The Last Samurai (2003)

An American military advisor embraces the Samurai culture he was hired to destroy after he is captured in battle. - jgp3553@yahoo.com

In the 1870s, Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), a cynical veteran of the American Civil War, who will work for anyone, is hired by Americans who want lucrative contracts with the Emperor of Japan to train the peasant conscripts for the first standing Imperial Army in modern warfare using firearms. The Imperial Omura (Masato Harada) cabinet's first priority is to repress a rebellion of traditionalist Samurai, hereditary warriors, who remain devoted to the sacred dynasty, but reject the Westernizing policy, and even refuse firearms. Yet, when his ill-prepared superior force sets out too soon, their panic allows the sword-wielding samurai to crush them. Badly wounded, Algren's courageous stand makes the samurai leader Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe) spare his life. Once nursed to health, he learns to know and respect the old Japanese way, and participates as advisor in Katsumoto's failed attempt to save the Bushido tradition, but Omura gets repressive laws enacted. He must now choose to honor his loyalty to one of the embittered sides when the conflict returns to the battlefield. - KGF Vissers

In 1876--while still haunted by the massacres against the American-Indian tribes--the former Civil War veteran and now an embittered alcoholic, Captain Nathan Algren, is presented with an offer to train the inexperienced army of the Japanese emperor. However, when the untried Imperial soldiers are sent too early into battle against the seasoned men of the samurai leader, Katsumoto, Algren will find himself captured as a prisoner of war. Intent on knowing his enemy, Katsumoto spares Algren's life, only to see him, little by little, embrace Bushido: the dying code of the samurai. Now, Nathan faces an entirely new enemy. Will the last samurai find peace in his quest for redemption? - Nick Riganas

Set in Japan during the 1870s, this movie tells the story of Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), a respected American military officer hired by the Emperor of Japan to train the country's first Army in the art of modern warfare. The Imperial Omura (Masato Harada) cabinet attempts to eradicate the ancient Imperial Samurai warriors in preparation for more Westernized and trade-friendly government policies, Algren finds himself unexpectedly impressed and influenced by his encounters with the Samurai, which places him at the center of a struggle between two eras and two worlds, with only his own sense of honor to guide him. - la pointe