History Film / TheLastSamurai

** Furthermore, giving up the excellent firing positions of the riflemen in favour of letting them charge armoured swordmen is not too wise either.

** Algren and Katsumoto discuss Custer's Last Stand. Algren dismisses Custer as an idiot who got all his men killed due to arrogance and bad battle tactics, but Katsumoto is awed by Custer's "bravery" and remarks that he would have been a great samurai. Simon Graham also appears to have been guilty of this when he first came to Japan, not realising that the locals are far less into BrutalHonesty than the British.

** And considering he drinks so he doesn't have nightmares about the atrocities he committed, and he's completely deprived of alcohol while in captivity, he overcomes it the ''hard'' way.

* CherryBlossoms: Casually mentioned not long after Algren is captured, eventually forms a symbollically important part of the climax.
Katsumoto, during Algren's captivity, tells him that you can spend your entire life looking for a perfect cherry blossom and it would not be a wasted life. [[spoiler:But with his final breath, after Algren has already assisted him in his seppuku mid-battle, Katsumoto looks at the cherry blossom trees and has the realisation, "They are all perfect."]]

* CultureClash: Expected, but there is one memorable scene where Algren and Katsumoto discuss Custer's Last Stand. Algren dismisses Custer as an idiot who got all his men killed due to arrogance and bad battle tactics, but Katsumoto is awed by Custer's "bravery" and remarks that he would have been a great samurai. Simon Graham also appears to have been guilty of this when he first came to Japan, not realising that the locals are far less into BrutalHonesty than the British.
** Another is in how Nathan refuses to surrender and tried to be DefiantToTheEnd, whereas in a similar situation Samurai would accept their fate and/or commit ritual suicide. Algren's LastStand was considered a very strange event and in his first attempt dueling another Samurai he kept coming back for more strikes to the head.

** Technically, the Samurai were supposed to be these as well, on paper. Their real-life contemporaries were overwhelmingly more bookworm than badass.

** Namely, Katsumoto, [[spoiler:during Algren's captivity, tells him that you can spend your entire life looking for a perfect Cherryblossom and it would not be a wasted life. But with his final breath, after Algren has already assisted him in his seppuku mid-battle, Katsumoto looks at the Cherryblossom trees and has the realisation that "They are all perfect".]]

* HeyItsThatGuy: Algren's number two, Gant, is played by renowned Scottish actor/comedian Billy Connolly, who reprises his role as the quintessential (violent) Glaswegian.
** Katsumoto is also Saito from ''Film/{{Inception}}'', General Kuribayashi from ''LettersFromIwoJima'', and the first decoy Ra's Al Ghul from ''Film/BatmanBegins''.
** Ujio is perhaps best known in North America these days as playing Dogen, the temple guardian from ''{{Lost}}''
** [[HarryPotter Peter Pettigrew]] plays Simon Graham, the overly honest British gentleman.

* HollywoodTactics: No Bagley, superior firepower and a larger force does ''not'' guarantee victory. Later on, Omura somehow gets it into his head the ''he'' knows how to lead an army even better than Bagley...

** This and the aforementioned CultureClash are played with when things are looking to turn out a lot like Custer and his men...
-->'''Katsumoto''': What happened to the warriors at Thermopylae?
-->'''Algren''': [''grinning''] Dead to the last man.

* InstantAwesomeJustAddNinja: Katsumoto's samurai camp is attacked by a squad of [[NotUsingTheZWord ninja]].
** Although in a moment of FridgeBrilliance aversion of the trope, Katsumoto does not identify them as such when Algren asks him who the men were. At first glance it just looks like an attempt to avoid [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready stating the obvious to Western audiences who've kinda seen ninja before.]] But it's in keeping with the theoretical bushido system Katsumoto observes, since use of ninja was considered dishonourable by the code and the ninja were almost unmentionable; they arose from the ''hinin'', the "untouchables", of Japanese society.

