Anyone looking forward to The Last Samurai?

[goandal]

I saw Elf last weekend and they had the Last Samurai trailer...it was awesome. Very Akira Kurosawa-ish. In terms of cinematography...alot of horses! I like the authentic costumes...makes me want to get a samurai suit.

Also, last night I saw Matrix and they showed the trailer again!

Can't wait!!

[takematsu]

I wish I wanted to see it, but (from the trailers and scanty other evidence) it looks like they've taken a perfectly good historical epic and stuck a marginal pretty-boy actor into it to make it "palattable" to North American audiences, despite the problems it raises with the setting (i.e., anti-westernization Samurai NOT instantly skinning and setting fire to a Westerner in their midst). Grrrrr rrrrrr. Stoopid Hollywood.

[ziritrion]

I liked the trailer, and I want to see it. I don't enjoy Tom Cruise's acting, but it doesn't bother me as much as takematsu, perhaps because he's dubbed here and I don't have to listen to his actual acting . I saw the trailer when I saw Matrix Revolutions and liked it, however, nothing beats Return Of The King, IMHO. I'll probably go with my kendo pals, just to bug the rest of the audience by saying "bah, that tsuki lacked strength, Tom didn't project his body far enough; I'd kick his butt in 2 secs..." . No, actually, I'm looking forward to see it.

But the ultimate samurai movie would have these guys as heros...





P.S.: I almost forgot, I'm watching Hero tonight. They're finally playing it here

[takematsu]

I should probably just let this thing go (like a good Buddhist). It's less Tom Cruise himself than the aforementioned shoe-horning of any popular Caucasian actor into something like this because otherwise us xenophobic white-folk won't go see the thing that gets my proverbial panties bunched up.

They bunch further because, God help us, in terms of the greather North American audience, this is probably a true statement. The trouble one has finding a subtitled copy of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the rental shops is indicative of how hard it is for people here to deal with "foreign stuff".

Of course, I don't like Tom Cruise much either. Hmmm.... the Pizza Cats experiment with faster-than-light travel goes awry, throwing them into a dimensional vortex which eventually puts them , the TMNT and Usagi into a terrible dimension ruled by a cyborg Tom Cruise, who can only be defeated by painful evisceration and protracted face-punching. If we can figure out a way to get Angelina Jolie in it, preferably in a monotard,... heck, I'd better get on the phone to Tristar, I think I've got The Big Thing for summer 2005 figured out.

[ziritrion]

Hey, wait a sec... Instead of a cyborg Tom Cruise let's have a cyborg Christopher Walken, add Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, Hale Berry and a platypus to the mix, and make a silly sci-fi comedy à la Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy out of it... BEST. MOVIE. EVER!!

Anyway, since Hollywood seems so busy with superhero movies and second-third parts, somebody could take the plot and turn it into one of the finest Flash animations ever...

So, what was the topic of this thread? The Last Samurai, right? Talk about off-topic

[silent bob]

my dojo and me are goining to see it,but it looks like a degrace japanese history to me.

[ziritrion]

If you feel like reading some reviews about the movie, go to http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=16548. So far, everyone seems to like it, which is a good sign.

[Todd Shogun]

I'd recommend reading reviews first before seeing it, what with the outrageous prices they're charging to see movies these days. I used to steer away from reviews so I can form my own opinion, now I use them religiously to save cash I for one think the previews and premise of Last Samurai look awesome, but will be reading reviews before shelling out my hard earned cash to see it. It may be good, it may be crap... sure, Tom Cruise is in it, but he was cool in Minority Report so no bad feelings there. If it doesn't live up to expectations there's always Return of the King a few weeks later. And Kill Bill V2 in Feb!

[Gaffey]

Ebert and Roeper gave it two thumbs up!

"A stunningly beautiful epic adventure"

Looks good, but I'll wait for the DVD. I still haven't seen X2.

[mhirtes]

I saw Elf last weekend and they had the Last Samurai trailer...it was awesome. Very Akira Kurosawa-ish. In terms of cinematography...alot of horses! I like the authentic costumes...makes me want to get a samurai suit.

Also, last night I saw Matrix and they showed the trailer again!

Can't wait!!

I hope I'm wrong, but from the trailer, it looks like "Shogun II: Electric Boogaloo" to me.

Probably has as much historical accuracy as "The Flintstones" do about the days of early man.

[4NT]

You all have great opinions about this one! I couldn't resist adding my 2 cents (if it's worth that much)

First, I have no issues with Tom Cruise, I'm neutral on that subject. Though, he must be doing something right to get where he's at. I for one am envious just because I would love to have the opportunity to learn (scratch the surface) what he learned of the samurai art/lifestyle. Actually, I would be happy just running around in the armor for a few minutes.

As far as the whether it's any good or not... I will have to go see it to find out. The trailer really appealed to me, so I will defiantly be seeing it in the theater as soon as possible. If it's a not so good movie, well...it wouldn't be the first time I have seen a bad one. It will make me appreciate the good ones that much more.

I can't wait!

[Gaffey]

I hope I'm wrong, but from the trailer, it looks like "Shogun II: Electric Boogaloo" to me.

You actually watched Turbo and Ozone save the Miracles youth center.

[4NT]

Yea, I caught that to and was afraid to admit it. Although.... I was a huge fan of the Breakin movies back in the day, as well as the Last Dragon. I caught it the other day on one of the movie channels....yea, with all due respect to Timac (sp?) and Barry Gordy, it was really bad.

[takematsu]

Now I'm all confused and angry. Good thing I've got my Gamma Ray Rage Syndrome Suppressor functioning.

The source of the problem is a jumbo, triple-thick "Last Samurai" movie tie-in magazine I saw last night, which alternates between showing images and script-chunks from the movie, and breif explanations of the historical background the movie is set against. SO, on one page we have a picture of Tom Cruise in his Union Army outfit, being captured (AND NOT EXECUTED) during a battle, and on the next a page full of text about one of the actual anti-Western daimyos and his opinions. This means that whatever the merits of the movie, it's helping to educate North America about history, and this is something I rank as a Greater Good. For this, I feel bound to praise the show's producers, at least.

...and I don' wanna. Confused. Angry. Must smash puny bug man....

[wulf]

Yes, this film does look like it might be good, but Tom Cruise being in it really puts me off. I'm not a fan of his in the first place, but furthermore I agree with the points Takematsu has made, it just bugs me that it has to have a big western star in it for a film like this to succeed in the west.