Japan to open its boarders and there was a very rapid westernization of their culture. Obviously you can't completely change a culture overnight, so samurai were still feared and revered by the general population, but they were a huge risk to the new government as a source of new civil war and rebellion for the samurai who wanted their elite position restored. In general, the samurai were either given jobs in the new government or were killed if they stepped out of line. In the movie, Katsumoto is fighting to retain, if not the Samurai's wealth and power, at least their cultural relevance.

"I will miss our conversations." Gets me every time...

This move was filmed largely in the north island of New Zealand.

Most people miss the magnitude of importance of the emperor taking off his glove to actually touch and hold the sword at the end. The emperor is too godly to touch anything and never does..

There are very few perfect movies. This is one of them. And I still cry every time 😢. 🌸 PS. I don’t know if it just didn’t make the edit, but the head samurai guy takes Nathan captive because of his earlier dream of the white tiger, and then he sees a white tiger on the banner Nathan uses to defend himself! 😮

fun fact: The guy that made the sword is a 4th generation sword maker and he setup the forge and made the sword that Tom Cruise received.