[11011001]

So, who's excited about this movie?

I have been following it since the fall of 2002. It looks like it's going to be amazing, not just the sword play, but the story as well.

I have seen so many of those black and white Akira Kurosawa films. In my humble opinion, they are masterpieces. Tsubaki Sanjuro and Shichinin no Samurai (Seven Samurai) are some of my favorites (isn't Toshiro Mifune amazing?).

I think it will be interesting to see a modern, hollywood Samurai period piece. Needless to say, I can't wait..

Edward Zwick is directing right? What do you think of his previous movies?

comments? do you think it's going to be too hollywoodized? will all of Tom's Cruise's training pay off?..?

[Sealobo]

HaHaHhaHaHaHaHaHhAHA.

That's my reaction when i saw the trailer.

[Jim Paradise]

Well, I think it looks like it'll be neat to see.... ~_~

[Timo]

[wataru]

I think it's going to be shitty, and an embarrasment. Everyone go to Blockbuster's action movie section and take a gander at "American Samurai" or any of those white-guy-pretending-to-be-a-badass-martial-artist movies. Ugh.

[lil'babykitten]

Looks rubbish to me, not a Tom Cruise sort of movie.

[keekeeree]

When I saw the preview in the theater, my first reaction was that Cruise did a remake of that mini-series from the 70's, Shogun:



Anyone know if Cruise's movie is based on the same book?

I reserve final judgment on the whether I'm gonna see the movie or not until I hear more about the plotline, but honestly, my reaction to the trailer:

[gerbnl]

Probably it's going to be yet another "Tom Cruise really likes himself very, very much" movie and as such will suck big time...

The Kurosawa stuff IS amazing, but such integrety is imho totally beyond hollywood. The best we can hope for is a paper thin story line and spectacular scenes. Entertaining just for one view, maybe, but not in the same league by far as kurosawa

[chris v]

Tom Cruise is a shill for the Scientologists. He won't be getting any of my money.Those people are seriously dangerous.

CV

[willed]

Yeah, Tom Cruise seems a bit incongruous in this film.

[JLFanboy]

Best retooling of a Samurai flick -

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.

Fantastic fcukin' movie. Can't say enough about how much I loved this movie.

But yeah, The Last Samurai looks like a another bit of fluff churned out by the Hollywood machine. And as for Tom Cruise: Meh. Granted, he's not that bad. But he's never been better than Meh.

[Ozmodiar]

Off topic, but what happened to that Three Musketeers movie that had choreography like a martial arts / samurai movie? I remember seeing the trailer once and I thought it looked pretty cool.

[GoGoReggieXPowars]

Originally posted by JLFanboy:
Best retooling of a Samurai flick -

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.

Fantastic fcukin' movie. Can't say enough about how much I loved this movie.

[Axo1ot1]

I wouldn't have wanted to watch it, but since the hero is as white guy instead of a Japanese guy I'll support it

[wdlove]

Tom Cruise is a very good actor!

[voodoo]

Originally posted by wdlove:
Tom Cruise is a very good actor!

[gerbnl]

Originally posted by wdlove:
Tom Cruise is a very good actor!

Now that might be, i wouldn't know, but it would be much nicer if he did it IN a movie for a change...

[JLFanboy]

Tom Cruise isn't necessarily a BAD actor. He's been good in a few parts. But I like to think of him in these terms:

All actors have a bag of tricks. Inside this bag are all of the tools they utilize to create a character. They've got accents, postures, tics, emotions, all kinds of stuff. Some actors have better tricks in their bags than others. I'll give him this, Cruise has some very good tricks in his bag. But it's a small bag. Some actors have bigger bags. Brian Cox (arguably the best actor working today) has a huge bag. Cruise has a tote, Cox has a duffel.

I hope that made sense.

[shmerek]

Originally posted by Ozmodiar:
Off topic, but what happened to that Three Musketeers movie that had choreography like a martial arts / samurai movie? I remember seeing the trailer once and I thought it looked pretty cool.

That was one of the worst freaking movies I have ever seen in my entire existence. The fight scenes sucked, the final duel took place on a bunch of ladders it was laughable. I know that the duels are choreographed but they shouldn't look like they are. I give it

As for the plot of The Last Sam:

Set in Japan during the 1870s, "The Last Samurai" tells the story of Capt. Nathan Algren (Cruise), an American military officer hired by the Emperor of Japan to train the country's first army in the art of modern warfare. As the government attempts to eradicate the ancient Samurai warrior class in preparation for more Westernized and trade-friendly policies, Algren finds himself unexpectedly affected by his encounters with the Samurai, which places him at the center of a struggle between two eras and two worlds, with only his own sense of honor to guide him.

[Freeflyer]

I was down in New Zealand staying in the town that they filmed it in (New Plymouth) as my wife was asked to work there for 8 months.

The scenery alone is going to make me watch this film. It was primarily filmed there because the local mountain (Mt. Taranaki) is a twin of Mt. Fuji. The Samurai village was built on the local cricket pitch...

I can't wait to see it. Tom apparently bought the house he was staying in (he managed to get them to put a cell phone repeater station above it) and a low fly exclusion zone over it (Air traffic warned me about it when I flew in the area).

But probably the best thing was seeing some of the workers walking around. I walked home from the pub one night behind a group of japanese guys wearing "Last Samurai-Stunt Team" T-shirts. I'm guessing you wouldn't want to mess with them.

Billy Connolly is co starring, and was the opposite of Tom. Noone ever say Tom, as he stayed in his house and helicoptered 5 mins to the set every day. Billy wandered round town like a local and talked to everyone. My wife ended up spending 15 mins chatting to him in the Post Office. Very cool and approachable chap.

Anyway, just thought I'd add a little to the poll.

Cheers,

J.

[nonhuman]

Originally posted by shmerek:
The fight scenes sucked, the final duet took place on a bunch of ladders it was laughable.

Not to mention being straight out of "Once Upon a Time in China".

[nbnz]

Originally posted by Freeflyer:
I was down in New Zealand staying in the town that they filmed it in (New Plymouth) as my wife was asked to work there for 8 months.

The scenery alone is going to make me watch this film. It was primarily filmed there because the local mountain (Mt. Taranaki) is a twin of Mt. Fuji. The Samurai village was built on the local cricket pitch...

I'm from NZ and yes the countryside down there is amazing, and the mountain is awesome - but I don't think the scenery alone would be enough to convince me to shell out my cash to see a Tom "I am great" Cruise flick.