The most annoying part of people who actually claim that the film is problematic for making Tom Cruise the last samurai is that they completely misunderstand the title. Samurai is also a plural word. The title refers to Katsumoto and his men, NOT Tom Cruise. Additionally, the young general on the Emperor's side IS a samurai, even at the end of the film. They make this clear in the film itself. This film ain't perfect, but it FAR from being a "White Savior" film.
Hell, the whole point of The Last Samurai is that it's impossible to have any more samurai other than who were already in the caste before the Boshin War, let alone granting that status to a foreigner, because the Emperor has centralized power and effectively ended the system where the country is divided into provinces ruled by small lords who hire elite muscles to enforce their rules. Muscles we now call "samurai". The age of William Adams being made samurai under Tokugawa is over. Even if Nathan was a character who sought the rank of samurai like William Adams did, he would have come to Japan when nobody can hire him in that capacity anymore.
I know. The end is supposed to be ironic, sad and tragic in that all the real samurai whom have followed this lifestyle all their lives are slaughtered, while Algren stays alive feeling guilt and shame for it, but still trying to honor their lifestyle and traditions as he moves on in life.
Yeah, Cruise's character is NOT The Last Samurai, he is the one who MEETS The Last Samurai. Just like Riley in "Pacific Rim," Algren isn't the protagonist of this story, he's just the POV character.
There's a frustrating parallel misunderstanding of the end of the battle. The soldiers are not bowing in respect to Algren, but to Katsumoto and his samurai. I think EFAP are aware of this and were just being tongue in cheek about it, but I've seen many people misinterpret what the point of this movie is. I think there's still a debate to be had about whether "white savior" applies here, since it still centers around a white man and his experiences in a story that is otherwise very Japanese. But it's not some textbook example of the trope or anything; you have to stretch the definition a little. It's quite sensibly constructed and Algren does not disrespect or take agency from the other characters. He is a witness, and a contrast to Katsumoto, and a way to interrogate the values of the samurai. And though it was Algren speaking to the emperor at the end, it was still Katsumoto's actions and ideals taking center stage.
Fun fact - 22:11 the actor Hiroyuki Sanada has stated that Tom Cruise insisted he swing an actual sword at his neck for the scene. Hiroyuki - “I took a full swing & then stopped just touching his skin, but no injury. He never blinked.”
@@wilder11 I do. It's from that Star Trek: The Next Generation episode where Picard and the alien leader whose species speaks in allegory are stuck on a hostile planet.
What The Last Samurai and Dances with Wolves get right that Avatar and Ferngully get wrong: Before the protagonists fully embrace the “noble savage” culture, they must first be pushed out of their own and driven to desperation. You can’t just say “Wow, look at the pretty colors! I’m joining the other team!” Pretty colors will never beat the comfort of home sweet home. *Behind every good “noble savage” story is a tragedy.*
that doesn't separate avatar, jake is litterally established as a crippled war vet who was living in a studio. Avatars flaws are best observed in comparison to princess momonoke rather than this exile angle.
especially if, in the case of Avatar, it means literally condemning your own species to extinction thanks to the atrocious world building of Avatar.... but hey, who cares so long as you get a nice piece of blue ass, right? And i really wish i was joking, that's literally the 'heros' character arc.... to this day people really undersell just how fucked up the story of the first Avatar really is
The importance of establishing that comfort of home is an underrated aspect. The place the protagonist is leaving should be, at the very least, appealingly stable. As you say, the choice shouldn’t be a no-brainer. It’s hard to see the brave nobility in John Avatar opting to be an 8-foot alien king in a lush paradise with a princess fawning over him when his other option was being poor and crippled on the smog-choked chemical toilet Earth apparently became.
It's weird that they didn't understand why the Emperor took the guy's wealth at the end. I thought it was pretty obvious. The Emperor was depicted as a somewhat meek leader that let his advisors control him and do the talking for him. Almost like a figurehead. The way I saw it was him re-asserting his authority. "No, no, no. I'm the boss. I'm in charge. Take a back seat. Can't bear the shame? Take this sword and end it." I think the panel got a little too lost in the symbolism and themes and forgot their were characters underneath.
