Okay, I saw it.
Like many of the people of have posted about this film in recent weeks, I'm not a big Tom Cruise fan.
I also have a tendency to nit-pick technical details in movies that deal with topics about which I have some knowledge: aviation, military topics, martial arts, etc.
But I set aside my prejudices and watched this film for what it was -- a drama, not a sword training film; an historical fiction, not a documentary...
and I liked it.
It's been a long time since I saw a movie where half the audience was occasionally choked-up and teary-eyed, some openly weeping. But they were here.
The overall feel of the film was for me reminiscent of The Mission, Dances With Wolves, and Braveheart. The cinematography, costumes, and set design were first-rate. And as far as historical and technical accuracy, it was far ahead of Shogun, with which it is likely to be frequently compared.
Was it a perfect film? Of course not.
There were a few times that I winced, as the actors drew their swords in what would have been a potentially saya splitting exercise in bad angle/bad grip, where they slammed them back into the saya too fast and too hard, or where they banged and clanged their bokken and shinken into each other in a most un-kenjutsu-like manner. But I've seen a few Japanese chambara where the same or worse occurred.
And this was, after all is said and done, a Tom Cruise vehicle. Much more of the action revolved around him than around the real protagonist of the story, Katsumoto -- the last samurai, played by Ken Watanabe. But then, no one has claimed it to be anything but a Tom Cruise vehicle, so I knew what I was getting.
My overall opinion? See it. On the Big Screen. Don't wait for the video. Don't wait for it to hit the second run theaters. See it on opening day if you can. It's going to be the talk of the dojo for quite some time.