The fun thing about The Last Samurai is that the title doesn’t refer to Tom Cruise. He does not play a samurai in the film. He plays an American officer.
He hangs with a group of samurai, who are collectively the last of their kind.
That said, plenty of people complained about it in its day.
But i remember that Tom Cruise’s character switches sides in the movie after spending time with the Samurai (He was captured by them). He trains under them and becomes a Samurai. In the end, they fight against the (British?) and lose due to a gattling gun. All the Samurai die except for Tom’s character.
So symbolically, Tom is the Last Samurai.
I maybe incorrect but towards the end of the movie, the Emperor asks how Katsumoto died, to which Tom Cruise replies “I’ll tell you how he lived”. So he was alive?
The fun thing about The Last Samurai is that the title doesn’t refer to Tom Cruise. He does not play a samurai in the film. He plays an American officer.
He hangs with a group of samurai, who are collectively the last of their kind.
That said, plenty of people complained about it in its day.
I might be terribly incorrect.
But i remember that Tom Cruise’s character switches sides in the movie after spending time with the Samurai (He was captured by them). He trains under them and becomes a Samurai. In the end, they fight against the (British?) and lose due to a gattling gun. All the Samurai die except for Tom’s character. So symbolically, Tom is the Last Samurai.
Yes, it’s a classic “white savior” trope.
It is implied that Tom Cruise dies at the end. I think the confusion comes from a voice over, but you never see the character on screen again.
He also does not “become a samurai”. He fights alongside them, but at no point do they call him a samurai.
Edit: looks like that link is wrong. He doesn’t die at the end. I guess memory is a fickle beast.
Correct. That’s why I said symbolically.
I maybe incorrect but towards the end of the movie, the Emperor asks how Katsumoto died, to which Tom Cruise replies “I’ll tell you how he lived”. So he was alive?