The film is loosely inspired by the actual historical events, but for their part they do not even attempt to claim BasedOnATrueStory. All the major characters besides the Emperor were fictionalized and the actual events depicted went quite differently. The period saw two conflicts: the Boshin War, a revolutionary war/coup which saw the toppling of the Tokugawa Shogunate and 'restoration' of the emperor - later known as the Meiji Emperor - as the head of the country (and as a puppet of the victorious rebels). The second and smaller conflict was the Satsuma Rebellion, a rebellion chiefly of Samurai from Kagoshima Prefecture (the former Satsuma Province) led by a man called Saigō Takamori a decade later. All the factions involved used firearms and were rushing to adopt more modern weaponry and tactics. Algren is based off French Army Captain Jules Brunet, who was dispatched by Emperor Napoleon III to train the troops of the Shogun shortly before the outbreak of the Boshin War. Plenty of ArtisticLicense was used in order to tell a compelling story but the movie is still a loving look at Japanese culture, one that does well in capturing the spirit of the Meiji era.

The film is loosely inspired by the actual historical events, but for their part they do not even attempt to claim BasedOnATrueStory. All the major characters besides the Emperor were fictionalized and the actual events depicted went quite differently. The period saw two conflicts; the Boshin War, a revolutionary war/coup which saw the toppling of the Tokugawa Shogunate and 're-establishing' of the emperor - who was crowned as the Meiji Emperor - as the head of the country as a puppet of the rebels. The second and smaller conflict was the Satsuma Rebellion, a rebellion chiefly of Samurai from Satsuma prefecture led by a man called Katsumoto some 20 years later. All the factions involved used firearms and were rushing to adopt more modern weaponry and tactics. Algren is based off Captain Jules Brunet, who was dispatched by Emperor Napoleon III to train the troops the Shogun shortly before the outbreak of the Boshin War. Plenty of ArtisticLicense was used in order to tell a compelling story but the movie is still a loving look at Japanese culture, one that does well in capturing the spirit of the Meiji era.

* BadassBookworm: Algren is extremely capable when it comes to fighting and general physical strength, but he's also a highly competent miltary tactician (implied to be a major reason behind Bagley recruiting him for the Japanese mission in the first place), an author and a linguist.

* BadassBookworm: Algren is extremely capable when it comes to fighting and general physical strength, but he's also a highly competent miltary strategist (implied to be a major reason behind Bagley recruiting him for the Japanese mission in the first place), an author and a linguist.

The film is loosely inspired by the actual historical events, but for their part they do not even attempt to claim BasedOnATrueStory. All the major characters besides the Emperor were fictionalized and the actual events depicted went quite differently. The period saw two conflicts; the Boshin war, a revolutionary war/coup which saw the toppling of the Tokugawa Shogunate and 're-establishing' of the emperor - who was crowned as the Meiji Emperor - as the head of the country as a puppet of the rebels. The second and smaller conflict was the Satsuma rebellion, a rebellion chiefly of Samurai from Satsuma prefecture led by a man called Katsumoto some 20 years later. All the factions involved used firearms and were rushing to adopt more modern weaponry and tactics. Algren is based off Captain Jules Brunet, who was dispatched by Emperor Napoleon III to train the troops the Shogun shortly before the outbreak of the Boshin War. Plenty of ArtisticLicense was used in order to tell a compelling story but the movie is still a loving look at Japanese culture, one that does well in capturing the spirit of the Meiji era.

The film is loosely inspired by the actual historical events, but for their part they do not even attempt to claim BasedOnATrueStory. All the major characters besides the Emperor were fictionalized and the actual events depicted went quite differently. The period saw two conflicts; the revolutionary war/coup which toppled the old Tokugawa Shogunate and 're-established' the emperor - who was crowned as the Meiji Emperor - as the head of the country as a puppet of the rebels, and the second and smaller conflict was a rebellion chiefly of Samurai led by a man called Katsumoto some 20 years later. All the factions involved used firearms and were rushing to adopt more modern weaponry and tactics. Algren is based off Captain Jules Brunet, who was dispatched by Emperor Napoleon III to train the troops the Shogun shortly before the outbreak of the Boshin War. Plenty of ArtisticLicense was used in order to tell a compelling story but the movie is still a loving look at Japanese culture, one that does well in capturing the spirit of the Meiji era.

The film is loosely inspired by the actual historical events, but for their part they do not even attempt to claim BasedOnATrueStory. All the major characters besides the Emperor were fictionalized and the actual events depicted went quite differently. The period saw two conflicts; the revolutionary war/coup which toppled the old Tokugawa Shogunate and 're-established' the emperor Meiji as the head of the country as a puppet of the rebels, and the second and smaller conflict was a rebellion chiefly of Samurai led by a man called Katsumoto some 20 years later. All the factions involved used firearms and were rushing to adopt more modern weaponry and tactics. Algren is based off Captain Jules Brunet, who was dispatched by Emperor Napoleon III to train the troops the Shogun shortly before the outbreak of the Boshin War. Plenty of ArtisticLicense was used in order to tell a compelling story but the movie is still a loving look at Japanese culture, one that does well in capturing the spirit of the Meiji era.

