At first glance thisis a rehash of the old Shogun miniseries, and a large part of the plot seems inspired by that, but there are also enough things for this film to call it's own. From hard action to thoughtful pauses on life, this is a view into the last days of an old way of life.

Tom Cruise does a good job of a drunken former civil war hero trying to forget an attrocity when hefinds himselfhired out to Japan to help quell the last of the old-style samurai. As expected he finds himself more deeply involved in local troubles then he would have planned. The rest is from the Shogun plot cookbook: he joins the samurai side in what turns out to be the more honorable side of the confict, learns their ways, and even starts to get close to one of the native girls. No unexpected plot complications, no surprises, just all straight forward.

A study of honor filled with emotion and the expected end-of-movie action, The Last Samurai is an entertaining enough two and a half hour afternoon matinee'.