OK... FINALLY SAW THE MOVIE, AND...
I sat in the theater and tried to ignore anything and everything I'd ever learned about Japan and anything I'd seen Tom Cruise (good and bad) in. Here is what I DIDN'T like:
- a little long
- musical score sometimes drowned out the action
- some plot elements weren't taken advantage of (I won't goive away the story - just go see it to understand)
To be honest, I really DID ENJOY the movie as a whole. Tom Cruise played the part of the distraught combat veteran well. Being Native, I appreciated how they portrayed both his angst concerning harming and killing my people and how they were shown to be noble warriors in the same vein (albeit with different means) as the samurai.
This was indeed a worthy film and the splendor, romanticism of the culture and the moral messages all contributed to a powerful film. Ken Watanabe performed admirably though the person playing his son seemed a little too much in the background to have been given the "honor" he is given later in the film).
Go see it and enjoy. Have an open mind. (ESPECIALLY ALL YOU E-BUDO SAMURAI EXPERTS... IT'S A M O V I E ! ! !)
Regards,
Carlos
E. Carlos Estrella, Jr.
The strength of a man is not measured in how much he can lift, how many he can fight or how much he can endure, but in his capacity to admit his limitations and learn to successfully circumvent them.