The Last Samurai

It plays better than it reviews — the watch lands harder than the write-ups suggest.

• “The Last Samurai is much more fun than a mere history lesson.”

  Will Lawrence, Empire · 100

• “A movie that demands our surrender -- to its energy, to its bold-stroke moviemaking, to its acting (particularly by Cruise and Watanabe, who blend musing and graceful muscularity) and, above all, to its romantic vision of a lost world.”

  Richard Schickel, Time · 90

• “A rousing tale that combines high adventure with emotional effectiveness. This movie works because it never loses sight of the characters no matter how epic the scope becomes.”

  James Berardinelli, ReelViews · 88

• “Beautifully designed, intelligently written, acted with conviction, it's an uncommonly thoughtful epic. Its power is compromised only by an ending that sheepishly backs away from what the film is really about.”

  Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times · 88

• “In his first role since turning 40, Cruise displays a likable new maturity, and an unexpected willingness to look weak and foolish.”

  William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer · 83