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The Last Samurai (2003)

Coming Out at 5 December 2003 in theaters.

Action, Drama, War

The Last Samurai is period action drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz. The film stars Tom Cruise, who also co-produced, with Timothy Spall, Ken Watanabe, Billy Connolly, Tony Goldwyn, Hiroyuki Sanada, Koyuki, and Shin Koyamada in supporting roles.

Tom Cruise portrays a United States Captain of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, whose personal and emotional conflicts bring him into contact with samurai warriors in the wake of the Meiji Restoration in 19th century Japan. The film’s plot was inspired by the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion led by Saigō Takamori, and the westernization of Japan by foreign powers, though in the film the United States is portrayed as the primary force behind the push for westernization. It is also influenced by the stories of Jules Brunet, a French army captain who fought alongside Enomoto Takeaki in the earlier Boshin War and to a lesser extent by Frederick Townsend Ward, an American mercenary who helped Westernize the Chinese army by forming the Ever Victorious Army.

Former U.S. Army Captain Nathan Algren, a bitter alcoholic traumatized by the atrocities he committed during the American Indian Wars, is approached by his former commanding officer Colonel Bagley to train the newly created Imperial Japanese Army for a forward-thinking Japanese businessman Omura, who intends to use the army to suppress a Samurai-headed rebellion against Japan’s new emperor. Despite his hatred of Bagley for his role in the Indian Wars, an impoverished Algren takes the job for the money, and is accompanied to Japan by his old friend, Sergeant Zebulon Gant. Upon arriving, Algren meets Simon Graham, a British translator knowledgeable about the samurai.

Director: Edward Zwick

Writers: John Logan, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz

Stars: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Billy Connolly, Timothy Spall, Tony Goldwyn, Hiroyuki Sanada, Koyuki, Shin Koyamada

Cast:

Ken WatanabeKatsumoto
Tom CruiseNathan Algren
William AthertonWinchester Rep
Chad LindbergWinchester Rep Assistant
Ray Godshall Sr.Convention Hall Attendee
Billy ConnollyZebulon Gant
Tony GoldwynColonel Bagley
Masato HaradaOmura
Masashi OdateOmura’s Companion
John KoyamaOmura’s Bodyguard
Timothy SpallSimon Graham
Shichinosuke NakamuraEmperor Meiji
Togo IgawaGeneral Hasegawa
Satoshi NikaidoN.C.O.
Shintaro WadaYoung Recruit
Shin KoyamadaNobutada
Hiroyuki SanadaUjio
Shun SugataNakao
KoyukiTaka
Sôsuke IkematsuHigen
Aoi MinatoMagojiro
Seizô FukumotoSilent Samurai
Shoji YoshiharaSword Master
Kosaburo Nomura IVKyogen Player #1
Takashi NoguchiKyogen Player #2
Noguchi TakayukiKyogen Player #3
Sven ToorvaldOmura’s Secretary
Scott WilsonAmbassador Swanbeck
Yuki MatsuzakiSoldier in Street #1
Mitsuyuki OishiSoldier in Street #2
Jiro WadaSoldier in Street #3
Hiroshi WatanabeGuard
Yusuke MyochinSword Master’s Assistant
Hiroaki AmanoSamurai Ensemble
Kenta DaiboSamurai Ensemble
Koji FujiiSamurai Ensemble
Makoto HashibaSamurai Ensemble
Shimpei HorinouchiSamurai Ensemble
Takashi KoraSamurai Ensemble
Shane KosugiSamurai Ensemble
Takeshi MayaSamurai Ensemble
Seiji MoriSamurai Ensemble
Lee MurayamaSamurai Ensemble
Takeru ShimizuSamurai Ensemble
Shinji SuzukiSamurai Ensemble
Hisao TakedaSamurai Ensemble
Ryoichiro YonekuraSamurai Ensemble
Ryoichi NoguchiSamurai Ensemble
Darin FujimoriGatling Gun Operator
Eiji InoueRude Man #2

Sources: imdb & wikipedia

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