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The Last Samurai is my favourite movie ever

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cognizant

cognizant

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Dec 19, 2017
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I started playing Total War: Shogun 2 recently, and it reminded me of The Last Samurai, for obvious reasons.

Now, I've watched lots of movies. Many you can argue are 'objectively' better than Edward Zwick's 2003 movie, but The Last Samurai is my favourite. I always go back to it, and listen to the soundtrack regularly. In my opinion it has a perfect script structure and character arc. It's the kind of screenplay you can teach in film school alongside Casablanca. It's not unconventional, it doesn't surprise you with amazing twists and turns, it's entirely predictable but executed perfectly. It knows exactly the kind of story it's telling, and every scene is perfect in its clarity and meaning.

Obscure spoilers alert...

Ken Watanabe has never been utilised as well as he was in Hollywood than in this movie.

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Billy Connolly is for some reason in this movie.

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I love the aesthetic attention to detail of the time period, and how the cities are hosted on Photobucket.

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IDGAF Tom Cruise.

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Hiroyuki Sanada frozen heart slowly melting due to the heat of Scientology.

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That ninja attack sequence!

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"When I took this from you, you were my enemy."

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Bob the bodyguard's sacrifice.

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That final charge...

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"Perfect...they are all perfect..."

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"I will tell you how he lived."

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That Hans Zimmer soundtrack.



Anyone else love this movie?
 
Mcfrank

Mcfrank

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Oct 28, 2017
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I like it too but history doesn't look fondly on the "white guy saves another culture" stories.
 
super-famicom

super-famicom

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Oct 26, 2017
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It doesn't hold a candle to The Twilight Samurai. I liked it way better than Japanese Dances With Wolves.
 
ManaByte

ManaByte

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Brace yourself for the people who think the title is referring to Tom Cruise because they never actually watched the movie.
 

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Mcfrank said:
I like it too but history doesn't look fondly on the "white guy saves another culture" stories.
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That's a really common misconception about this movie, and I really don't understand it. It's not a white savior film, far from it. The white guy doesn't do jack shit to save anyone.

The whole point is that he learns to humble himself and his ego.
 
Bookoo

Bookoo

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Nov 3, 2017
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I just rewatched it a couple months ago since it had been a long time and I still loved it.
 
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cognizant

cognizant

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Dec 19, 2017
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ManaByte said:
Brace yourself for the people who think the title is referring to Tom Cruise because they never actually watched the movie.
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I considered putting a disclaimer in my OP to ask people not to derail the thread with the neverending debate on the movie's title but this is Era and it's futile haha.
 
Calamari41

Calamari41

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Oct 25, 2017
7,177
This was one of the only movies to make me legit cry. That last charge is just too much. Then the cherry blossoms.

I need to pop this one back in asap.
 
BossAttack

BossAttack

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Oct 27, 2017
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Fury451 said:
That's a really common misconception about this movie, and I really don't understand it. It's not a white savior film, far from it. The white guy doesn't do jack shit to save anyone.

The whole point is that he learns to humble himself and his ego.
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Yep.

But, people either never saw the film or simply forget this aspect.
 
LanceX2

LanceX2

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Oct 25, 2017
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Speevy said:
They changed all the names so the story is entirely fictional. There are no battles in the movies that are purported to have actually occurred, which happens in Braveheart several times.
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Dgaf Braveheart is one of the best movies ever..


And now I want watch last samurai again
 
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cognizant

cognizant

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Dec 19, 2017
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Zwick never did anything as good since, and it really sticks out in his filmography, which makes me wonder if Tom put on his domineering Producer's hat and had ghost-directing duties on this.
 
Liquid Plejades

Liquid Plejades

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Mar 3, 2018
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Most of the complaints about this movie I have seen don't seem to hold merit. I have encountered people several time who have not even seen it and consider it a cliche white saviour movie. If you actually watch it till the end it is anything but that. It's not a perfect movie, but to me its more about a dude witnessing these events and attempting to prevent them, but ultimately failing because they are beyond just one person. Usually in the cliche movies you have the saviour character become better than the locals/natives and ends up leading them etc. In the Last Samurai he loses a battle, gets the living shit beaten out of him, tries to persuade them not to fight through his own lense, and ultimately just submits under Katsumoto who is actually "The last Samurai. Ultimately he realizes he is powerless and this humbles him, and all he can do now is pass the stories on and attempt to live even 1/10th of how the fallen Samurai lived.

Same labels are hurled at Dances with the Wolves, and it ultimately ends the same way. The ending to that one is truly beautiful, with him having failed in his mind, and knowing that much worse is coming for the Native Americans and he cant do jack shit about it. Yet as he leaves you have Wind in his Hair shout at Dunbar from top of the cliff that he is and always be his friend, and that's all that matters.

*wipes tears* I think it's time for a rewatch.
 
Trago

Trago

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Oct 25, 2017
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I used to watch the DVD religiously.

Love the film. Fucking beautifully shot too.
 
iareharSon

iareharSon

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Oct 30, 2017
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Fury451 said:
That's a really common misconception about this movie, and I really don't understand it. It's not a white savior film, far from it. The white guy doesn't do jack shit to save anyone.

The whole point is that he learns to humble himself and his ego.
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The problem with the movie isn't that it's a white savior film. It's the fact that it's another example of Hollywood not being able to tell a story about a non-white culture without the story being told by a white person's point of view.
 
Eila

Eila

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Oct 27, 2017
2,967
Pretty movie, if anything. Reminds me of Apocalypto. Very cool to see Hollywood tackle on unconventional settings.
Also, Tom has the best hair in this movie.
 
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cognizant

cognizant

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Dec 19, 2017
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Ryouji Gunblade said:
The History Buffs video on the film covers the inaccuracies pretty well. I liked the movie when I first watched it, but looking back I cringe a little.
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I'm not gonna watch this, because their video of Kingdom of Heaven basically ruined that movie for me. It knocked it down from a 5 star movie in my eyes, to a 4 out of 5 movie, maybe even 3 and a half. That's how good their video analysis of it is!

As a guy who likes to dabble in screenwriting myself I know that movies are movies, not documentaries, so I roll my eyes are most complaints about 'historical accuracy' in a fictional narrative. But if you set a movie in a time period and barely pay any attention to detail then I have to ask what the fucking point of setting the movie in that time period was. At least The Last Samurai is relatively faithful to its premise and era. The Kingdom of Heaven is a clusterfuck in comparison that may as well have been set on the moon.
 
Bor Gullet

Bor Gullet

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Oct 27, 2017
12,402
It's a good watch but the way it glorifies the Samurai and their culture is silly.
 
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