Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai
 

Tom Cruise plays

"... Civil War veteran Captain Woodrow Algren [who] trains Emperor Meiji's troops in the way of the gun as they prepare to defeat the last of the country's samurais. But Algren's passion is swayed when he is captured by the samurai and learns about their traditions and code of honor." ( source).

I saw the trailer, and although I would *love* to give reasons why if this guy ever tries to be one of these it will create this, I would rather say something else...

Is anything in the movie IN JAPANESE? I'm not saying that a Japanese person can't speak English or anything, but I'm worried that its in English because most Americans can't "speak" subtitles.

I don't know, I haven't seen the movie yet, but I was curious what people thought of the matter. Maybe there is an explanation, and if there is I will listen open-eared and fully-attented.

Given the movie I'm curious as to why you would expect Japanese dialogue with subtitles.

I mean, you make a good point, American audiences don't do subtitles. Hell, I have to trick my wife into seeing subtitled films though she's enjoyed most all foreign films I've dragged her to.

But it's a big budget film made by American studios, an American Director, an American leading man and targeting an American audience.

hmm one mobie that handle this problem very well was "The 13th Warrior" with antonio banderas.

they had showed the main character traveling with his Nordic buddies but he could understand them during the nightly campfire , so they show a bunch of these campfire sessions and he slowly begins to learn their language(thus the audience also can understand them).

movie was mostly crap, but they really handle the language barrier thing very well.

I didn't download the second trailer for this film because I knew it was attached to Revolutions and I really wanted to see it first on the big screen. It is perhaps the first trailer that made me almost cry, it looks absolutely powerful and the score is brilliant. Perhaps I am biased due to my facination with the Japanese Era of the Samurai but this film looks set to stun critics and audiences alike.

I think this movie will be awesome. Tom Cruise gets a bad rep 'cuase he's a pretty boy, but he can be a great actor when given a juicy role.

ok, good. For a second when I saw the trailer I thought Tom Cruise was supposed to be Japanese, and here's this American trying to be Asian. Thankfully though he is playing an American.

I'm very much looking forward to this. It really sounds like a good premise, and great cast! As annoying as Tom Cruise is, he actually can be a really good actor. And he seems to be getting more believable the older he gets. I guess losing those "little boy" looks makes him playing grown ups far more believable. :lol: And hey, Billy Connoly and Hiroyuki Sanada are in it. That alone is worth the $12! :)

The only thing that makes me nervous is the $100 million budget. When "mid-card" directors get that much money to play with, they sometimes tend to over direct and make a mess on screen. Hopefully this isn't one of those cases, and the money was spent primarily on the cast (Tom specifically) and the set design.

didnt know billy connoly was in it

definetly worth a watch

I saw the preview of this movie when i went to go see the Matrix, the battle scenes looked amazing! Can't say much for plot from just seeing the preview, but from what i saw i really want to go see it.

I mean, it looks like it will be beautiful, besides the whole "we're in japan and we don't speak japanese thing." I'm going to go see it regardless, and I know there will be a perfectly logical answer to it. I just think that when a movie is made, about separate countries conversing with each other, writing the dialogue in English further separates the English speaking audience from the other country's cultural differences, and makes Americans think that everywhere in the world is the same.
That's just the thought anyway.

I have heard that there is a lot of Japanese speaking in the movie by Tom Cruise and the other actors but i dont really know. This will be an amazing movie. I cant wait.

I think it looks good, and I hope that it will be at least a little historically accurate.

don't judge the score of a movie by the trailer. most of the music in trailers is done by companies that specialize in trailer music like immediate music,Pfeifer Broz., Non-Stop Music,or x-ray dog. only occasionally will the music in the trailer actually be in the movie.

I saw this preview on "Coming Attractions" on E!

It looks unbelievable!
Kinda like the battle scenes from that video game that takes place in medieval Japan. You know the one?
Somebody help me out here.
Anyway, this should at least make action fans ecstatic.

this reminds me so much of Shogun, but of course happens later in history. i'm looking forward to it. the trailer images look great, but the dialogue seems pretty lame. but can't judge a film by its trailer!

About the subtitles thing, think of "Enemy at the gates" everyone spoke english, yet they were russian and german...You just have to get over that fact, its a movie...and most americans dont like to read subtitles for a whole movie. I don't care, but my father bitched up a storm at Brotherhood of the wolf...so *shrugs* what can you do?

Back to the movie though, i'm not sure im looking forward to it, i think its just a bit toooo holywood for me...

at the language, think of it this way... most likely tom cruise's character is probably speaking japenese to the japenese, not english. so since everyone is speaking japenese to each other, it may as well just be english to us.

Saw the preview to this when I went and saw Revolutions. Even though you can tell Mr. Cruise is gunning for an Oscar with this role it still looks pretty sweet.

