Ken is amazing in almost everything thing he has done

Also Hiroyuki Sanada!

@@bombomos Not Almost!

hear hear

Hear hear

The ending to his poem

a true masterpiece!

One of Zimmer's absolute finest soundtracks. When you combine a great story with a fine soundtrack, the result is often more than the sum of its parts. This is one of my favorite films.

Always felt Gladiator was Zimmer’s Magnus Opus. Everything else felt a bit perfunctory up until Interstellar. Bladerunner 2049 was very unique. Always puts a ‘spell’ on me when I listen to it.

Hans Zimmer is a musical genius. The score of this film is amazing, it's up their with Gladiator and King Arthur which are my two favorite soundtrack's that he had composed.

He borrowed tons from Thin red line

It will endure as a timeless masterpiece. From one of the greatest scores ever, to a masterful script and performances.

The comment about the cherry blossoms - and by extension, the battlefield littered with the lives of men from both sides - is an incredibly under-rated moment imo.

Strongly agree. I saw it as Nathan being accepted into the samurai. Great scene

The most beautiful scene I have ever seen.

would have been awful if he made it the other way around

I think you’re confusing sensuality with intimacy.

It’s more intimate than sensual but I get what you meant.

Even though he gets acted off the set by Ken Wantanabe.

​@Marc wow I never knew that, I always figured it was just a fun yet historically inaccurate movie 😄

@@Apollo890 To give Cruise his credit, there are very few people who have acted opposite Ken Watanabe and NOT been acted off the set. Hell other than Cillian Murphy and maybe Leo Di Caprio I'd say Watanabe gives the best performance in Inception, and Watanabe is barely even in Batman Begins and he's still memorable in that role. Dude's one of the greatest.

Hands down his best performance.

@@TehFrenchy29 no argument there, I've seen him on stage in: The King and I and his performance blows you away.

their chemistry was amazing. Easily one of my favorite movies

That was Katsumoto’s way of letting Algren know what he was thinking. They both knew there was no way they were going to win this Civil War.

Nope .. the battle of Thermopylae was the battle of the movie "the 300" ... Sparta (300) vs Persia (1.000.000)

@@SkeeveTVR 🤓☝ well akshually it was around 7.000 greek forces against 300.000 at most, but still..

It was beautiful and moving..

Thanks, I always wondered who she was. Playing that character she was amazing, compelled hospitality to a savage foreigner who took her husband from her and her family. The whole concept is foreign to a western mind but these people were from a different time, place, and code of honor. I'd be on their side.

Absolutely correct, I ALWAYS lose it when she puts her head on his shoulder, after dressing him in the armor.

Yeah, the thing I remember most is that she appears to be able to express two different emotions on each side of her face. If you watch the emotional scenes with her, one side of her face might look incredibly sad while the other side might be slightly smiling. I think it illustrates the emotional conflict her character must have felt. She is such a compelling mix of duty, discipline, loyalty and humanity. Amazing acting.

​@@potterj09it's not foreign to a western mind at all. Do you think western people are incapable of feelings?

She’s fine as hell

Haha right dude chickened out whikw the samurais were willing to sacrifice themselves.

means that he still considered the shame is bearable. makes him totally a shameful person.

You believe a man can change his destiny? l think a man does what he can until his destiny is revealed to him "I dreamed of a unified Japan, of a country strong and independent and modern. And now we have railroads and cannon, western clothing. But we cannot forget who we are or where we come from"

I've always liked when Nathan tells Bagley "I'll look for you on the field" right before the final battle commences and after having been threatened that he would be shown no quarter. It seems like a relatively innocuous comment by comparison, but after having it be made repeatedly clear throughout the film that Algren holds the Colonel personally responsible for the Cheyenne massacre and that he would even go so far as to "gladly kill him for free" the menacing undertone of the remark gives me goosebumps every time.

Completely agree.

He also played the dwarf king in The Hobbit, and was also the lead in Mrs Brown along with Dame Judy Dench, a great movie about Queen Victoria which I'm sure you'd like.

