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The Last Samurai: American Ninja 6
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Topic: The Last Samurai: American Ninja 6
sean
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The idea was neat—the way of the samurai must be destroyed in order to pave the way for a "modern" Japan—but there are too many competing factors in this film to call it good or "Oscar worthy". That Tome Cruise is supposed to be a burnt out soldier who's killed more than his fair share of American Indians is retarded. (In a hilarious flashback sequence to his Indian War days, Cruise says to his commander—and ultimately foe on the battlefields of Japan—that, "These people [a group of Native Americans] had nothing to do with the [...insert whatever reason here for them not being worthy of the kill, but anything might suffice—perhaps simply existing? Pitiless garbage]. And off he goes to join in on the massacre of women and children—accurate for sure, but useless—serving zero purpose to the film). Later on, Cruise returns to his familiar stomping grounds. The first time he puts on a kimono after his capture, he begins jumping and dancing around the room pretending he's a samurai warrior—so, The Last Samurai turns into Risky Business! Very funny, but for all the wrong reasons (and maybe even sad). The part that really brought the movie out of the wreckage occurred when the ninjas shows up. Anyone who's a fan of the American Ninja films, like myself, will get a kick out of this scene (too bad there weren't any shovels in this scene, Michael Dudikoff really made an impression fighting off ninjas with one). And that's what this film needed, more ninjas; a silly but valid argument—the action wasn't impressive until that scene and then later at the end battle, where it resembled something from Akira Kurosawa's excellent film, Ran. Just don't take it too seriously ... there's a part that supposedly took the filmmakers 8 months to shoot or something (it looks like they edited it together in 8 minutes) where Tom Cruise kills four guys with their swords, while this guy behind me in the theatre went, "Oh, F*UCK!" (No kidding—he should get out of the house more often—while I was still laughing at the fact that The Last Samurai turned into American Ninja 6 to top it off; all that was missing was the Cannon logo at the film's opening.The trouble with Hans Zimmer and the films he scores is that they happen to be very bad movies. The Thin Red Line and Hannibal are the only good ones that stick out in my mind right now as being exceptional. It's hard to understand though, if he's the most requested composer working in Hollywood today, than why does he work on such awful films? It's amazing that these things can inspire him. That said, the score is very good, but not outstanding—the action is scored with a lot of taiko drumming without any distinct themes, while the biggest parts are at the end (with "Ronin", "Red Warrior", and "The Way of the Sword"), and any of the action material left off is fine, it doesn't need to be on the CD; the softer and more reflective music is probably the best part of the score. It seems like the CD has all the best music from the film, judging from the online clips (my disc hasn't arrived yet from mm.com).
[Message edited by sean on 12-05-2003]
posted 12-05-2003 01:33 PM PT (US) lars b
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Sam Firstenberg (American Ninja) may not be the world's best director, but at least his films are far more entertaining than Ed 'boring' Zwick's.
And i just have to laugh at the idea of Tom Cruise as a Sumurai warrior.
posted 12-06-2003 05:54 AM PT (US) HadrianD
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I saw this movie yesterday. And it is one of the best movie I've seen this year that I really really really really really LIKE!. The Meiji era were a transitory period in Japan's history and the movie depicted it very well. It's not the most accurate depiction, but that's a given. I didn't mind the plot that were inspired by Dances with Wolves because it was much more entertaining to watch. There weren't any boring moment in the movie at all. Probably because everything was so nice to look at. The production design were great, effortless substituting the New Zealand countryside for preindustrial Japan. The cinematography was great at capturing everything. The action sequences were grand and exciting as well.
Hans's score was superb, matching the mood and feel of all the sequences to a T. I had goosebumps sometime too. That's some of the most beautiful sound Hans has ever composed. I did notice a minute of two of Pearl Harbor material in the final battle charge, but that's forgivable. That said, the sountrack CD is a great representation of the score, except for the glaring omission of the extended "Spectre Of The Fog" sequence. After listening to the cd for the last couple of week and now finally hearing with the movie, I must say that it's one of Hans's best. A totally engrossing experience, except for that ending though.
posted 12-07-2003 09:00 PM PT (US) Dave
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Bows to HadrianD, my thoughts exactly.Fun movie. Great visuals(The Samurai armor was gorgeous). Ninjas.
posted 12-08-2003 01:29 AM PT (US) Old Infopop Software by UBB