The film is loosely inspired by the actual historical events, but for their part they do not even attempt to claim BasedOnATrueStory. All the major characters besides the Emperor were fictionalized and the actual events depicted went quite differently. The period saw two conflicts; the revolutionary war/coup which toppled the old Tokugawa Shogunate and 're-established' the emperor Meiji as the head of the country as a puppet of the rebels, and the second and smaller conflict was a rebellion chiefly of Samurai led by a man called Katsumoto some 20 years later. All the factions involved used firearms and were rushing to adopt more modern weaponry and tactics. Algren is based off a French Captain sent by Napoleon III to train the troops of the Shogun in the first war, the Boshin War. Plenty of ArtisticLicense was used in order to tell a compelling story and the movie is still a loving look at Japanese culture, one that does well in capturing the spirit of the Meiji era.

A 2003 film directed by [[Film/{{Glory}} Edward Zwick]]. TomCruise stars as Nathan Algren, a veteran of the AmericanCivilWar and the campaigns against the American Indians, in the course of which he served under General Custer. The wars are well and truly over, but Algren is still haunted by what he has seen, and done, and scrounges out drinking money to sustain his chronic alcoholism by endorsing rifles. He's given an opportunity to go back to what he's best at -- fighting -- when his former boss recruits him to aid the Japanese Empire. The Meiji Emperor has been rapidly modernizing the country with the 'aid' of men like Omura, the most powerful man among the oligarchy which controls the emperor and the country from behind the scenes. Nathan is asked to train a force of the country's newly-formed national army in the art of modern warfare. His assignment comes with the knowledge that a group of Samurai, low-ranking nobles similar in rank and role to the Knights of medieval Europe, have risen up in rebellion against the oligarchy in the name of the Emperor. The rebels claim that the radical programme of modernisation endorsed by Omura is in fact a programme of '''westernisation''', one that is destroying the traditional Japanese way of life.

A 2003 film directed by [[Film/{{Glory}} Edward Zwick]]. TomCruise stars as Nathan Algren, a veteran of the AmericanCivilWar and the campaigns against the American Indians, in the course of which he served under General Custer. The wars are well and truly over, but Algren is still haunted by what he has seen, and done, and scrounges out drinking money to sustain his chronic alcoholism by endorsing rifles. He's given an opportunity to go back to what he's best at -- fighting -- when his former boss recruits him to aid the Japanese Empire. The Meiji Emperor has been rapidly modernizing the country with the 'aid' of men like Omura, the most powerful man among the oligarchy which controls the emperor and the country from behind the scenes. Nathan is asked to train a force of the country's newly-formed national army in the art of modern warfare. His assignment comes with the knowledge that a group of Samurai, low-ranking nobles similar in rank and role to the Knights of medieval Europe, have risen up in rebellion against the oligarchy in the name of the Emperor, claiming that the radical westernisation programme endorsed by Omura is in danger of destroying the traditional Japanese way of life.

A 2003 film directed by [[Film/{{Glory}} Edward Zwick]]. TomCruise stars as Nathan Algren, a veteran of the AmericanCivilWar and the campaigns against the American Indians, in the course of which he served under General Custer. The wars are well and truly over, but Algren is still haunted by what he has seen, and done, and scrounges out drinking money to sustain his chronic alcoholism by endorsing rifles. He's given an opportunity to go back to what he's best at -- fighting -- when his former boss recruits him to aid the Japanese Empire. The Meiji Emperor has been rapidly modernizing the country with the 'aid' of men like Omura, the most powerful man among the oligarchy which controls the emperor and the country from behind the scenes. Nathan is asked to train a force of the nation's conscripts in the art of modern warfare. His assignment comes with the knowledge that a group of Samurai, low-ranking nobles similar in rank and role to the Knights of medieval Europe, have risen up in rebellion against the oligarchy in the name of the Emperor, claiming that the radical westernisation programme endorsed by Omura is in danger of destroying the traditional Japanese way of life.