I forgot he was in this. His stand-up stuff is so funny!

Beat me to it. One of the absolute best comedians I have seen. National treasure indeed.👍

Peter Pettigrew

Billy Connelly is also gear in "Lemony Snickets"

You really can't blame them --- a truly superb film for the ages

Είναι ωραίο που cry

It always brings tears

To me, it's the same answer. How he died and how he lived: With Honor.

I did!

Yup.

I thought it was probably referring to Katsumoto.

I believe Katsumoto was the title role. "Let me tell you how he lived."

@@mokane86 exactly.

I never knew people thought it was something other than the plural Samurai, that's what the movie is about after all.

@@Jim-Mc Katsumoto was daimyo (Noble) not Samurai. Samurai (those who serve) were analogous to knights under a feudal lord

Just like Cruise said to him in the movie. "Your job is to protect me right"?

well he got lit up by Sanada with the practice swords and Bob did nothing LMFAO

​@@BLaCkKsHeEp If Algren stood down, and Ujio (Sanada) attacked him, Bob would've intervened. But in that very scene, Algren himself was defying Ujio. Bob being Japanese, he would've considered it a disrespect to Algren if he intervened, knowing that Algren wanted to face Ujio at that moment.

what!? Mind blown, never knew that. I've also seen it plenty of times :D

I don't think that lines up actually. 'They are all perfect' refers to the cherry blossoms which is not the subject of his haiku. His haiku goes 'The tiger's eyes are like my own. But he comes from across a deep and troubled sea'. So while he has the realisation that all the cherry blossoms are perfect, his haiku remains unfinished in death.

Not sure if it's the poem, but earlier he speaks about cherry blossoms. He says you could spend your entire life searching for the perfect blossom and it would not be a wasted life. So at the end, he sees every blossom is perfect. His was not a wasted life

@@Antycarr um... but that's not a haiku. Haiku have 17 syllables in lines of five, seven and then five again.

@@hockema56 Hence the unfinished part.

I love him too great in ring and sunshine too.

And he also did a movies with Keanu Reeves' "Ronin 47" and Jackie Chan's "Rush Hour 3"

George Lucas was heavily influenced by those old movies and performances of Mifune.

In college, our on-campus theatre showed non- main stream movies. one was "The Red Sun" with Toshiro Mifune. It was all in Japanese with NO closed captioning, but you could easily follow the story. I became a fan of his then. Others we saw that I recall from 45 years ago were "Harold and Maude" and " A Boy and his Dog" - both cult classics, but also "Trojan Women" - I'm sorry, but it was awful.

The guy was remotely related to Yukimura. Of course he's a badass. His ancestor was one of the best warriors in all of Japan

Same reaction here, surprised myself. I travelled to Japan a month later on Business and went to see it again, but in local theater. Lots of sobbing there, too.

I've cried a little at this movie too.

In the 80's, businessmen hired graduates of traditional Samurai Academies because of their insight and discipline. Sometimes the old ways guide us better than new technology can. Look how the truth is undermined by social media. I was told by an arrogant western Magat that the Samurai way ruined Japan. Now look at Japan. It has the fourth largest Navy in the world, by Hull Numbers and Displacement. It is the only reason why the rest of Asia can oppose China. And unlike the PLAN, the JMSDF has working jet fighters on carriers, the F35Bs that were purchased from the U.S. Japan's Fleet has 4 Carriers, second only to the U.S. I didn't even mention the JASDF which has modified "Stealth" F15s and F35As ready to help allied forces.

@@knoahbody69 A book written by a 16th century samurai called "The Book of Five Rings" is popular reading among businessmen.

Yes, I agree. The samurai is the ultimate warrior. A perfect balance of force and discipline.

For as much media criticism / shit flinging there was in the beginning it has a pretty solid IMDB rating and it seems to have a pretty solid following.

little more recognition? underappreciated classic? I'm sorry but this movie was a real blockbuster in the theaters, and it was nominated to the Academy Awards in four categories and for the Golden Globe in three categories (and won several other awards). please don't ride this silly "it's underappreciated/unrecognized" trend about movies you haven't heard about before. it's a 20+ yo movie, of course there is no daily hype about it, but it's quite a well-know, and highly praised/loved movie.

