Last Samurai Review

RadicalDreamer · Post by **RadicalDreamer** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 9:40 pm

So they did recruit Civil War officers to train imperial soldiers? Guess ya learn something new every day.

Lith: Koko Kiri Incident?

gravity · Post by **gravity** » Sat Nov 22, 2003 6:39 pm

Coca Cola, when they first brought they're product over to Japan/China decided that, instead of just using kata kana, and sounding out their name, would use kanji.

Unfortunatly, this ended up with Koka Kiri, or Bit the Wax Tadpole.

;

Grav thinks they changed it, it has been a while, but it was extremely hillarious to be drinking 'Bit the Wax Tadpole' for a while.

Amanalphion · Post by **Amanalphion** » Sun Nov 23, 2003 12:10 am

Bit the Wax Vanilla Tadpole is even better.

V'Lyandra · Post by **V'Lyandra** » Sun Nov 23, 2003 10:13 pm

[quote="gravity";p="221031"]Akward use of the language means they aren't using it correctly, like Coca Cola and the infamous Koko Kiri incident.[/quote]

Not necessarily. I saw the trailer when we went to see Revolutions, and just because the translations they used weren't what I would've used doesn't mean they're wrong. I really laughed the most at the fact that they put "Tom Cruise" in kana in the background, because it just looked so.... wrong. American names just look BAD, written in Japanese.

Mav · Post by **Mav** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 1:08 am

Like any fight Accer, victory is determined by the wielder, not by time spent on what you are wielding.

The simplest of moves done in faster speed and reflex is all it takes.

RadicalDreamer · Post by **RadicalDreamer** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 1:51 am

Yeah, but he was using TWO swords. Oh my!

Accer · Post by **Accer** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 4:07 am

[quote="Mav";p="222455"]
The simplest of moves done in faster speed and reflex is all it takes.[/quote]

All the more reason for the fancy moves to be left out. And the more time you spend studying a weapon, the more you know about the fastest paths (for both yourself and your opponent), and the more you build the appropriate muscles. It’s not impossible, but it’s highly unlikely that a newb can outdo a master, all things being equal. I’d give experience half, and pure speed/reflex nearly half. Being fast is nice but not useful if you don’t know where to put the thing.

Of course, there is the not-quite-good-enough business. The saberists and epeeists on my team would love putting in a newb to bout and win against so-so fencers. They’d put in someone who had studied a different weapon, which means that they would have all the fencing muscles built up but had a totally different rhythm from the people who had been on that weapon for a while. It was pretty effective… but, not at all useful against people who had been with the weapon long enough to be backed up by lots of experience. They knew how to adjust. But I do agree that even a newb can get a lucky shot... *shrug*

It’s a moot point anyway, it appears that Cruise gains his nifty sword fighting abilities late in the movie and gets thoroughly beaten up early on. Since he gets taken prisoner, I guess he’s got lots of time to train.

Salvation122 · Post by **Salvation122** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 5:38 am

Salvation /loves/ how Lith can determine the historical accuracy of a two-hour movie based on a three-minute trailer.

Accer · Post by **Accer** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 10:09 am

About the location they shot at... I looked around but couldn't find anything that said that the Japanese government wouldn't let them film there. In fact, a few scenes were shot in Japan. They filmed mostly in New Zealand because Japan doesn't really have many locations left that still look like how it was in the 1800's. Linkage, anyone?

Nada · Post by **Nada** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 4:14 pm

OK I will clear a couple of the ?'s up that I can..since I have actually seen the movie.

First of Tom play a character that is supposed to be one of the most skilled fighters in the Western military. He is known for becoming one with the people he fights and is well known for learning the customs and language of the American Indian's that he spent most of his time killing...side note, he fights the fact that he killed many innocent Indians throughout his time in the army.

He is hired by a high ranking Japanese council member to train the Emperor's army to fight a certain clan of Samurai that have been trying to stop Japan from modernizing too much too fast. During one of the fights with the Samurai, Tom Cruise is found trying to fight of a group of Samurai by himself, and the leader of the Samurai is impressed with his ability to never give up and decides to let him live and take him prisoner so that he can learn about his new enemy.

Tom is taken and held in the village, and is stuck there through the winter since the passes are untravelable. He adapts and starts trying to figure out the people he is stuck with. He starts learning the language somewhat, and learning a new style of fighting. Which is not as unbelievable as some of you make is sound, if you consider he has been a life long fighter and training his whole life. Now he just takes what he knows and puts it to use in a new style.

Eventually things happen and he becomes friends with many of the Samurai, and ends up fighting with them as they make their last stand against the emperor's army.

Thats the basic storyline.

Accer · Post by **Accer** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 6:50 pm

[quote="Nada";p="222915"]Which is not as unbelievable as some of you make is sound....[/quote]

No one said what you just described was unbelievable. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Some reviewer (Ebert, I think) commented on how much this movie was like Dances with Wolves… after reading Nada’s thing I’d have to agree. Not that that is a bad thing.

gravity · Post by **gravity** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 11:15 pm

The movie does sound decent, cliched, but decent.

Unfortunatly, she can already envision the hordes of n00bs claiming they know everything about Japanese culture just because they saw this movie, and watched Eva.

Oh, and as Grav has said before, she saw the original trailer, the new one more recently, and is still gawking at the hair cuts.

;

She hopes to god her memory is faulting out with some other trailer, as Kurosawa's last movie was just recently released over here. She hopes she's confusing the two.

;

Mav · Post by **Mav** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 8:15 am

Sounds alot like you Grav.

Anyrate, I'm still looking foward to the movie and somewhat relieved to hear some of these reviews of the story.

Salvation122 · Post by **Salvation122** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 7:45 am

[quote="gravity";p="223309"]Unfortunatly, she can already envision the hordes of n00bs claiming they know everything about Japanese culture just because they saw this movie, and watched Eva.

[/quote]

Mav wrote:Sounds alot like you Grav.

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO LAYETH THE SMACK DOWN!

RadicalDreamer · Post by **RadicalDreamer** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 9:36 pm

Sorry, Lith, but generally people don't listen to anime fans when they talk about Japanese culture or language unless they have a degree or something.

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