The Last Samurai (2003) Movie Overview

The Last Samurai is a 2003 American epic drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay based on a story by John Logan. The film was inspired by a project developed by writer and director Vincent Ward. Ward became executive producer on the film – working in development on it for nearly four years and after approaching several directors (Coppola, Weir), he interested Edward Zwick. The film went ahead with Zwick and was shot in Ward’s native New Zealand. The film stars Tom Cruise (who also co-produced) in the role of American soldier Nathan Algren whose personal and emotional conflicts bring him into contact with samurai in the wake of the Meiji Restoration in the Empire of Japan in 1876 and 1877. Other actors include Ken Watanabe, Shin Koyamada, Hiroyuki Sanada, Timothy Spall, Billy Connolly and Tony Goldwyn. The film’s plot is based on the 1876 Satsuma Rebellion led by Saigō Takamori, and also on the story of Jules Brunet, a French army captain who fought alongside Enomoto Takeaki in the earlier Boshin War. The historical roles of the British Empire, the Netherlands and France in Japanese westernization are largely attributed to the Unite… Source

• The Last Samurai Movie Details
• Director: Edward Zwick
• Official Sites: Warner Bros. [es], Official site, Warner Bros. [jp]
• Tagline: In the face of an enemy, in the Heart of One Man, Lies the Soul of a Warrior.
• Country: USA
• Run Time: 154 min
• Genre: Action , Adventure , Drama , History , War

• Cast Overview
• Ken Watanabe as Katsumoto
• Tom Cruise as Nathan Algren
• William Atherton as Winchester Rep
• Chad Lindberg as Winchester Rep Assistant
• Ray Godshall Sr. as Convention Hall Attendee
• Billy Connolly as Zebulon Gant

The Last Samurai Movie Overview – Yahoo Movies

The Last Samurai (2003): Captain Nathan Algren is a man adrift. The battles he once fought now seem distant and futile. Once he risked his life for honor and country, but, in the years since the Civil War, the world has changed. Pragmatism has replaced courage, self-interest has taken the place of sacrifice and honor is nowhere to be found–especia… Source

The Last Samurai Movie Review from New York Times

There is probably no director more obsessed with the complexity of patriotism — an unusual subject to plumb in mainstream films — than Edward Zwick, who is driven to question the imperatives of an America that his protagonists both love and detest. His movie falls squarely into the realm of the previous Zwick bedeviled-hero films, “Glory,” “C… Source

The Last Samurai Movie Details from Imdb

In the 1870s, Captain Nathan Algren, a cynical veteran of the American Civil war who will work for anyone, is hired by Americans who want lucrative contracts with the Emperor of Japan to train the peasant conscripts for the first standing imperial army in modern warfare using firearms. The imperial Omura cabinet’s first priority is to repress a reb… Source

The Last Samurai (2003) from YouTube