@@daniel.maitheny I've literally never met anyone who has ever heard of it, and as far as films of 2003 go, it wasn't like some MEGA hit.

Sanada is a Master of Arms and will often times help to train other actors, especially those whom he fights against in film. Including Cruise in this movie. Helps to elevate the dynamic of the fight scenes, and later acts as rehearsal for the actual takes. So Ujio training Algren mirrored Sanada training Cruise.

He showed some good sword play in Wolverine.

@@joelwillems4081 And again in Avengers: Endgame! :D

@@rcslyman8929 I believe he is a disciple of Sonny Chiba.

@@ajzmail Sonny Chiba's son (Mackenyu Arata) played the badass Enishi Yukishiro in the live action Rurouni Kenshin: The Final. His swordplay is amazing.

So once you became a full samurai you can get rid of your knot??

@Daniel Josh T. Limoso so why did the others have short haircuts and kassmoto was bald, were they already dishonored??

So is this where GOT got the idea of the dothraki and their hair?

There are a few instances in the movie where Samurai would suicide when they had shamed themselves. Death before dishonor was the rule. It was the worst insult you could give Nobutada; but it was meant for all the samurai. "Your way means nothing anymore."

It was known as the Cropped Hair Edict. On August 9, 1871 the Japanese government issued the danpatsurei or Cropped Hair Edict, encouraging samurai to cut their distinctive chonmage topknot. Funny enough this led to a minor photography boom when samurai rushed to photo studios to get their photo taken before their topknots were cut off. If you google it you can see old 19th Century photos of Japanese Samurai having their photos taken with their topknots. Very interesting.

To me, this translates as: It's not about the destination. The journey is its own reward.

Life in every breath. Look for a perfect blossom for your whole life and it would not be a wasted life. They are all perfect.

Genjutsu right?

@@psantosd1 wow, Genjutsu is interesting. I'm going to look into that some more.

@@psantosd1 that's a modern invention.

​@@snubbles9991 you may be right I have no historical reference on that. But I think psychologic warfare was always part of combat throughout history and cultures. Intimidation and confidence play a big factor. Now if it was something Samurai actually consciously worked on I have no idea. (Im just talking about mind games, affecting your opponent's confidence/focus, not making any extravagant claim like hypnotizing or something out of cartoons)

@@psantosd1 yep I agree there, not ruling that out.

i think Tom Cruise has the best P.R.

badass when it comes to acting. other than that he isnt likeable at all. crazy scientologist.

@@hullmees666 Its not as if Scientology is any more bonkers than any other established religious system. You are right, he is crazy... but at least its harmless (afaik). Same can't be said for many.

@@TopTwom yes it is. Calling it a religion itself is bonkers. Its a corp that makes money brainwashing and controlling the lives of every single member. They kidnap people and torture them. Others are quite bad too but their bad things dont come from the creed but shitty and corrupt authority.

@@hullmees666 You kinda defined every major religion right there. Corrupt greedy authorities exploiting people's willingness to believe supernatural lies to further thier gains and to hurt anyone who threatens that fact. Thats organized religion for you.

... but Samurais made free use of guns. Also used bows, leaving katans as a last resort weapon.

He finally finished his poem.

Is that so? That’s so interesting! I should look into that. 🤔

Do people think it was Shakespeare 150 yrs ago? (Bad example because of the mass of stuff that came right from him.)

I'm mean "Ladies man" is the only way to describe Benjamin Franklin

Hmmm, right you are! The phrase "ladies' man" seems to be placed around the 1780's, and "What/Who/Where/How on Earth" seems a few decades earlier. 1733, per one article. But there's debate, some citing the Latin phrase in "Nulla in mundo pax sincera" ("In this world there is no honest peace.") from some ancient poem. The idea being that the phrase "in the world" has long been analogous with "to exist". Another example being a Roman legal proverb: "Quod non est in actis, non est in mundo:" "That which is not in the statutes is not in the world."