They completely misinterpreted the flashback scene when he fought the samurai on his way to rescue Katsumoto. He replays the battle in his mind after it's over, blow by blow, and realizes that one of his opponents was only injured, so he knew to expect an attack from behind. That was the entire purpose of that scene and I'm surprised none of them understood that.
Well its a very low percentage but its not 0%. Captain Algren is based on a French officer who took part in a Samurai uprising over there if memory serves. And there were Samurai uprisings against the state. AND. Shiroyama! 24 Sept 1877. Samurai Artillery academy/school. The leader refused to follow some of the new rules, the Japanese military sent down thousands of soldiers and besieged the Castle. The Samurai used guns and artillery. But at the end, with only 40 men left, they charged out the gates with their swords. And got shot to pieces, kind of like at the end here. So The Last Samurai whilst not a true story, it certainly borrows from other real events, and the decline of the Samurai (new laws etc), intense industrialization, and the Oligarchy government with the Emperor having reduced power is true. On the awesomness, agree. One of my top 10 movies for many years. I was 14when this came out. God the 2000s were a great decade for "War movies". Gladiator, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, Master and Commander, LOTR, Band of Brothers, Last Samurai, and many many more.
LOL it's not 0%, chill out. It's probably more like...30-40%. Still not a passing grade, but the Samurai really did resist their government and really did go out in a blaze of glory. It's pretty badass.
One of my favorite movies of all time. It’s still my favorite Tom Cruise film. I have a friend from Japan who adores this film and I know it’s plenty who do love it even with its inaccuracies. It goes to show that good writing really does cause to stop and admire it, especially paired with good intent.
I always felt this movie did such a great job of highlighting the faults of the main characters worldview without neutering him and shaming him like a lot of modern movies do to the lead male characters we see in them.
@@MegaSpideyman maybe worldview isn’t the best way of putting it but the faults and mistakes he made and the culture that he comes from at large. I feel like a modern movie trying to highlight what he did wrong and his coming to terms with it would have given him a much more shallow arc that simply beat him down as opposed to lifting him up through the power of the story
What's more is he gets his ass kicked several times but that's only because as good as a soldier as he is they are just a little better and over time training with them he gets better too and any time he looks stupid is just because it's a totally different culture that he's learning
I love that by the end of the movie you see the Japanese in their German inspired uniforms and Needle Rifles. During this period. The Japanese originally wanted the French to modernize their army and the French did this for a while (Tom Cruise's character is loosly based on a Frenchman who sided with the Shogun during the Boshin Wars). But after France got its butt kicked by Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War, the Japanese swapped to German advisors and training. This movie js more historically authentic than accurate, and I love it to death!
Who is both cowardly and willing to use underhanded tactics to gain personal advantage. If the beurocrat is show to be trying to help, he's not bad. Like Mr Incredible when he's working for the insurance company.
@@dragonknightleader1 no he wasn't. He wasn't doing what his boss wanted, but he hadn't done anything against policy, or anything illegal, or anything wrong. He wasn't being a bad beurocrat, he was being what beurocrats should be. Society is too complicated to run without beurocrats, but we don't need beurocracy that is trying to sustain itself above all.
@@jonsimpson6240 No, he was a bad bureaucrat because he leaking out information on how to navigate a for-profit insurance company and make it so that the company doesn't profit. His boss would not have had cause to fire him if it wasn't hurting the bottom line.
“Alright, guys! For a thousand years, we’ve been looked down at as a peasant class. Now we’re finally empowered to fight our own wars! Let’s show those samurai what we’ve got!” “Wait… why is our trainer fighting against us?!”
Yeah I don’t think he’s thinking super deep about it and that’s why he doesn’t understand. I agree with Sargon.. technology and industrialism is what kills tradition and essentially family values. It’s a long deep conversation that Tolkien understood.. and so do I. Shad wants technology and stuff to keep going so he can make more money. He’s not thinking about the consequences of it all.
