The Last Samurai Review

'The Last Samurai' is A Terrific Film, in all respects. The Writing Material is superior, the Direction is spell-binding, the Cinematography is stunning & the Performances are top-notch. Only thing? The film is too lengthy. Some trimming would have only enhanced it's overall impact.

"This is Tom cruise's finest hour." I'd rather say this is Tom Cruise's greatest mas -terpiece. He will never again make a movie as great nor as grand as this one. I've also watched Yoji Yamada's "The Hidden Blade" which co -vers the same time period as "The Last Samurai." Yes, I consider "The Hidden Blade" a masterpiece. In fact shortly, I intend to buy the other two movies "The Twilight Samurai" and "Love and Honor" in order to com -plete the trilogy. But I still consider "The Last Samurai" a much, much deeper movie than "The Hidden Blade." There is some indefinable quality to "The Last Samurai" that is lacking in "The Hidden Blade."