You are right. Sometimes those expressions are older than we thought.

Great movie. They made reasonable compromises but gave it so much heart. Gave the subject matter real respect and passion.

I was thinking "dances with wolves"

@@josephamoraz7990 that’s a good one too, but I said that bc she’s seen enough of WW2 in the pacific and a bit of Japanese culture in this film so now she’s fully equipped to get the most out of “Letters From Iwo Jima”.

@@josephamoraz7990 'dances with wolves' then 'little big man' always come to mind. One is so serious the other crazy but life is crazy. Looking at recommended I see Robocop (1987) another move I love.

当時の侍は竹刀などなく 木刀で訓練していた…

I remember me and my girlfriend passed on seeing it in the theater because we both thought --- "Oh great, Tom Cruise acting like a tough guy learning to be a Samurai warrior just like a Navy fighter pilot or NASCAR driver" LOL --- but luckily I rented it on VHS a few years later and was pleasantly suprised it was much better than I presumed

Absolutely

Pretty much what it symbolizes, this film is based loosely on the Satsuma rebellion, which was essentially a war between the old way, and the new, where the samurai that didn't want to adapt into a new Empire, and wanted to keep their superior status, rebelled.

@@Darkpara1 Also kind of symbolizes the test of strength between feudalism and capitalism. No matter how elite and capable a warrior class was, it would eventually be no match for a larger conscripted commoner force with more meritocracy and fully standardized equipment.

@@jamesm1 it's more the advancement of technology than the economic system that produced it. There's a reason the Europeans became the most technologically advanced after the enlightenment, it was the constant warfare between nation states that advanced the technology, as we were all using it to kill each other. But the same thing happened in Europe when firearms were introduced, the mounted knight basically became irrelevant, and so did all their lifetime of martial training.

That's how I felt playing Total War: Shogun 2 Campaign and then going into the Fall of the Samurai DLC campaign. It gives a lot of insight to the clans of the two eras, the politics, and the how the battle strategies changed over time. Once you get into Fall of the Samurai, there's very little old Samurai units, even Cavalry can do against cannons, gatling guns, and coastal bombardments from steam-powered naval ships. It takes a little time to build up to that tech, but once you acquire mid-tier cannons, it's a downward spiral for the Samurai from then on. Though the Ninja unit can still be fun to use for surprise traps and fort defense due to their bombs.

I'll freely admit, I cried at that scene.

I looked him up on imdb, Fukumoto Seizo, he had some 30+ roles after 'Bob'. He passed away two years ago at 77. May He rest in peace.

That was really affecting.

So many superb scenes in this movie

Personally it can be taken many ways and all of them in and of themselves accurate. Nathan Algren could be the Last Samurai because he was the last left alive. Or it could be Katsumoto the last of the great Samurai lords or the whole group as a whole. But you're right it almost certainly isn't meant to be Algren.

@@GhostEye31 Agreed. All the people who ripped the movie for casting a white actor as the main clearly didn't watch it. "The Last Samurai" could be taken as referring to Algren, but it isn't.

Not necessarily. Those Japanese Samurai simply became part of the new Japanese Government and Armed Forces. As a distinct warrior class yes they were gone, but their teachings and beliefs now extended to the whole of the Japanese people. Every soldier in the Army and Navy were considered Samurai and the Emperor was to be the ultimate Daimyo. The codes of obedience and loyalty unto death were adherents of the Samurai class. In fact it was the brutality of Samurai culture is what in many ways are what caused the atrocities of WWII in the first place. There was both a beautiful and an ugly side to Japanese culture and the Samurai ideals. The rapists and murderers of the Nanking Massacre in 1937 were but an extension of the ugly sides of the Samurai culture and a blindness to obedience. On the one hand you have a society that places a high emphasis on tea and beauty and the arts but on the other you have one that practices beheading blind folded POWs, torturing and murdering them and in some cases eating their flesh just because they surrendered and are without value, or fighting to the end even to the point of two atomic bombs. Also much of their teachings of Japanese soldiers came from a book by Yamamoto Tsunetomo called Hagakure which provided a basis for the Samurai ethos to young impressionable minds.