@@Kino_pup Idk exactly where "right to kill anyone of lower rank for any reason you might wish to and it not be considered murder" figure in your family values but it goes pretty against mine. Even among people who practice bushido nowadays, and I've studied kenjutsu for quite a while for it, among all the good things we take for life by modelling behaviour after samurai, there are markedly parts of the culture we all agree were best left in the past. When I earned my right to use a real katana in the kata we celebrated after the day on the sushi bar closest to our dojo with a cup of sake each. If I had done the same back in the Japan you're talking fondly of, my celebration would have been going to the street, waiting for the first peasant to pass by and killing them to test how good my new sword cut. Let's not pretend tradition was a fairytale land where everyone was happier and lead better lives.
Cast system is bad. Pretty much no benifit at all. Isolationism, when applied to things like trade, is not a neutral it's actually shown that lack of trade causes regression both technologically and socially. That might not be true at the scale of the United States, but it is true for Japan. Such regression also leaves you open to foreign invasion, as they become more advanced.
Too be fair Algren is not a white Samurai and the bts make it clear that he is not a Samurai. The film title is not about him since Samurai is a singular and plural world it's talking about the end of the Samurai.
I think the reason why the younger general looks sad during the final battle is because these are supposed to be the last of the samurai and they are being entirely wiped out. I don't think he feels bad for the method, just the fact it is happening. This is supposed to reflect the battle of Shiroyama where the samurai did fight an effectively suicidal battle because their code demanded it. I believe there are reports of soldiers present being saddened by the destruction of the samurai, and the imperial commander was friends with the samurai commander and tried to dissuade him. They eliminated a key part of their culture and effectively signaled the rise of the japan we would see in WW2.
Some of it is historical revisionism. While the samurai were wiped out the culture at the time was fine with this. It was only after that they started romanticizing the death of the samurai and celebrating them as heroes. You see this a lot in history where rebels, outlaws are hounded by everyone until they're dead and then once the majority of the populace realize they're safe from the bad man they then deify the bad men and turn them into legends. American outlaws, Australia's Ned Kelly, etc.
There's a book about Saigo Takamori, the one who was dubbed 'The Last Samurai' and the Japanese government wanted him dead so badly. They wanted his head in a box. As soon as he was killed they turned around and heaped praise and honour on him because it was a good PR move
The end battle is an actual battle that happened. The battle shiroyama. 30,000 imperial soldiers vs 500 samurai. However in the actual battle all the samurai were killed and the imperials lost about 30 dudes. And yes shad. It was suicide. That was literally the point. They were trying to send a message. One that was well received.
That was only the final battle of the rebellion. It lasted for months and resulted in thousands dead on both sides. At Shiroyama, the surviving rebels were surrounded and besieged on a hill. After they ran out of ammo and their leader was killed, the last Samurai carried out a suicide charge at the fortified imperial lines.
Shad is specifically referring to the poor military tactics displayed in the movie. The battle of Shiroyama took place on a fortified hill which was then surrounded by Imperial forces. They went out fighting. If they stood a chance of winning they would have taken it. Suicide was not "literally the point", you fool
@@richter6699 500 samurai vs 30,000 imperial troops? I don’t think anyone usually fight a battle 60:1 and expect to win. Thats suicide and you know it.
@@alexadamson9959 That was after the rebels had suffered several defeats. The 500 were all that was left, and they decided to die rather than surrender.
i dont think weebs ROMANTICIZE or think sepukku itself is cool, they find it cool that someone is disciplined enough and values their honor enough to perform such a painful form of self-ending to preserve it. its about the spirit of it
Yeah, weebs at least try to understand the story and the japanese culture (sure, some of them can be very annoying, but still...) Disnoyds are way worse than weebs, they don't even understand the movie they like
The romance scene in this movie is one of the best in my opinion. No sex, no gratuitous nudity, just Taka dressing Nathan in her late husband's armour, sealing it with a kiss. From hating the man who killed her husband in battle, to loving him and knowing she will most likely lose him in battle too.
