Product Description: LAST SAMURAI (DVD/WS/2 DISC/5.1/COMMENTARY/DOCUMEN
Amazon.com: While Japan undergoes tumultuous transition to a more Westernized society in 1876-77, The Last Samurai gives epic sweep to an intimate story of cultures at a crossroads. In America, tormented Civil War veteran Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is coerced by a mercenary officer (Tony Goldwyn) to train the Japanese Emperor's troops in the use of modern weaponry. Opposing this "progress" is a rebellion of samurai warriors, holding fast to their traditions of honor despite strategic disadvantage. As a captive of the samurai leader (Ken Watanabe), Algren learns, appreciates, and adopts the samurai code, switching sides for a climactic battle that will put everyone's honor to the ultimate test. All of which makes director Edward Zwick's noble epic eminently worthwhile, even if its Hollywood trappings (including an all-too-conventional ending) prevent it from being the masterpiece that Zwick and screenwriter John Logan clearly wanted it to be. Instead, The Last Samurai is an elegant mainstream adventure, impressive in all aspects of its production. It may not engage the emotions as effectively as Logan's script for Gladiator, but like Cruise's character, it finds its own quality of honor. --Jeff Shannon
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Brand: Warner Home Video EAN: 9780790782768 Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC ISBN: 0790782766 Item Dimensions:40 Label: Warner Home Video Languages:EnglishOriginal LanguageDolby Digital 5.1FrenchOriginal LanguageDolby Digital 5.1EnglishSubtitledSpanishSubtitledFrenchSubtitledFrenchDubbedDolby Digital 5.1 Manufacturer: Warner Home Video MPN: 085392838325 Number Of Items: 2 Publisher: Warner Home Video Region Code: 1 Release Date: May 04, 2004 Running Time: 154 minutes Studio: Warner Home Video Theatrical Release Date: December 05, 2003
Customer Reviews
Japan, and a man, at the crossroads
This epic swashbuckler is also the story of a man's search for peace and meaning, with a debt to both Dances with Wolves - Extended Cut (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) and James Clavell's Shogun. It's 1876, bare months after Custer's Last Stand, and Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), a survivor of the Seventh Cavalry, is working as a huckster for the Winchester rifle company and doing his best to drown himself in drink. Like Frank Hopkins of Hidalgo (Widescreen Edition), he's tormented by memories ... Read More