@@Chrismatica There are clear historical examples of Westerners being given the titles of Samurai. If these people actually took serious their own positions they would see that this isn't inaccurate or being simply a manifestation of Hollywood. There was even an African Samurai for God's sake.

@@histman3133 you're right. I think this film wants to concentrate on the beauty of Japanese and Samurai culture. And what happens when something that was once cherished essentially is considered archaic and is forced to evolve or die off. Things will change, it's just nature but it's maintaining and valuing the traditions and cultures that make a people who they are.

Ninja karate guys are TIGHT!

@@simulacrae Hi there. Hello.

wow wow wow

Watching this movie is super easy, barely an inconvenience.

Tom Cruise is TIGHT!...:)

very well said, esp. point 1 that unfortunately i think cassie kinda glossed over, but it's the heart of the film. i think that was the first time in my life that i finally understood the purpose and power of zen buddhism.

It's really cool indeed. Almost as if he became a hybrid of the two. We saw Katsumoto being willing to die by his own hand, yet the western/american way of thinking led Nathan to convince him it should be by his enemies.

You need to get rid of your Hollywood-infused sensibilities about “Eastern philosophy” instead of trying to come off as an expert on the matter. I’m pretty sure if you’re going to go by the idealized Japanese bushido ethic, surrendering, or “accepting defeat” as you say, is the _last_ thing a warrior would think of.

@@ZhangK71 I am not nor did I ever try to come off as an "expert on the matter".

I disagree. He plays the same fish out of water, lost Irish boy in every movie with 3 notable exceptions, to which I truly laud his performance in Tropic Thunder, however in just about every other sense, I find him as the blandest feature in movies I otherwise adore "because" of the raw talent surrounding his very forgettable roles such as Legend and Day After Tomorrow, Anyone could have sat in that seat and probably made it better, but nope there's ole Tom in a Scale Mail Mini-skirt, kicking trolls in the face. The First Weeaboo, as I lovingly call this movie, is an absolute lividly spectacular mind blast of Medieval Japan vs Modernizing Japan with Tom doing a VERY accurate Branden Fraser, "I have no idea how I got here....." as usual. I do not besmirch his dedication if not his choice in rolls, I just honestly expected more, considering where he was/is.

@@steelgreyed C'mon, "I want the truth!" is an Oscar moment!!!

He never phones it in

@@steelgreyed for this specific movie, the audience loved the character he portrayed. The protagonist who had demons in his past and struggled with addiction. One who had an open mind, respected his enemy, and called out others who were in the wrong. The fact that Tom Cruise doesn’t use a stunt double has to be respected as well. Like his role in Mission Impossible- Ghost Recon. I mean come on, it was actually him climbing on the Burj Khalifa. There aren’t many who risk their own safety like that and push their limits. Respect for bringing up Tropic Thunder. A small role but one that was outside usual roles. I thought he was great in Vanilla Sky and Born on the 4th of July too. ✌🏽

Everything I have stated is a personal opinion. I consider the Last Samurai to be Dances with Wolves in Japan meets Born in the Forth of July, cripples are cripples regardless if its yer legs or alcohol, the fight is pretty much the same and that's one thing Tom does exceedingly well. Fight. Whether its trolls, infantry, aliens, alcohol, his own legs, or his own crippling height issues. I "have" to respect Tom as an actor, the very thing you are lauding is the same role he plays in half his movies if not 2/3rds, for me it gets old regardless of how good it is. I've only been watching him act for 40 years, in an industry that tends to bleed you dry in under 5.... Besides most of my angst for the man was laughed out of me in Day After Tomorrow. Vanilla Sky was 99% Tom wandering around "I have no idea how I got here," also how he played "eyes wide shut" and I dare say half the MI's. It is indeed his other defining trait. He stepped out of this in "Rain Man" and "A Few Good Men" but he was obviously not the main character in those movies, though I would include TLS in that. Side Note, I lovingly say the first Weaboo because of how totally Tom went into the roll, his fight scenes have been lauded by actual Samurai, for his following of Bushido practice.