“Pushes glasses to forehead” um actually those arent maxim guns they are gatling guns. Maxim guns arent invented until 8 years after the movies set time. Maxims are fully auto and dont require a crank
^.-.^ Obligatory 'devil's advocation". When the English fellow tells Tom Cruise 'The samurai no longer doshonour themselves with the use of a firearm" he isnt saying that they 'never used firearms", merely explaining why they are not using them anymore. It may not be historically accurate, but it is at least explained for the film. ^.-.^ Also those are Gatling guns, not Maxim guns, and by this point in time; 1860s and onwards; explosive shells were more commonly used than solid cannon balls. I will congratulate the film on portraying the Howitzers as made of Bronze instead of iron, which was the preferred Gun metal for cannons until iron manufacturing improved significantly, along with the development of artillery grade steels. Cudos film ^.-.^
I don't think it could be 3 years, because Rags in this recording also makes a joke about Harfoots. Rings of Power S1 is only *approaching* 2 years old as of now.
I think something they forgot about when question why they committed to the open plain battle was that Katsumoto was devoted to the emperor and he was pushing the emperor to subvert his advisors because at this point he just views himself as a figure head they exercise power through and lacked a spine to stand up to them. Katsumoto’s final goal as Nathan states is “to make the emperor hear you.” They knew they’d loose but the goal is to raise enough awareness in how they fight back so that the Emperor would finally stand up and do his duty.
Manually controlling the gatling guns in that game was the shit. They were very vulnerable to charges and couldn't really be placed your own line infantry and still be effective. But with a bit of micro managing you could do some unholy damage against the enemy.
Take a moment to appreciate that the slow-mo flashback tom cruise had of the sword fight was so phenomenally choreographed that they took the time to show the audience what just happened in a way they would understand. Movies today: "Well, *that* just happened."
The ragging on Shad and his love of Knights and hatred of Katana is SO FUNNY this episode! This is the best efap crew for the war arc. Love having Sargon on.
I love this movie so damn much. Incredibly respectful and visually astounding. Great score too. I can't wait for the sequel where a big black guy is the actual key to the samurai.
They say in the film only katsumotos rebels refuses to use firearms, not all the samurai. Mustache man who gets beheaded after the forest fight is also samurai & is on the firearms good side. It's literally only katsumoto shad!
Kinda wish there was more commentary on the convos with Katsumoto and the passage of time montages rather than jokes. Really appreciated Sargon’s insight in that case. Especially the “I will miss our conversations” bit
Had The Last Samurai explained that Katsumoto's rebellion was in response to Japan opening too much to the West, and that they refused to use rifles because they were a fundamentalist group of samurai who saw the use of firearms as dishonourable- instead of broadly stating samurai didn't use guns- it probably would've cleared up some of the issues with this film. The fact that samurai LOVED guns because it enabled them to kill more effectively kinda bleaches some of the samurai mystique, in a way. But I still love this movie though.
The whole point of a Samurai is to use the best weapon for the situation. To refuse a superior weapon is just stupid, though I guess it is debatable how superior those guns were.
They don’t elaborate on it too much, but they do state that Katsumoto NO LONGER dishonors himself with firearms, which implies that he did use them prior to his rebellion.
What samurai's were really afraid of, was how firearms required less training, and thus made samurai's more replaceable by the "common man". Just typical class warfare in the face of change.
51:10 The reason he lead the army the first time was because he realized that they did not have any officers to lead them. The other trainers were set to just leave the conscripts but Tom Cruise had to be a goodman.
"Twitter would cancel this movie for having Japanese bow down to the white guy." So.. about that Assassin's Creed Shadows... what if we added hip-hop music?
Love Shad, but my God was he in full "well actually" mode here. Yes, we know Samurai were quite fond of firearms, but the movie even stated that Katsumoto refused to continue to use them. Also, in the last battle the Samurai were well aware that it would be their last and they had no real chance of victory, but they wanted to go out as the warriors they were.
