The Last Samurai
Short description
In 1870s Japan, Captain Nathan Algren, a veteran haunted by his service in the American Indian Wars, is hired to train the emperor's new conscript army in modern warfare. The government intends this force to eliminate the samurai, whose traditional way of life stands in the way of Western-style modernization and open trade. During the first engagement, the untested troops are routed and Algren is captured. Wounded, he is taken to the village of the samurai leader Katsumoto, where he recovers and gradually comes to understand the discipline and code of honor of his captors. When he returns to Tokyo, he must decide where his loyalty lies in the conflict between the old warrior class and the new order.
Edward Zwick directed and co-wrote the film with John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz; Zwick and Tom Cruise also produced. It is Zwick's seventh feature, following The Siege, and was followed by Blood Diamond. Cruise stars as Algren, with Ken Watanabe as Katsumoto, alongside Timothy Spall, Tony Goldwyn, Hiroyuki Sanada and Koyuki.
Budgeted at 140 million US dollars, the film took about 455 million dollars worldwide, a strong return. On IMDb it holds 7.8 out of 10 from roughly 503,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.6 from about 7,800 votes. The critics' rating of 6.9 out of 10 from 216 reviews is somewhat lower than the audience scores, though still positive.
What's left behind the scenes
- Under the name Katsumoto, the film featured the legendary Saigō Takamori. He is legendary not only for his fantastic popularity even after his death, but also for the fact that many did not believe in his death, which led to Sandzō Tsuda, a police officer involved in suppressing this rebellion, attacking Grand Duke Nikolai, believing that he had brought Saigō Takamori from Russia, who would deprive him of all his awards and disgrace him.
- Ken Watanabe’s first Hollywood role where he speaks English.
- Working on this film became one of the longest endeavors of Tom Cruise’s career. In total, it took Tom about two years to learn to wield a samurai sword, speak Japanese, and understand the customs and traditions of Japanese culture.
- For composer Hans Zimmer, the film's soundtrack became the hundredth in his career.
- In the film, Omura commands the Japanese troops in the final battle against the samurai; in reality, this was Yamagata Aritomo.
- The film contains a reference to the events of the Battle of Thermopylae, more famously known as the defense of 300 Spartans against the Persian advance. Katsumoto and Olgren employ a similar military tactic.
- The "new weapon" shown in the final battle is a Gatling gun.
- Tom Cruise nearly lost his head during the filming of one of the scenes. His scene partner, Hiroyuki Sanada, had to stop the sword centimeters from the actor’s head. According to the Japanese actor, he swung the sword towards Tom while he was on a mechanical platform. However, a malfunction occurred, causing the mechanics to fail and preventing Tom from dodging the blow. Fortunately, Hiroyuki was able to divert his deadly strike at the last moment.
- Approximately 500 Japanese extras agreed to spend ten days at Clifton rugby fields, where the final battle scene was filmed.
- Filming took place from October 10, 2002, to May 9, 2003.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