Same, I didn't watch this movie for years because I thought it was going to be BS about Tom Cruise being the last samurai. When I finally watched it, it became one of my favorite movies right away.

watch the series My Country The New Age is brilliant or the movie Saving General Yang

Did you watch "Rain Man" and "The Color of Money"? "A Few Good Men" and "The Edge Of Tomorrow" are also good.

Same I like this one and war of the worlds but he had Dakota fanning as back up which helped in that one

He is also pretty great in born on the fourth of July.._

But Samurai do exist, its like saying knights today don't exist when they do

@@the98themperoroftheholybri33 I meant it in the context of this movie only. Tom Cruise was literally the last samurai standing by the end

@@the98themperoroftheholybri33 the samurai class does not exist today at all it is illegal in Japan. Anyone who claims to be one is lying to themselves like people who think they are ninja.

@@Thomaswake i guess thats why family badge designs are still in use today... They still exist but have a different purpose today, the same as knights in England no longer roam around fighting battles but are still a recognized social class

@@brendansheehy8124 I take the title to be plural in that these samurai that are fighting are the last of their kind. Not Tom being the last one.

One of her best lines. I also liked it when she referred to Omura as Omaha. I'm glad that I found this channel.

fucking hell i shouldent have laughed that hard

@@jamesheald7971 Ranks right up there with "neck romancer" from the Hobbit movies.

@@johnalden5821 I have not yet watched her reaction to the Hobbit movies yet. I will listen for that one. Thanks for the heads-up.

@@johnalden5821 and calling Rivindell 'Riverdale' 😂

It should not matter how we die, whether by natural causes or some disease or illness. We should be remembered for how we lived with such things.

It's referring to Katsamoto

@@SJ-GodofGnomes21 That's cool too. I just don't think it is necessarily referring to Nathan alone, as many seem to think.

@@MikeHunt-uz1qw Yeah, I'd go further and say I don't think the title is even referring to him at all. He's just the witness; the samurai of the title are Katsumoto and his group of samurai.

@@Kai-fb1ol Agreed. He was wearing the armor and carrying a sword, but he was never actually called a Samurai, unlike in Shogun say, where Anjin-San was officially Samurai.

That's an interesting perspective I like it.

Yep. Plus the California Genocide.

It happened on both sides

@@firstenforemost what the native amercans did do was attack other tribes. No ethnic group is innocent in this world. Skin color does not define character

@@jdeang3531 That's what I was going to say. Native Americans butchered quite a few settlers and Europeans butchered quite a few women and children. Both are bad and should never have happened. It sucked but that's history.

They happened during the days of the Puritans. For 400 years tribes were subject to things that make you question humanity.

True words. I feel you.

Her reaction to the "armor dressing" scene is just too classic.

yeah. She'll usually say "I see sparks!" hehe.

I still listen to it

100% agree

Agreed, good call.

Yess

Wait till you watch Dune. I've heard two pieces of score from it and I think it's going to be his magnum opus.

Born on the 4th of July.

Tropic thunder

agree

legend? lol

His best performance in my opinion. Man can act

And Legends of the Fall Another great epic!

but it was forbidden once the early guns because at that time they threatned the typical art of war, but youre right later they used them anyway

Oda Nobunaga was an absolute badass.

@@Tarnatos14 @The Psychic Spoon is right. Samurai never forbid firearms and openly embraced it. The reason this myth is so prevalent is because of bushido. These rules were similar to chivalry for knights and followed much the same way. That's to say nobody actually followed them. Unfortunately, modern media portrays bushido as something all samurai adhered to when in reality most samurai could've cared less.

