The Last Samurai - translation required!

[taserbro]

For hollywood, it was better than the alternative of historical accuracy.
Here's the historical blahblah conveniently condensed into youtube tl;dr form: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn1Ee4DnoU8

You be judge if truth was any more ridiculous than the fictional script.

It wasn't a terrible movie...for a Tom Cruise movie anyway...

As always, a suspension of belief/knowledge/truth is required for it to be accepted...

does anyone REALLY believe it happened that way?

Spoiler

A gaijin soldier, captured by the Samurai...becomes a samurai himself, falls in love with the woman of a samurai he killed in battle before he was captured...then fights with the Samurai chief to the end against the US trained Japanese forces, only to be granted a final audience with the Emperor, just in time to cancel a major treaty that would have made some of the Emperor's closest advisers wealthy men...then be invited to tell the Emperor the story of Toranaga?

Still...in spite of the script, it's not a terrible movie...for a Tom Cruise movie.

 

[BurnItDwn]

There is a reason many people call it "The Worst Samurai", and that's because the story is crap...

I actually liked it, would give it a 6 or 7 out of 10....

 

[zinfamous]

I'm still waiting for the movie "Last white guy on the planet" starring Samuel L Jackson to be made.

 

[brblx]

the whole 'lol tom cruise is the last samurai lol he's not even japanese lol' thing kind of makes it look like you majorly fail at understanding history. and plural words.

the movie is supposed to be about the satsuma rebellion, which was essentially a last stand for the withering samurai class. plural form of samurai is...samurai.

now engage your critical thinking cogs, light some coal beneath the idea boiler and tell me if MAYBE 'the last samurai' is a reference to an extinction of an entire group. not a description of tom cruise.

 

[CZroe]

the whole 'lol tom cruise is the last samurai lol he's not even japanese lol' thing kind of makes it look like you majorly fail at understanding history. and plural words.

the movie is supposed to be about the satsuma rebellion, which was essentially a last stand for the withering samurai class. plural form of samurai is...samurai.

now engage your critical thinking cogs, light some coal beneath the idea boiler and tell me if MAYBE 'the last samurai' is a reference to an extinction of an entire group. not a description of tom cruise.

It would still be silly that he's the last of that particular group to die too. Bullets miss and he's just so much better at staying alive because he's white?

 

[TheNinja]

Notice the movie is NOT about the last ninjas.....you cannot make ninjas extinct.

 

[brblx]

It would still be silly that he's the last of that particular group to die too. Bullets miss and he's just so much better at staying alive because he's white?

jesus facepalming christ did you read my post?

allow me to retitle the movie for you:

The Last Stand of a Certain Group of Peoples who Wished to Resist the Industrialization and Western Influence that Swept Japan During the Meiji Era.

subtitle:

Starring Tom Cruise as a white guy who decides to help them.

subtitle2:

electric boogaloo.

edit: and technically, Ken Wantanbe's character would be 'the last [singular] samurai' by the movie's record. which is why tom cruise presents the emperor with his sword at the end of the movie. jeez some of you suck at cinema.

edit again: i did go back and read a synopsis of the movie to make sure i had everything right, and i will say that yes, whitey mccracker's training and receiving of samurai sword and armor does, yes, imply he fights alongside them as a 'samurai.' but he was only the last to die because he didn't commit seppuku (sp?) and, imo, the movie's ending clearly demonstrates that he does not consider himself a samurai but merely someone acting on their behalf.

 

[Ichinisan]

subtitle:

Starring Tom Cruise as a white guy who decides to help them and somehow ends up as the lone survivor on his side of the battle.

FTFY.

Spoiler

Before the final battle commenced, they specifically warned Nathan Algren that they would "show [him] no quarter" when he chose to fight with the Samurai.

 

[ibex333]

The movie was great. I also thought it was dumb how the emperor had to ignore the slaughter of the samurai before he realized what was done, but overall the movie was great and I really enjoyed it.

 

[brblx]

FTFY.

Spoiler

Before the final battle commenced, they specifically warned Nathan Algren that they would "show [him] no quarter" when he chose to fight with the Samurai.

i guess my rationale was that he and katsumoto were the leaders and therefore the last 'into the breach,' so to speak. the rest is just dramatic license, i guess- but i feel the scene accomplished its goal. you know the last of the samurai would rather die fighting than submit to a way of life they did not believe in. you see them all fall to technology, and as they litter the field dead or dying, the gatling gun fire relents, despite orders by the commander. the fact that tom cruise is (apparently) the only survivor is a bit of dues ex machina that helps resolve the movie (and also that battle sees him kill one of the only 'villains' of the movie).

it ain't a perfect movie. i just don't understand people trying to tear it apart based on only two facts- the title and the casting. the former makes perfect sense and the latter was actually quite good. NO, mr cruise is not a believable samurai, but he's a perfectly believable civil war-era american...

 

[Bulk Beef]

Would it be clearer if it was titled The Last Samurai and the Deputy Assistant to the Last Samurai?

 

[Fingolfin269]

This was not a bad movie but of course I didn't expect it to be any kind of history lesson.

/edit

And brblx has pretty much explained everything as clearly as possible in reference to the title of the film / outcome of the film. It really isn't that hard. Maybe if they had put Watanabe's face on the box art instead of Cruise it would make it easier to understand?

 

[CZroe]

jesus facepalming christ did you read my post?

allow me to retitle the movie for you:

The Last Stand of a Certain Group of Peoples who Wished to Resist the Industrialization and Western Influence that Swept Japan During the Meiji Era.

subtitle:

Starring Tom Cruise as a white guy who decides to help them.

Did you read my post? I understood that perfectly. I said that his survival was still silly and unlikely. What about that is hard for you to understand? Seppuku alone does not explain it.

 

[brblx]

no, i understand your complaint. and i acknowledged it when i mentioned his survival as a bit of 'deus ex machina.' it just helps the filmmaking...no, it's certainly not the most logical outcome.

i guess i just misunderstood your intent- i thought you were still playing the 'tom cruise as the last samurai' angle.

 

[randay]

great movie until the end, pretty much ruined it for me. if he had died this would probably be one of my all time favorites.

 

[foghorn67]

Great movie. Ken Watanabe was excellent as always.