The last Samurai

[Pickle]

Well I know this thread is way too late. But I just bought The Last Samuri on Friday and watched it twice this weekend. It was a great film no? Toms best me thinks - reminded me of Gladiator... but with Samrui's.

Great story in any case.

Thoughts on this movie?

[Ed Bishop]

I see our resident 'Spell Checker'TM has taken the day off.... ;) :D


My sister rented THE LAST SAMURAI a weekend ago, sent it along to me, of course, sadist that she can be... :agree: ...sounds and looks great, no denying it, but very weak story, and Cruise is so badly miscast I had to laugh....that's happened before, but he was taken to the cleaners by virtually every other actor surrounding him. I like the guy, but it's a real stretch to buy into anything this film has to offer. Hell, it makes the SHOGUN miniseries look good.....all I could think of, somewhere, somehow, Kurosawa must be laughing at the silliness of it all. Ok for a rainy popcorn afternoon, but no way I would recommend this piffle to anybody.


:ed:

[Pickle]

hehehehe
Yes spell checker has left me... wants me to use the forum one humph!

I watched Last samurai and Matchstick men this weekend, Samurai is much much better. I like Samurai much much betta!

We deff have diff tastes in movies! lol

[Ed Bishop]

Ah, that we do, sweet Pickle....although I'm a 'junk movie' fan along with other, more exotic tastes....I think movies like SAMURAI, if they work at all, fly better in a theater setting(larger the crowd, the better)and a ton of popcorn. However, I will guess Mr. Cruise is your real interest here... ;) , understandably so....after all, I don't think Raquel Welch made a decent movie beyond Lester's THREE and FOUR MUSKETEERS, yet what she was in, just for her luscious presence, makes most of them, from FATHOM and the B.C. film, to the laughable KANSAS CITY BOMBER, enjoyable for me, even if no less stupid and pointless on plot and execution.

Still, do we forgive the man for COCKTAIL and DAYS OF THUNDER? Or even EYES WIDE SHUT? Personally, I thought BORN ON THE 4th OF JULY was as far as he got as an actor, but what do I know... :wave:


:ed:

[Totti]

I totally agree with you Ed, I'm an art cinema fan and I think this movie, (or the 25 minutes of it I could take) relies on Tom Cruise's big name to make a buck.
This movie would be a materpiece of modern cinema...if you watch it rigth after "The Postman".

Is Pickle a girl?????

[Ed Bishop]

Is Pickle a girl? Well....sure hope so! :agree: :laugh: j/k. Yeah, she is, very obviously so.... :) Nice to have female company on an audiophile board, their number is so few in such places....

Yeah, that was my problem, too...it's a classic 'overblown star vehicle,' a lot of money and noise and fine sets and costumes but nothing new going, no matter how lavish and great it looks. So does Tom, according to the ladies, which is cool, but not much substance beyond that for the rest of us... :shake:

:ed:

[Pickle]

Ya Pickle is a girl eh!
One thing... I don't like tom cruise. I think he's a slime ball dog of a man. and I refused to see Vanilla sky cause of it. I just love action movies, so TLS was a must in my books.

Never seen cocktails or days of thunders... oh wait ! I did see a few good men... any of you like that tom cruise flick?

Jerry McGuire was allright, cute... I saw it more for Rene Zelwiger... she is soooo cute!

[Ed Bishop]

Not much action in A FEW GOOD MAN--a guy eats his gun, that's about it--but for a basic courtroom drama, it's very effective, and although Demi Moore just stands around looking pouty(as usual :rolleyes: ), the rest of the cast, including Cruise, come off very well, though Nicholson(also, as usual)steals the film....

And yes, Ms. Zellweger is a pretty lass.. :)

:ed:

[JohnG]

Cruise was great in Magnolia and Minority Report, so he is capable at times of giving a good performance.

Cocktail will always remain for me a classic guilty pleasure movie. And it has KOKOMO.:D

[Jimbo]

I can just imagine the pitch for Last Samurai: "It's Dances With Wolves Goes to Japan!" Even so, it looked great on the big screen, and Ken Watanabe gave a great supporting performance, getting a well-deserved Oscar nom.

[SVL]

A Few Good Men was a good film, and the part was right for Tom Cruise - sort of a slick, career-minded fellow who is put in unusual circumstances; same in the movie called The Firm - not bad either.

As an actor, Jack Nicholson could eat a dozen Tom Cruises for breakfast :D

[Totti]

Dances with wolves meets Rashomon he he he

[Pug]

I can just imagine the pitch for Last Samurai: "It's Dances With Wolves Goes to Japan!" Even so, it looked great on the big screen, and Ken Watanabe gave a great supporting performance, getting a well-deserved Oscar nom.

It's funny you should say this. My friend refers to The Last Samurai as Dances With Samurai .

Sean

[Pug]

I watched Last samurai and Matchstick men this weekend, Samurai is much much better. I like Samurai much much betta!


I have to say that I thought that Matchstick Men was brilliant. Haven't seen Samurai yet.

Pickle, you should see Vanilla Sky. Don't let your dislike of Tom Cruise stop you from seeing an excellent film.

Sean

[pigmode]

folks,
I've been watching these kind of movies since the early 60's when we had 4 Japanese theatres in town, each playing the movies of one studio excusively. In other words, about one samurai movie every 3 to 4 weeks. I search the net continuously for DVDs. This has been an obsession since childhood.

The Last Samurai is not a bad movie. It captures many key details of the philosophy and lifestlye of this phenomenal warrior class, that had evolved in virtual isolation for over a thousand years. TC did a pretty good job on this one. Some historical background would allow you to see the care that went into this production.

[SamS]

I watched this one last weekend. I thought the sets and the costumes were first rate. Some of the dialog and writing was a bit cliche, but that's what we're supposed to expect nowadays from a Hollywood blockbuster with the top male actor in the staring role, right? :sigh:

[Ken_McAlinden]

Pickle,
Feel free to continue ignoring "Vanilla Sky" and rent "Abre los Ojos", the Spanish film from which Vanilla Sky was adapted. It's a better movie anyway. :)

Regards,