I mean in the Satsuma rebellion, they only went back to traditional weapons and tactics because they ran out of gunpowder.

Samurai are primarily archers, and used bows. Their swords are just secondary weapons. When guns arrived, they simply swapped out their bows for guns.

Jules Brunét was an advisor to the Shogunate forces during the Boshin War in 1868, about a decade before these (dramatized) events. This film combines aspects of his story with the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, the largest and one of the last of the Samurai rebellions following the reforms that followed the Meiji Restoration. Afterwards, the Emperor posthumously pardoned the leader, Saigo Takamori, and elevated him to the status of a national hero. Elements of the samurai code, Būshido, were integrated into the moral and civil code of Japan, emphasising such things as Honor, Duty, and Loyalty to the Emperor above all, things that would last all the way till the end of The Second World War in 1945.

@@Isildun9 Thank you for the addition!

@@Isildun9 not contradicting, just to follow up. The samurai had just as much social privileges over lower classes as they had social duties to protect them. They were judges, policemen, rangers, town councillors, utopic role models, etc. The comparison can be made to the idealistic vision of medieval chivalry, and to its darker sides too with local corruption, overbearing powers and the wild hedge knights. One thing to dispel tho is that the shogunate wasn't anti western, as it was the shogunate that initially invited western advisers and entrepreneurs, realising just how surpassed technologically Japan was after commodore perry forsibly opened Japan to foreign trade. So while the shogun definitely was for a continued isolation of Japan, it was not backward, they knew Japan had to progress if it could withstand against foreign powers so some introduction of foreign know how was needed. But felt going too far would dilute and threaten Japanese values. Japan still very much a feudal state, was dominated by views that pastoralist, agriculturalist and pseudo ecologist ways of life were superior to urbanism and nascent industrialism. Imagine your share crop plot of land gifted by the feudal lord to your grandpa to honor his deed and merit that feed your family, taken by the government to be aggregated in cash crop industrial farming for national quota export banking board collective thing a magic.... You used to be self sustaining, now you pay rent for your own land, the forest where you used to hunt of gather wild food is now an open pit mine and have to work a wage to live for a job you understand none of the end product's utility, while your boss plays dress up like a foreign continent's dandy and displays mores contrary to yours just to be entitled to the new elites. Oh the joys of the modern world.... Seeing that the shogun had foreign backing, the imperial faction adopted an anti western view yet still held a weird fascination for the western empires. So they began to believe that to achieve parity, Japan not only had to become technological equals with the west but had to imitate western society in its entirety too. Still retaining disdain or suspicion on western nations, they adopted modern medical systems, universal education, universities, factories, equal representation, mass voting, bodily independence, mass media information access, but also imperialism, nationalism, colonialism, racism, supremacism or communism and socialism. That rabbit hole led to the extreme violence of imperial Japan during ww2. This also brought court intrigues and politics to the forefront, as since while the shogun could rule like an authoritarian all powerful dictator legally on behalf of the emperor,the emperor himself was not allowed to rule Japan like a western monarch or Chinese emperor for reasons of tradition and court rules. While having - some - sway over the government, factions, cliques, parties, movements and popular ideologies would dominate Japan, more so than western nations of the era. To illustrate, the address for surrender of emperor hirohito to his people in 1945 was an immense shock to the japanese people as no emperors had never in living memory so directly and openly intervened in domestic politics and their lives. The shugun v imperial clash for the control of japan was inevitable,the stakes were too great and leaving one faction alive would leave the door open for a revolution or a coup.

Truth.

@@penzorphallos3199 yea the idea they were against western technology was made for the film. A good choice to provide the audience with a motive we could be on board with. But in reality the samurai were using guns for over a 100 years. They didn't use bow and arrows or that Armour at this time. But again thats a film choice. People expect to see samurai in this Armour. And it looks bad ass. But not accurate to the time.

Time to watch some Jet Li.

Is she referring to Keanu Reeves or Jet LI as the One?

