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(1 - 50) of 54 OFCS Rating: 62% Fresh Page   12   > Next 3/5 "If only all of this could have meant something. Because for all the beauty and savagery on display here ... it seems at times arbitrary."   Film Journal International   Chris Barsanti A- "Edward Zwick and Tom Cruise deliver an energetic and compelling film in Last Samurai. It's not a thematically original film, but it’s great holiday fare."   EDGE Boston   David Foucher 4/4 "The Last Samurai delivers in ways that would have made even Akira Kurosawa himself proud."   Cinemaphile.org   David Keyes 2.5/4 "The movie has "prestige project" written all over it, and while it's certainly not a bad movie, it's also not exactly tremendously entertaining either."   Reel Film Reviews   David Nusair C "Well made hokum."   Ozus' World Movie Reviews   Dennis Schwartz 2/4 "The Last Samurai is so built on common Hollywood movie cliches and superficial, jingoistic messages that it achieves no identity of its own. "   TheMovieBoy.com   Dustin Putman "Quien quiera ver una verdadera película de samuráis deberá ver la obra del maestro Akira Kurosawa, particularmente la maravillosa Los siete samurais (1954)."   Uruguay Total   Enrique Buchichio A- "It's an epic, to be sure, but it keeps a close eye on the humanity of its story and eschews needless spectacle."   EricDSnider.com   Eric D. Snider 4/4 "Casts such a spell with its beauty, performances and four solid action sequences that its easy to forget and even easier to forgive its derivative nature."   eFilmCritic.com   Erik Childress C- "Cruise crushes this movie under his weight, pushing everything interesting to the fringes of the frame."   Film Blather   Eugene Novikov 3/4 "Una película extraordinaria con un final ordinario."   Doncinema.com   Flavio J. Arosemena 3/4 "...aesthetically grand and meditative...begs to be in the tradition of these resilient, action-packed epics that bring an odd tranquility to the forefront"   Movie Eye   Frank Ochieng C+ "A prestige product, the very embodiment of good taste...Ultimately, however, the hackneyed story arc makes 'The Last Samurai' seem rather stale."   One Guy's Opinion   Frank Swietek "A remarkable and exquisitely rendered drama that mixes the raw savagery of war with magical moments of Zen peacefulness and spiritual uplift."   Spirituality and Practice   Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat C "Lacking authenticity, history, or understanding of its subject, Zwick, Cruise and Company have simply ripped off Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai."   Mixed Reviews   Gabriel Shanks 3.5/4 "The Last Samurai earns every minute of its near two-and-one-half hour running length. There's no fat to trim, and no sense that scenes have been included to pad the ego of the director and/or his star."   ReelViews   James Berardinelli 3/4 "a deeply nostalgic and sentimental film, one that holds fast to the notion that there can be honorable warfare and that there is such a thing as a “good death”"   Q Network Film Desk   James Kendrick 3/5 "Going beyond just Tom Cruise in "Dances with Shogun," the blend of many other movies makes for a perfectly good -- not great -- action epic."   Netflix   James Rocchi 2/4 "A mildly satisfying entertainment many moons shy of potential greatness."   Aufmuth.com   Jeanne Aufmuth 7/10 "It's like Samurai 101: here are the samurai; here is their way of life; here is what makes them so appealing to Westerners; and here it all is in one classic textbook epic."   Window to the Movies   Jeffrey Chen 9/10 "Almost every single element of the movie-making process connects on virtually every level."   JoBlo's Movie Emporium   JoBlo 81/100 "It is definitely a treat for the eyes and ears and well worth a trip to the cinema to see."   FilmFocus   Joe Utichi 3.5/5 "Tom Cruise delivers much more for the samurai than Kevin Costner did for Native Americans a decade ago"   ToxicUniverse.com   John A. Nesbit 7/10 "The Last Samurai has the look and feel of a thoughtful, epic fable, even if Hollywood tends to put its own stamp on history as it goes along."   