Going into The Last Samurai, I was already prepared to witness shades of Dances With Wolves, Glory, Braveheart and The Last Emperor. The trailer had indicated that much of the plot and certain scenes would remind me of those particular films.

In The Last Samurai, Tom Cruise plays Nathan Algren, a decorated officer circa the Civil War who is sent to Japan where he is hired to engage the last of the Samurai. Before setting out to take on the enemy, he must train Japanese troops, many of whom have never even fired a weapon (a scenario that is quite similar to director Ed Zwick's own Glory). After attempting to train these men, it's off to battle. Only, the so-called hostiles are not to be underestimated, even if they are armed with swords rather than guns. After the battle, Algren finds himself in a world he didn't truly understand. A world of honor and tradition. This is to say, he slowly begins to understand and love the samurai way of life even though he has sworn to wipe these men out (this is where the Dances With Wolves portion of the plot comes into play). What follows is a journey of self discovery, a series of culture clashes, a depiction of a country in a political crisis (shades of The Last Emperor), and a climactic, breathtaking battle on an epic scale (bringing to mind the adrenaline pumping fury of similar such battles in Mel Gibson's Braveheart).

Did the shades of these other films annoy me? Not in the slightest. Director Edward Zwick, star Tom Cruise, co-star Ken Watanabe, and an outstanding technical team have fashioned one of the best looking pictures of the year. The Last Samurai is incredibly authentic to the time period.

Tom Cruise is quite obviously one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and through the years he's proven to be much more than a pretty face. Back in the 80's, I had reservations about him. I liked many of his films (most notably Risky Business, Taps, and The Color of Money) but never felt that he showed any real range. My opinion drastically changed when I saw him in Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July. Ever since (save for a few exceptions like the Top Gun and it's clone Days of Thunder), Mr. Cruise has proven to be much more than a major Hollywood power player. He's also an incredibly gifted actor. I've read other reviews that make the observation that Cruise is far too modern in this role. That he is; "Tom Cruise playing Tom Cruise playing Nathan Algren". I completely disagree. Cruise gives an incredibly intense and brooding performance as a man battling personal demons brought on by the horrors of war. True, we've seen characters like this in other films about war, but Cruise's fiery, withdrawn take on Algren make the role compelling. Again, this actor is taking a chance on a role that is not distinctly him, and I bought into it. As outstanding as Cruise is, The Last Samurai is just as much about Ken Watanable's warrior Katsumoto, as it is about Algren, and this gifted Asian performer is charismatic and powerful in the part. He has a commanding screen presence and perfectly conveys the sense of spirituality and honor needed to make Katsumoto feel real.

As I've already stated, Edward Zwick is no stranger to the world of cinematic war. He brought us Glory (one of my all time favorite movies), Legends of the Fall and Courage Under Fire. With The Last Samurai, he's brought us a colossal, romantic, violent, breathtaking visual splendor that not only delivers on a grand scale, but an intimate character driven one as well. And even though much of what we're watching is familiar, I found myself sucked in.

The sword battles here are an amazing accomplishment. While kinetic and violent (much like the one's in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill) they're also poetic and graceful and have a sort of Akira Kurosawa feel to them. The film's climactic battle sequence is also a beauty to behold, featuring hundreds of soldiers, horses, and cannons set to a stunning Asian backdrop.

I also can't write this review without mentioning John Toll's stunning cinematography, Ngila Dickson's beautiful costumes, Hans Zimmer's stirring score, and Chris Burian-Mohr, Jess Gonchor, and Kim Sinclair's outstanding art direction, all of whom should garner Oscar nominations for their incredible work here.

The screenplay by Ed Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, and John Logan tends to be very derivative and during some scenes, downright cheesy, but overall, The Last Samurai had enough visual flair, strong technical attributes and winning performances to dwarf the screenplays shortcomings.

The story on display in The Last Samurai represents a changing of the tide. The end of a pure, honorable way of life and the beginning of the modern world. Some will probably find this cinematic transition self conscious and heavy handed, but I was moved by it. Now I'm no historian, but I bought into the romantic notion of a world and culture long since vanished. What is truth and what is fiction here is beyond me. All I know is that Ed Zwick and crew have fashioned one beautiful movie, and while it isn't perfect, The Last Samurai, in all it's glorious, passionate grandeur, will make my best-of list come the end of the year.