It can legitimately kill you

There is also a cultural difference, or an attempt to make one. The Japanese, at least in the movie, cannot bear the shame of defeat. The Americans, or the Westerners in general presented by the movie, are built on constant attempts to succeed and work against failure. And than add to that his suicidal attitude, a necessity to extinguish the pain but not by himself pulling the trigger as it is "cowardly"

@@ShieldThatGuardsTheRealmOfMen Also back in those days when she was asking about heaven and earth, lotta bible back then so 'what on Earth' definitely coulda been a thing. Matthew 6:10 "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." being famous even these days. As for lady killer, I think it was some British dragoon quoted who's favorite past time was slaying men and the ladies. Two different meanings right there. Being a gentlemen and knowing the proper time and place for violence and bloodshed. That was a long while before this movie was set. Looking up ladies' man that idiom it says late 1700s. "This term dates from the eighteenth century, and presumably contrasts such a person with the strong silent type known as a man’s man. William Cowper used the expression in Tiroc (1784): "

Absolutely. I'm glad you said what alot of us could not say outloud.

@@xjman546 He was both trying to prove a point AND hoping the guy would kill him.

@UCsWnmxKPlk65YKjZkn5HYYg In the scene with the soldier, he was literally mumbling to himself "Shoot me damn it!" No yelling at the soldier, but also talking to himself. He wasn't whispering "Miss me!"...

Even Richard Simmons?

@@jp3813 Richard was male, but he wasn't a guy.

Um... what scene are we referring to here?

@@hockema56 The scene in the rain where Augren first picks up the wooden sword, gets his butt kicked, but refuses to give up and keeps getting punished.

It’s a reference to the concept in martial arts that the Japanese call “mushin,” or “no mind.” Basically honing skill to the point of muscle memory, so you won’t need to think before you react.

@@mrdropkicker1 Ultra instinct? Haven't even seen that part of DBZ but hear the memes.

It reminds me of a video of this instructor teaching a kid how to dodge a weapon attack in a martial arts class. The kid kept ducking too early and the instructor reminded him that he was being too distracted by the weapon in his hand and not at his opponent himself.

Sorry but at that time the shougan still ruler japan not the king, the last samurai is full of Hollywood bullshit.

@@23Lgirl the movie was set during the Meiji Restoration, after the Tokugawa Shogunate was deposed. At this point the Emperor WAS in charge again.

@@23Lgirl The shogunate was abolished in 1867.

Horror what sits.

I kinda fell in love when she said that.

Funny how they see their roots as the Samurai caste,...nobody ever traces their roots back to the peasants, merchants or the unclean labourers on whose backs the Samurai stood,...it's a sort of anti-communist utopia, LOL.

@@lonewanderer3456 in fairness it wasn't realy Samurai but more of the older paths. I think it is more about how the life in the village was compare to being a samurai that that fights. So more with harmony then anything else.

good old days when you get your village sacked by vikings and pirates. j/k i sometimes wonder if our modernization and technology made us empty and unhappy. i remember days before cellphones and computers..playing outside all day without a worry in the world. well grass is always greener on the other side.

@@lonewanderer3456 Fact: all human societies are hierarchical. Whether it's samurai, aristocrats, commune "founders", bureaucrats or "Party Leaders". Changing the labels isn't "Social Revolution". "Meet the new boss; same as the old boss."

@@lonewanderer3456 Clearly you do not understand Japanese culture, there was and is an idea that you should take pride in all forms of work and to practice it and do it with as much skill as you can everytime. Do any less then your best is dishonorable be it as a soldier of the period or the people swinging hammers at the forge.

Perhaps, but he was at his ultimate best in Born on The Fourth of July in a starring role and in Collateral in a supporting role.

Completely agree.

@@thomast8539 oh man Collateral. I didn’t care for MI2 so I was kinda done with Cruise at the time but his work in Collateral re-convinced me immediately

@@thomast8539 Yes, BotFoJ was far and away Tom's best performance ever.

Oh my gosh! I forgot Far and Away! And 4th of July! And the one with Jack Nicholson! So many❤️