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"Last Samurai" and other Ken Watanabe Movie Reviews(For NEWS articles, see News about Ken Watanabe....) |
| Reviews of "The Last Samurai" |
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| Review of "The Last Samurai" on JoBlo.com -- This is the ONE review that truly captures what makes this movie great. He takes the words out of my mouth with, "By the time I staggered out of this movie..." So did I and so did everyone around me. [English]
NEW!!! The Samurai Spirit Which Japan Started is Sent to the Whole World from Hollywood! Review on eiga.com -- [Japanese] Great review of "The Last Samurai" by a knowledgable person at KungFu Cinema -- Even though I've watched hours of videos (and spent as much time reading) about the making of the movie, I was not aware of many points this author brings to light, or if I was, it was only on a subconcious level. I've seen reviews comparing the choreographed "actual" swordfights in TLS to the common practice of using camera tricks and people hanging from cables in typical action films. But I've never seen a review comparing the stunts in TLS to actual martial-arts styles and film traditions. I am starting to truly understand why the English staff of TLS quickly gained the immense respect of the Japanese cast, and then, the enthusiasm of the Japanese people. [English] Review of "The Last Samurai" on VisualGUI.com -- This says it all! [English] NEW!!! The Last Samurai on AllMoviePortal.com -- Information, reviews, and articles about The Last Samurai [English] NEW!!! The Last Samurai Another review on eiga.com -- [Japanese] Review of "The Last Samurai" by Roger Ebert on the Chicago Sun-Times -- [English] "Samurai Code: Tom Cruise and Ed Zwick Team for Epic Tale of Japan" -- [English] Review of "The Last Samurai" on Bullz-eye.com -- [English] NEW!!! Review of "The Last Samurai" on "DVDfanatic.com" -- Excellent review of both the movie and the DVD. [English] "Cruise Channels Zen, Sword in 'Last Samurai'" (December 4, 2003) -- [English] Review of "The Last Samurai" on Ink 19 -- Succinct, but sums up Ken's terrific acting perfectly! [English] Review of "The Last Samurai" on FilmForce.com -- I agree with this review about the ending of the movie. It did "wimp out" (we know that in real history the emperor made no such turn-about in his politics). But it is impossible to "ruin" this truly terrific movie, because it's the characters that make it so wonderful! And, ironically, in a scene that is otherwise totally ridiculous, Cruise is so 100% convincing that if it hadn't come down to that moment of the emperor's decision, Tom would have completely carried the ending all by himself! But it doesn't really matter. The rest of the movie is too awesome to be undone by the last 5 minutes! [English] Review of "The Last Samurai" on "Jive Magazine" -- [English] "4-Star Review: The Last Samurai" on Cinema Confidential -- Short, but really sums it up well. [English] Review of "The Last Samurai" on (Japanese blog) "Alive in Kyoto" -- [English] "'Last Samurai': This tale of two warriors Cruises along" on the Seattle Times -- I disagree with a few things, but what it gets right, it REALLY gets right. [English] "'Last Samurai' explores East-West culture clash" -- Jon Niccum (the Lawrence Journal World) (I have to disagree with one thing. There is nothing wrong with Tom's performance...and I am not a "Tom fan"...he draws you in from the beginning until the end. Even in the final scene with the emperor, which everyone agrees should have been left out, he is convincing...even if no one else is!) [English] Review of "The Last Samurai" on Austrailian website "WebWombat" -- [English] Review of "The Last Samurai" from the Chicago Tribune -- [English] "Tom Cruise: Old-school Samurai" -- Tom discusses the movies and Ken Watanbe and Hiroyuki Sanada's bright futures. [English] "Samurai Tom: Cruise Swings a Mighty Sword in 'The Last Samurai'" -- Review by Joel Siegel on ABC.com [English] Review of "The Last Samurai" on BBCi.com -- [English] Review of "The Last Samurai" on "Sidekick Magazine" -- [English] Review by Michael Wilmington on the Chicago Tribune -- [English] Review by Kurt Honeycutt on the Hollywood Reporter -- [English] |
| Reviews of Other Ken Watanabe Movies, TV Shows, and Plays |
| NEW!!! Movies: Bat out of Hell -- Preview of Batman Begins and public reaction [English]
NEW!!! Interview with David Goyer on AintItCoolNews.com -- This interview seems to leave the accuracy of the "script leak" a mystery...if you read between the lines... [English] NEW!!! The Comic Book of David -- Interview with David Goyer, scriptwriter for Batman Begins, and about their vision for the movie [English] NEW!!! BatmanNews.de -- Dutch website for news on Batman Begins [Dutch] NEW!!! Goyer: Batmat Gets Real -- interview with David Goyer on scifi.com [English] Review of "Tampopo" [Japanese comedy] by Roger Ebert on the Chicago Sun-Times Review of "Seppesu Toraboraazu" (Space Travelers) on MidnightEye.com-- It looks very detailed...may include some spoilers! (I stopped reading halfway down the page.) [English] Synopsis and several reviews of "Sepeesu Toraboraazu" (Space Travelers) -- Be careful what you read! SYNOPSIS CONTAINS SPOILERS! [Japanese] "Saga of 'Mr. VHS' Still Inspires Japanese": review of "Hi wa mata noboru" (English "The Sun Will Rise Again") -- The true story about the success of a small company over Sony in the race for the development of a world-wide videotape standard. [English] Review of "Niigata 2001: A Space Oddessey" -- At this 100-year festival in Ken's home prefecture of Niigata, over 420 locals participated in various performances, attended by over 40,000 in a local sports stadium. A feature of this year was "The Man Who Plants the Wood", a musical produced by Misashi Sada, a famous Japanese Folk Singer. Ken played the talking part of the Wind. He also sang a new love song, lasting 5 minutes, called "Word of Oath". [Japanese] The Man Who Plants the Wood -- This musical, by Misashi Sada, was a feature performance at the 100-yr festival, "Niigata 2001: A Space Oddessey". Ken played the talking part of the Wind. This is a brief, 1-page sysnopsis of the story with small but beautiful photographs, including Ken as Wind. -- [Japanese] News about "Gokenin Zankuro" and Interview with Ken Watanabe [Japanese TV drama series] -- (aka The Ninth Son) Includes details on the series and an interview with Ken on his experiences while directing the final run of the Zankuro series. In this exciting period drama series, Ken stars as Zankuru, a highly-skilled swordsman but low-ranking samurai whose family can barely survive on its stipend, especially with his single mother's preference for gourmet food. After a mysterious murder, Zankuru commits himself to solving the mystery...and finds out he can make a lot of money on the side by moonlighting as a virtual superhero. [Japanese] Synopsis and details about "Gokenin Zankuro" -- [English] |