A 2003 film directed by [[Film/{{Glory}} Edward Zwick]]. TomCruise stars as Nathan Algren, a veteran of the AmericanCivilWar and the campaigns against the American Indians, in the course of which he served under General Custer. The wars are well and truly over, but Algren is still haunted by what he has seen, and done, and scrounges out drinking money to sustain his chronic alcoholism by endorsing rifles. He's given an opportunity to go back to what he's best at -- fighting -- when his former boss recruits him to aid the Japanese Empire. The Emperor Meiji has been rapidly modernizing the country with the 'aid' of men like Omura, the most powerful man among the oligarchy which controls the emperor and the country from behind the scenes. Nathan is asked to train a force of the nation's conscripts in the art of modern warfare. His assignment comes with the knowledge that a group of Samurai, low-ranking nobles similar in rank and role to the Knights of medieval Europe, have risen up in rebellion against the oligarchy in the name of the Emperor, claiming that the radical westernisation programme endorsed by Omura is in danger of destroying the traditional Japanese way of life.

[[TomCruise Tom Cruise]] is Nathan Algren, a veteran of the AmericanCivilWar and the campaigns against the American Indians, in the course of which he served under General Custer. The wars are well and truly over, but Algren is still haunted by what he has seen, and done, and scrounges out drinking money to sustain his chronic alcoholism by endorsing rifles. He's given an opportunity to go back to what he's best at -- fighting -- when his former boss recruits him to aid the Japanese Empire. The Emperor Meiji has been rapidly modernizing the country with the 'aid' of men like Omura, the most powerful man among the oligarchy which controls the emperor and the country from behind the scenes. Nathan is asked to train a force of the nation's conscripts in the art of modern warfare. His assignment comes with the knowledge that a group of Samurai, low-ranking nobles similar in rank and role to the Knights of medieval Europe, have risen up in rebellion against the oligarchy in the name of the Emperor, claiming that the radical westernisation programme endorsed by Omura is in danger of destroying the traditional Japanese way of life.

* EverythingsBetterWithBob: A silent samurai is nicknamed Bob by Algren, in the absence of any other name. When Algren watches him die in the final battle, that's the name he shouts out.
** Sad too in that Bob was one of the samurai that Algren liked most, and that Bob died defending Algren. See TakingTheBullet below.

** "Perfect. They are... all... ''perfect''."

* MightyWhitey: Sort of. While Algren does manage to ingratiate himself fairly easily into the samurai's leadership, his combat skills are merely good, rather than great. It's his tactical nous, such as successfully working out a way for "savages with bows and arrows" to defeat an army backed by howitsers and gatling guns. The new perspective such an outside as Algren is able to provide makes it rather understandable that the samurai would choose to benefit from his presence among them.
** Indeed, the contributions Algren makes are not so much having a superior tactical brain compared to the samurai as knowing western tactics, which the Imperial Army have been trained to use, to a nicety. He knows what they will do far better than Katsumoto does, and that is how he is able to engineer a victory (up until the Gatling guns, which are a new development, get deployed).

** TruthInTelevision, mostly, as samurai of the bushido era were supposed to be this.

* WordOfGod: Some viewers bristled with the assumption that a white American man was the eponymous "Last Samurai", but the word of god clarified that the title refers to Katsumoto and his samurai.
** The word "samurai", like all Japanese loanwords, is an irregular noun and is the same both singular and plural.

* AudibleSharpness all over the film.

* AudibleSharpness

* ImprobableAimingSkills: Nobutada, during his [[spoiler: last stand]], stands in the middle of a bridge and kills several soldiers armed with rifles at point blank range armed only with his bow. [[spoiler: It's not until he runs out of arrows and charges them with his daisho that the soldiers are given a chance to finally shoot him.]]

* ImprobableAimingSkills: Nobutada, during his [[spoiler: last stand]], stands in the middle of a bridge and kills several soldiers armed with rifles at point blank range armed only with his bow. [[spoiler: It's not until he discards his bow and charges them that the soldiers are given a chance to finally shoot him.]]

* {{Badass}}: ''Ujio.''

** Katsumoto is also Saito from ''{{Inception}}'', General Kuribayashi from ''LettersFromIwoJima'', and the first decoy Ra's Al Ghul from ''BatmanBegins''.