Shad: "So how do we feel about Tom Cruise siding with these samurai who are, you know, upholding an oppressive class system?" *MauLer and co. reason him through the unmissable themes* Shad 5 minutes later: "Ah I love how this all ties together, with how Tom Cruise assisted in the eradication of American tribes, now he's going to fight alongside a group on the brink of extinction!" Absolute brain child, this Shad man.
Dude a historical movie, historical accuracy MATTERS! If you do not want to be authentic, then what is the point? Just make a fantasy movie! And you can tell a good story that is authentic. Just watch Shiguiri Anime.
1:00:37 I can confirm a lot of non American soldiers are very shit at basic things like taking cover, and not flagging their own ppl with red status rifles lol
@@wangusbeef86 true. There was only one guy, in our platoon of 50, in basic who admitted he had never fired a weapon, and he wasnt an american. I think a lot of the problem is commo. Language barriers cause a very problematic understanding barrier. There are smart guys over there. Probably the same ratio of smart to dummies as we have in the states tbh. Like 1 outta 10. We trained up a few in non combat jobs, cos they understand English better, and arent just a low IQ fuck, they can get on the ass of the fuck ups, and keep shit under control. Combat is a whole other beat though. Unless you have a training system like we do, using aggressive, carrot, but mostly stick motivation lol, with no language barrier, and knowledgeable ppl doing the teaching, youre gonna have an inferior force. Hell, ncos make a huge difference. Just like a civi job, good bosses get good outcomes. 4th plt was lucky that our DS were both highly awarded infantrymen. The other pltns had like support element guys, even guys who did desk jocky jobs as DS. Those ones power trip a lot, and end up producing shitter soldiers, of course. In AIT we only had two pltns, and the pltn Sargent i had was way better, and dedicated to the training, so we stomped the other plt when the final drills came around. Big army is a joke, even before DEI. Ppl in "leadership" positions are only there cos of time served. Ppl who got in straight outta HS, and have no real world work experience. Just yes men, and women. Who will be very inefficient, and if you question the orders, cos you have a better idea, they see that as unpromotable behavior. So smart, actual leaders, cant get those spots. Its probably also one outta ten to see a good plt sgt in the big army. The one i was attached to in afghan was great, and loved me, but he wasnt my unit, so when we were done i had to go back to my shitty ppl. Eventually got booted a few months before my contract was up, cos when we got back, and i had to help my dead best friends family hold together, i gave zero fucks for their bullshit. Went full blown "fuck you, im doing shit my way", when i even bothered to show up. More than you wanted hear lol but im high atm.
Fun Fact #6 - The Treaty of Kanagawa between Commodore Perry and the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1854 ushered in the Meiji Restoration Period, in which Japan underwent massive modernisation and rapid development, in which Japan sped-run 200 years of technological development, going from basically musket days and straight into the Victorian Era. The signing of the Treaty of Kanagawa led to the precipitation of multiple other treaties with other Western countries, so the successful signing and/or falling out of other treaties with the US is a very likely possibility.
I saw the mountains first just like MauLer did, before the rocks on the torii. I didn't even bat an eye though, Rags is absolutely the type to note the impracticality of mountains (they are, though).
Is Shad really necessary? I mean, the amount of times he's correct is negligible. Can you at least please not ask him any historical question, he's worthless.
to answer Shad's question, the Samurai attacked the railroad near Katsumoto's province. So the burning building is most likely what was the train station, not a whole village.
Fun Fact #3 - Japanese did use stone in their constructions, but only at the base and for their buildings' foundations, while the rest was made entirely of wood, so Shad got this correct. What he didn't bring up was that the Japanese designed their wooden architecture in such a way that not only would the stone work shift, but the structures on top would also move during an earthquake so that when earthquakes did occur, the building wouldn't be shaken to pieces.
The "shoot me or ill kill you" scene while they are training is very similar to one in "Glory" (and I think they did one in Sharpe's as well) but the twist here is that it not only tells you the kind of teacher Algren is, but reinforces his trauma.