DVDTown.com   John J. Puccio 6/10 "A lot of stuff you've seen a hundred times in other movies, all fronted by a guy who has played this exact same role in a bunch of other films."   Planet Sick-Boy   Jon Popick 3.5/4 "'Claro ejemplo de lo que Hollywood es capaz de hacer cuando se lo propone: un cine de alto nivel, entretenido y emocionante. De lo mejor del año' "   Moviola   Jorge Avila Andrade 4.5/5 "An intimate tale beautifully told in an epic setting that transcends the label of "Tom Cruise movie.""   Cinerina   Karina Montgomery 2.5/4 "... the honor and meaning behind [the film] is the very point of the story, so everyone involved must be proud of that achievement if nothing else."   MovieCrypt.com   Kevin A. Ranson 2/4 "Try as he might, Ed Zwick is no Kurosawa; heck, he’s barely on the level of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III director Stuart Gillard."   Montreal Film Journal   Kevin N. Laforest B "Zwick knows the importance of conveying military strategy to the audience"   Reeling Reviews   Laura Clifford 3/5 "An honorable film hamstrung by Hollywood conventions."   TV Guide's Movie Guide   Maitland McDonagh 6/10 "The battle scenes are splendid, the script is not."   rec.arts.movies.reviews   Mark R. Leeper 3.5/4 "Succeeds as a well-told tale of Japan and America on the cusp of a new era"   Movie Habit   Marty Mapes "[S]o innocuous that it’s barely even there, blending into the beige walls of inoffensive mediocrity."   Flick Filosopher   MaryAnn Johanson 3.5/5 "The Last Samurai's emotions are big and blocky."   Goatdog's Movies   Michael W. Phillips, Jr. 3/4 "The Samurai ethic is explored in the kind of detail that kept me involved even when the plot hit some bumps."   Aisle Seat   Mike McGranaghan B "A grand and eminently watchable epic with no expense spared, ambitious in scope, thoughtful in execution, though not particularly original or meaningful. "   Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies   Nell Minow 2/4 "A squishy, serious-minded lesson about embracing one’s heritage and cherishing the virtues of valor and respect."   Slant Magazine   Nick Schager 3/5 "É como se, envergonhado pela falta de integridade artística de John Logan, o próprio filme houvesse decidido praticar o haraquiri a 50 minutos do final da projeção."   Cinema em Cena   Pablo Villaca "Llittle more than a longer, less violent and more pretentious version of 'Kill Bill.' The difference, of course, is that 'Kill Bill' was meant to be a goof."   Critic Doctor   Peter Sobczynski 3.5/5 "The film also looks amazing, with spectacular New Zealand scenery standing in for 19th century Japan. But Zwick's choices as a director are more troublesome."   Shadows on the Wall   Rich Cline 2/5 "The real point of the film seems to be the poster image of a battle-ready Tom Cruise waving a sword and all decked out in gleaming red-and-black samurai armor."   eFilmCritic.com   Rob Gonsalves C+ "Watching it is a frustrating experience: you can see what it strives for, only to have that potential snatched away time and again."   Flipside Movie Emporium   Rob Vaux B "It isn't as great as the best Japanese Samurai films, but it is certainly a worthy addition to a great film tradition."   Laramie Movie Scope   Robert Roten B- "With The Last Samurai Zwick shows, once again, that he has a talent approaching Akira Kurosawa in his ability to stage large scale battle scenes"   Reeling Reviews   Robin Clifford 4.5/5 "Sincere and respectful to its subject matter while delivering a rousing adventure tale...wrapped up in that comfy old Redemption Movie we all love so much."   eFilmCritic.com   Scott Weinberg C "Possesses a well-developed role for Tom Cruise, but dabbles in reheated concepts pulled from similar fare."   Eclipse Magazine   Sean O'Connell "A benumbed epic with an action figure for a hero."   Salon.com   Stephanie Zacharek 10/10 "Isn't it finally Tom's turn for an Oscar?"   Modamag.com   Susan Granger 2.5/4 "The phantom of the real deal, Zhang Yimou's astonishingly Zen Hero, lurks in the wings. "   Film Freak Central   Walter Chaw  (1 - 50) of 54 OFCS Rating: 62% Fresh Page   12   > Next