In fact quite frequently the music in a trailer is from an entirely different film... I don't know how many times I've heard the score from The Mission on trailers for a new movie...

Bram stoker's Dracula,Dragonheart,Glory, are often sampled as well as the albulm unearthed by es posthumous.

Yea, I saw a preview for this movie and was mildly interested at first, and I see it here and it kinda makes me want to check it out some more.

And yea, subtitles dont really bother me that much, Brotherhood of the Wolf was a nice suprise when I saw it in the theater. I wasnt expecting subtitles, but I think the subtitled movie was better then the english translation.

i saw a private showing... great movie!!!!

tom cruise is awsome, one of his better roles

You're probably right, but I'm not complaining. I mean, the movie looks SWEET!

... but filmed in New Zealand... Interesting!

new zealand(lotr),prague(blade 2),romania(cold mountain),austrailia(matrix,star wars), and some of canada(practically every new york scene is actually filmed in toronto) are big places to film with many places in US charge and arm and a leg to film now.

Yeah, the trailers for ROTK and this movie were almost better than the matrix revolutions itself.

Caught a sneak preview last night, and I was completely floored. Any nippon-phile will absolutely freak at the attention to detail. Regular filmgoers will be impressed by the great plot, superb cast and incredible action sequences. This is the best movie I've seen so far this year, without a doubt (good thing it comes out 2 weeks before ROTK, so I'm allowed to say that :))

small spoiler:

Regarding the language thing that a number of people are worried about, it's done *very* logically. Be forewarned though, there isn't a plot device a la 13 warriors or hunt for red october. Tom Cruise's character learns japanese during the course of the movie, and he speaks it with the characters who don't speak english (of which there are many).

There are a couple of other (AWESOME) things that I'm dying to discuss, but I'd rather there be a spoiler tag up top before I get into it.

I saw the movie yesterday, and it was very good. Definitely worthwhile, and even the wife and stepmother liked it.

i'm going to reserve judgement. the first trailer made the movie look like monkey ass. But then when I saw the 2nd trailer they made, it looked like it could have some possibilites for not totally sucking. I saw some of the behinds the scenes/making-of stuff and it looks like the pretty boy did do a lot of work not to be a pathetic honkey trying to be a samurai, and there were some scenes they showed with actual japanese language speakers with subtitiles. So, I'll see it after a couple drinks when I'm relaxed and not ready to hate it.

I actually saw the sneak preview over the weekend as well and myself, my wife and two friends absolutly loved it. Between Kill Bill and The Last Samurai, i've found my favorite movies of the year. ROTK may take the title but I wasn't thrilled with The Two Towers until i saw the Extended Edition, so it may be the same with ROTK.

As for The Last Samurai, the language barrier is treated very logically and works well. There are subtitles. The battle sequences and fights are very intense, and got my heart pounding. This is a must see movie and although i don't think Cruise will win any awards, The Last Samurai should at least be in the running for Best Picture.

the last samurai
 

i just got home from watching the sneak preview....

this has got to be the best tom cruise movie that i have ever seen. the acting, the story line, and the action is some of the best ive seen since gladiator. i wouldnt be suprised if this movie gets an academy award. at the end of the movie, the audience were standing up in applause.

if you dont know what its about...its about an honorable american war hero (cruise) who is sent to japan to train the japanese in the western art of war. after being captured by the enemy, he learns to respect the culture and the way of the samurai.

sounds cheesy? maybe. but youll be pleasantly suprised. still need more incentive? the actor who plays 'el duce' in boondock saints is in this movie...enjoy.

What about 'Cocktail'?

And a little known film by the name of 'Top Gun'?

I think everyone knows that Cruise can never top his performance in 'Risky Business'...

Il Duce is ironically Billy Connolly, who is Scottish not Irish, but for the purposes of the film meh...

Also, the fact that I saw what appeared to be Tom Cruise defeating Japanese Samurai with a katana in the preview kind of makes me a little wary...

I doubted too, My Son.

Spoiler: THERE WERE NINJAS!! FUCKING NINJAS!!!

I think I'll see it tonight, maybe I'll write a mini-review on it tomorrow. I'm expecting a lot, so it better be good. :)

best movie I have seen since The Two Towers



I loved it....spectacular film

go see it now

I saw the movie last night and it was an amazing movie. There were subs.... Tom Cruise played an awesome character. He added a lot to the movie. If I were you I would go and see the movie the first chance you get.

best movie ever. I loved it so much.

Tom Cruise was amazing in it too.

it has been entirely too long since there has been an epic, mainstream film this good. I fucking loved it.

was a fucking awsome movie possably my favorite
and anyone who says anything bad about it should be hit by a car off a cliff

It was a great movie, breathtaking scenery and convincing acting. I wrote more about it on the "Rate the last movie you watched" thread, but in short, it was a great film. Worth seeing, for sure.