The Last Samurai

Play trailer

The Last Samurai

R

2003

2h 34m

Adventure

Drama

War

Action

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

65%

Tomatometer

216 Reviews

83%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is an American military officer hired by the Emperor of Japan to train the country's first army in the art of modern warfare. As the government attempts to eradicate the ancient Samurai warrior class in preparation for more Westernized and trade-friendly policies, Algren finds himself unexpectedly affected by his encounters with the Samurai, which places him at the center of a struggle between two eras and two worlds.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

With high production values and thrilling battle scenes, The Last Samurai is a satisfying epic.

Read Critics Reviews

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

12/28/2010

3/5

Outstanding action and performance; lots of blood.

Go to Full Review

Richard Schickel

TIME Magazine

08/25/2008

It's easy to stand back and wax ironic about The Last Samurai. But it's not all that difficult to succumb to its full-spirited romanticism either.

Go to Full Review

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

06/24/2006

Competently mounted in its studiedly immersive, elongated way, Zwick's earnest costume epic dresses a knee-jerk, reactionary sensibility in exotic garb.

Go to Full Review

Anderson Jones

E! Online

04/26/2022

Is a romance really necessary, no matter how ridiculous, just to prove the two male leads aren't in love with each other?

Go to Full Review

Tony Black

Cultural Conversation

02/16/2021

4/5

The Last Samurai delivers one of the stronger historical adventure epics of recent years.

Go to Full Review

David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

02/15/2021

Zwick's film idealizes the "noble savage" and denigrates modern society not from the point of view of a serious critique of capitalism, but in a misanthropic, right-wing populist manner.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Victor A

@Vic1019 Mar 3

After rewatching in 2026 I can confidently say they dont make films like this anymore. Such a good movie that gives you that strange feeling in the back of your throat towards the end. A great script and amazing performances from every single actor. Hollywood has fallen so far from 2003

See more

Anderson A

@Anderson47474 Jan 28

Dos melhores filmes que eu vi sobre samurais, apesar da "americanizaçao" da história colocando o estrangeiro no meio da aldeia, atuações muito boas principalmente do chefe dos samurais indicação ao Oscar merecida 8.5

See more

Leonardo g

@RT17429235 Jan 27

This is the goat the people whom criticize in bad way is dumb as fuck the just watch 50 shades of shit they don’t know nothing about movies Performance 1000/10 Story 100/10 Soundtrack 10/10 Visuals 1000/10

See more

lon g

@Grimeslon Jan 11

One day f the best movies ever made.!it has a lot of amazing fight/action scenes, but also delivers a great story.

See more

Louis T

@Le_tjs Dec 31

Ive read the professional reviews and they are genuinely talking absolute rubbish and shouldn't have an opinion on any movies so id ignore the 60% rating because it should be 90%+

See more

Rick P

@RickHunterSG Dec 30

One of the Top 10 Tom Cruise Movie. Superb script. Solid acting. Great production values. Almost flawless in many aspects

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Edward Zwick

Director

Tom Cruise

Capt. Nathan Algren

Ken Watanabe

Katsumoto

Timothy Spall

Simon Graham

Billy Connolly

Zebulon Gant

Tony Goldwyn

Col. Bagley

Troy

53%

74%

Troy

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Troy

Red Cliff

89%

78%

Red Cliff

Watchlist

300

61%

89%

300

Watchlist

The Patriot

61%

81%

The Patriot

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Patriot

The Warlords

62%

70%

The Warlords

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Now Streaming: Star Wars, The Voices, The Big Lebowski, and More

Box Office Guru Preview: Mel, Cameron, & Leo Battle For #1 Spot

Box Office Guru Preview: "Nativity" Leads Trio of New Releases

View more photos

Synopsis

Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is an American military officer hired by the Emperor of Japan to train the country's first army in the art of modern warfare. As the government attempts to eradicate the ancient Samurai warrior class in preparation for more Westernized and trade-friendly policies, Algren finds himself unexpectedly affected by his encounters with the Samurai, which places him at the center of a struggle between two eras and two worlds.

Director: Edward Zwick
Producer: Tom Cruise, Tom Engelman, Marshall Herskovitz, Scott Kroopf, Paula Wagner, Edward Zwick
Screenwriter: John Logan, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Cruise-Wagner Productions, Radar Pictures, Bedford Falls Productions, Warner Brothers
Rating: R (Strong Violence|Battle Sequences)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, War, Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 5, 2003, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 1, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $111.1M
Runtime: 2h 34m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby SR, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

Most Popular at Home Now