The Last Samurai
In the face of an enemy, in the heart of one man, lies the soul of a warrior.
The Last Samurai (2003)
Timing:
2:34 (154 min)
7.6/10
7458
7458
8.093/10
237519
237519
7.8/10
503000
503000
Country
Production
Genre
Drama, Action, War
Budget
$140 000 000
Revenue
$456 800 000
Director
Actors
Scenario
Producer
Tom Cruise, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, Paula Wagner, Scott Kroopf, Tom Engelman, Charles Mulvehill, Ted Field, Richard Solomon, Vincent Ward
Operator
Composer
Artist
Elizabeth Flaherty
Audition
Editing
Steven Rosenblum, Victor Du Bois, Mitchell E. Dauterive
All team (155)
All team (155)
Short description
Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.
What's left behind the scenes
- 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.
- Ken Watanabe’s first Hollywood role where he speaks English.
- 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.
- For composer Hans Zimmer, the film's soundtrack became the hundredth in his career.
- Approximately 500 Japanese extras agreed to spend ten days at Clifton rugby fields, where the final battle scene was filmed.
- The "new weapon" shown in the final battle is a Gatling gun.
- 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.
- 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.
- In the film, Omura commands the Japanese troops in the final battle against the samurai; in reality, this was Yamagata Aritomo.
- Filming took place from October 10, 2002, to May 9, 2003.
Did you like the film?
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