Jonny2k1

I thought this movie was amazing. It was definitely best move that I have seen in the theater this year!

mee2

Loved, and i mean LOVED this movie.
I wish i were a mod in here, because i would instantly ban anyone who said anything remotely negative about this gem of a film.

I am officially a fanboy of this film, and cannot be reasoned with should you feel compelled to point out any of it's imperfections.

This movie was so good, that i'm actually feeling emotionally unstable....

The only film to ever make me wish i were Japanse....i'm dead serious.

A+++

Ian11

Last Samurai was a great movie. But no, the movie to beat is Cold Mountain. Not ROTK. Not Seabiscuit. Not Master and Commander. And not Mystic River. Cold Mountain is not even out yet and Miramax is probably spending more on advertising than they did the movie itself. My god. Every commercial break I see a commerical for Cold Mountain. Its torture.

I got it Miramax!!! Its coming out on Dec. 25. Thanks Miramax but I'll be watching ROTK a few times before I see Cold Mountain.

slop101

Cold Mountain is a soap opera.

Frank TJ Mackey

I predict that Ed Zwick (Best Director), Ken Watanabe (Supporting Actor), John Logan (Screenplay) and the cinematographer will all get Oscar nominations.

Who knows, they may even throw in Cruise just for good measure.

I bet there was a lot of Algren and Taka's relationship that was left on the cutting room floor to get the movie down to a decent running time.

It's too bad there probably won't be an extended version of "The Last Samurai" like there always is for the LOTR movies.

Smittygt

I was thinking the exact same thing. I wanted more, lots more!

AL

badger1997

Weird. I must not be watching the right channels or something, but i have yet to see one single ad for Cold Mountain, and I have been looking too. I want to see this one (more so than ROTK). I would say that rather ROTK has been overexposed. Every time I turn on the television I get either an ad for the movie or the video game. So I think it just depends on how much hatred you have built up for a release and what channels you watch.

Drop

Saw it last night at packed theater in NYC. I loved it and so did the crowd. I think they loved it a bit too much. They clapped after a lot of scenes, which I just thought was annoying, but that's me.

Anyway, this was juts fantastic. I loved just about everything about it. The characters, the flow, and the action. The final battle scene may be the best I've ever seen.

The only thing I didn't like was the ending, but I still thought it was good, just not great. I'm not sure if I agree with what the others have said on how to change it, but I would have just left it ambiguous.

FiveO

http://www.coldmountainmovie.com/

Kal-El

One more thing:

Leggy doesn't have anything on my boy Nobutada.

jarofclay73

I try to enter the site, but it says "Page Not Found."

QuiGonJosh

This IS the movie to beat this year! I don't know if ROTK can top this film for me...definately my fave of the year...

Burzmali

My top 3 this year:

Last Samurai, Mystic River, Matchstick Men.

Doubtful if ROTK will break the top 3, based on the previous effort.

Tuan Jim

I enjoyed the movie a lot, it was a "good" movie for me, but I definitely see where he's coming from saying this.
I actually went into the movie, with my limited knowledge of Japanese history (3 or 4 college courses), with the expectation that they would romanticize the folks actually challenging the emperor, who was working to bring his country out of stagnant feudalism into a new, modern, democratic age. Naturally, that's not exactly the way it played out, but I wasn't too far off either.

Frank TJ Mackey

Cold Mountain will be this year's English Patient. Beautiful imagery and great acting, but absolutely dull.

Although, I don't loathe TEP as much as most people seem to.

It's funny that Cold Mountain was originally set to star
Tom Cruise until he dropped out.

FiveO

Works for me.

Wierd.

metaridley

My best friend told me it was an excellent film, and from what he described, it sounds like I'll like it, too. I guess I'll be adding The Last Samurai to my "must see in the theatres" list.

clarkkent

Just saw it tonight. Very impressive. Im sure there will be plenty of Oscar nods to go around. I actually found Cruise to be enjoyable, which is usually not the case. 4.5/5

neiname

Awesome, caught a noon showing because of the weather... Can't say enough great things about this movie. I really hope Tom Cruise gets an Oscar nod for this. Just a stunning film...

shaun3000

I thought it was a great movie, but have to agree with several others: It kept reminding me of Dances with Wolves, but in Japan.

Giantrobo

The E! Behind the Scenes show help me make up my mind.

I'll give this movie a chance.

TCG

I thought it was really good. on the border of greatness but not quite there. the 3rd samurai (long black hair, goatee, good sword-fighter) was great. Cruise was good, but again, he plays the cocky guy. yes, he was technically acting humble, but he never seems to shed his air of cocky-ness.

overall, the acting was very good. and it had great sword-fighting, and some exceptional cinematography.

the CGI was very obvious to me (maybe bc i was sitting in the 2nd row), but it occasionally took me out of the film.

i had a thought that they released this epic film on Dec. 5 to beat the next epic, ROTK.


BTW, has that guy from Ghost ever been a good guy? and the main samurai leader, katsumoto, looked just like a Japanese version of The Rock.

i knew the story sounded familiar, but here it is, based on the actual Meiji rebellion:
http://www.indiana.edu/~ealc100/Group19/history.html
(at bottom)

Tuan Jim

That's really simplified obviously, but as I mentioned above, they go out of their way trying to romanticize something that had outlived itself as a form of government, etc.

edit -- the more I think of it, aside from the gross historical inaccuracies, this strikes me as a very similar case to the U-571 controversy. It's basically an Americanization of a historical event that didn't even involve the US at all. Hopefully not a precedent-setting one.

Still, the battle scenes were great and as I said above, I enjoyed myself -- just a nagging feeling.

Supreme Sean

I thought it was fantastic. Long, well acted, and packed with emotion. Essentially, the film was about a man trying to find something to believe in. Algren's journey from fatalistic alcoholic to spiritual warrior was well drawn out. He turns from a bitter cynic into a honorable servant of a code. The friendship that develops between Algren and Katsumoto is believable and enjoyable to watch. All the performances were good, especially Cruise's and Watanabe's. Both were deserving of Oscar nominations. The battle scenes, particularly the , are stellar. Chaotic, violent, and often times cringe worthy. Probably the best battle scenes in a movie this year. Wouldn't be surprised to see a Best Director nomination for Zwick. My third favorite film this year, and deserving of a Best Picture nomination. There were some hokey parts to the story. Like , and . But other than those small faults, an awesome film. I had to urinate for the entire second half of the film, but I didn't dare leave my seat for fear of missing something. It's THAT good. Grade: A -

syphon00

the only thing I didn't like in the film was that



Also thought the ending was a bit weak