Fun Fact #7 - It was ACTUALLY the US dropping the Atomic Bomb on Japan that birthed anime. They kicked Japan's ass so hard in WWII that not only did Japan lose its Empire, but it inspired ALL the anime with big epic battles and massive, thermonuclear explosions to this day (e.g. Dragonball Z, Naruto, Godzilla, Bleach, One Piece, Akira you name it). So... I guess... thank you, America...?
Plus there's the fact that they never really made any advancements in regards to their local firearms design. Its like showing up in the 1700's with a P90 or PHASR. Throw it on a battlefield and most probably wouldn't even recognise it as a firearm.
Shad has this bad habit of judging a time period or people without any nuance to it. I respect it if it's within his principles to be against it, like his stance on the old Japanese societal system or the Spartans, but "romanticizing" is still far away from "endorsing." Humanity is a complex species, which is why historical movies (stories about humans in a point in time away from us) are so interesting, and to firmly put a good guy / bad guy classification on every situation is limiting to the art form.
The gattling gun scene is one of my favorites, its so memorable the way the music cuts out and the moment of triumph is turned into something cold and meaningless. I think about it a lot
I'm not sure they included it, but my favorite exchange between Algren and Colonel Bagley is "Just tell me one thing, what is it about your own people you hate so much?" I love how much venom Algren is staring at Bagley in that scene. I love this movie!
Historcally some guns (early mosin nagant, for example) were zeroed with bayonets - which means they were meant to be shot with bayonets on. And this was not maxim gun. About 14 years too early for that.
It always annoys me to the utmost degree when people think that the title is referring to Tom Cruise's character. I'd say who those people almost always are, but I don't want to get banned for misogyny.
"I'd say who those people almost always are, but I don't want to get banned for misogyny." Wtf is this brain dead comment? Most people who haven't seen the movie think that, it's got 0 to do with ones gender...
Outside of the "its for the bants" or bullshitting with the guys around the movie, the crew seems to miss that type of legendary heroism that supersedes realism. Writting off the whole final battle as "thats dumb" and stuff like that ignores the symbolic sacrifice that is the cornerstone of stories like this. Shads total misunderstanding of seppuku as example. Not getting that the lieutenant at the end is crying because he is witnessing the death of a culture, like seeing the Battle of Culloden. Romanticized? Yeah. Symbolically important? Absolutely. I think it is one of the biggest blindspots in EFAP, the disregarding or minimizing mythic tropes because they dont always make sense to strictly real-world scenarios
Phenomenal movie. For everything it gets wrong historically, it gets right as a movie and actually imbues the viewer with a love for the culture and people it depicts.
As a side note, I've been hit with a boken (wooden practice sword) before, and it wasn't even at full strength and it's intensely painful. If it wasn't a movie, I'm sure Algren would've died from a cracked skull.
The more I hear Shad, the more annoyed I get. His approach to historical analysis is amateur, uninformed, and filled with inaccuracies. For this movie, he rants so much he missed key elements in the film that explain Katsumotos rejection of firearms as a rejection of modernity. NOT that he never used them or that samurai didn't use them. The man is a sanctimonious know it all.
He is still right though, the rebellion the movie is based on the samauri did not reject firearms, and used modern guns until they ran out of ammunition. So his critism is still correct, the samauri would not and did not avoid using guns for any morale reason.
I think the least forgivable thing Shad tries to say is an element of this story is when he takes Timothy Spall's line about "no one here saying what they mean" as a truth. So Shad says he visited Japan, and someone I guess said to him "see you later" when they didn't mean it.. now he's going to take that, and say it's a distinctly Japanese thing to say polite things when they don't mean it? Okay. That's a human thing, not geographical/cultural. Shad even says this is "paid off" when Ken Watanabe tells Tom Cruise that his sister is honored to have him as a guest, when she's really distraught about it. .. as if this isn't simply sparing a recently-suicidal man further guilt.
43:00 after all these years, after so many "ninja zombies" jokes, it brings me infinite joy to see the editor using the joke for an ACTUAL ninja! I feel like this joke has been cooking since the Resident Evil arc!
