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Thread: last samurai

  1. #1
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    Default last samurai

    Only two words about the movie "BLOODY EXCELLENT"
    Regards,
    Jeremy Hagop

  2. #2
    JMTaylor Guest

    Default I agree!

    Yes, despite the fact that many people found a lot of technical flaws in the movie, I think it was a great film. It had a great story.

    I have some questions about the movie. I hope someone will be able to answer them.

    1. In the other forums, the "ninja scene" was greatly criticized because of the fact that the ninjas were wearing black, and had black hoods. This is supposedly a very stereotypical Hollywoodish kind of thing. My questions is... how did the ninja really look? I was thinking that if I were a ninja, and I was paid to assassinate Katsumoto at night, I'd wear black.

    2. In the final battle scene, Algren mentioned "taking away" their enemy's guns in order to lower the confidence of the enemy. Looking at the battlefield, which was basically a hilly and narrow plain with a forest on both sides, I figured what they'd do was fake a retreat to get the enemy close enough for a sword fight (like they did in the movie), while at the same time, they would send around 50 samurai on each side of the battlefield under the cover of the forests. This would enable them to flank the heavy guns at the back of the enemy, which would have been easy because the rear had practically no men, and only consisted of about 5+ howitzers and machine guns. Even if the samurai's movement were caught in the forest, enemy rifles would have a hard time picking the samurai off because of the trees, and rushing the howitzers would eliminate the samurai from getting hit by artillery because it is hard to hit a fast moving enemy with it (due to the need to change the cannon's angle).
    Well... as you all know, they didn't do this. They stopped the first wave, and charged right into the front. Had they captured the guns, the samurai could have then retreated to the forests where the enemy would be forced to get in close ("close enough for a sword"). So, I was wondering, do samurai have a thing for the conventional full frontal assualt? Were they "against" hit and run tactics? I'm not really a war strategy expert... but I thought that it would have been better if they had captured the heavy guns instead of rushing in to get mowed down by the machine guns. I mean, come on... the battlefield was so narrow. The howitzers and machine guns were just a few meters from the forest... a perfect position for a surprise flank manuever.

    3. I had another question... but I got carried away with the last one. Hehe!

  3. #3
    JMTaylor Guest

    Default Noh scene changers

    Do the Noh scene changers look like the people manipulating the dolls in Bunraku?

    Black is scene at night... I see. Yeah, I forgot about that. I think I read something in a book about snipers wearing very dark green instead of black when hiding in the dark.

    So, anyway, how did real ninjas really look?

  4. #4
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    Default last samurai

    is it just me or is this movie one of the best american produced samurai movie EVER!!!
    grandmasterwazza

  5. #5
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    Default Re: last samurai

    Originally posted by masterwazza
    is it just me or is this movie one of the best american produced samurai movie EVER!!!
    It's not just you! Despite a few who thought Tom Cruise "stunk it up" so badly that it was unwatchable (I don't see that at all), or who quible with the historical inaccuracies (it's not a documentary for crying out load), I think this is not only one of the best American made Samurai movies, but one of the best movies period.

    I rate it with Dances With Wolves, Lawrence of Arabia, and The Wind and the Lion as one of the best mini-epics on film.

    I think Ken Watanabe deserves an Oscar for sure, and that the picture should have several.

    We'll have to see what the AMPAS thinks on Oscar night.
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

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