Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

The Last Samurai

 The Last Samurai
type
TVTItem
 The Last Samurai
label
The Last Samurai
 The Last Samurai
page
TheLastSamurai
 The Last Samurai
comment
The Last Samurai is a 2003 American film directed by Edward Zwick. Tom Cruise stars as Nathan Algren, a veteran of The American Civil War and the campaigns against the American Indians, in the course of which he served under General Custer. The wars are well and truly over, but Algren is still haunted by what he has seen, and done, and scrounges out drinking money to sustain his chronic alcoholism by endorsing rifles. He's given an opportunity to go back to what he's best at — fighting — when his former boss recruits him to aid the Japanese Empire. The Meiji Emperor has been rapidly modernizing the country with the 'aid' of men like Omura, the most powerful man among the oligarchy which controls the emperor and the country from behind the scenes. Nathan is asked to train a force of the country's newly-formed national army in the art of modern warfare. His assignment comes with the knowledge that a group of Samurai, low-ranking nobles similar in rank and role to the Knights of medieval Europe, have risen up in rebellion against the oligarchy in the name of the Emperor. The rebels claim that the radical programme of modernisation endorsed by Omura is in fact a programme of 'westernisation,' one that is destroying the Japanese way of life.In Japan, Algren has his work cut out for him. His recruits are completely raw and he must start their training from scratch. Too soon, the rebel samurai army attacks. In spite of their inferior numbers and weapons, the samurai slice through Algren's undisciplined troops. Preparing to die on his feet, Algren engages a samurai in single combat and manages to kill him. After watching Algren's Last Stand, the samurai general Katsumoto realises he's had a vision about this same scene (depicted at the film's start, with Algren now revealed as the white tiger he saw) and decides to spare Algren's life.Trapped in Katsumoto's camp for the winter, Algren finds himself comfortably appointed in a family's house as more of a guest than a prisoner. He grows to sympathize with his hosts and appreciate the way of the samurai. When the opportunity comes to leave, Algren chooses to switch his allegiance and help the samurai against the forces of modernization. After battling assassins and forming a subdued romance with the widow of the samurai he killed, Algren enters the final battle for the fate of the samurai and Japan.Ken Watanabe, the fella who played Katsumoto, was nominated for an Oscar for his role.The film is loosely inspired by the actual historical events, but for their part they do not even attempt to claim Based on a True Story. All the major characters besides the Emperor were fictionalized and the actual events depicted went quite differently. The period saw two conflicts: the Boshin War, a revolutionary war/coup which saw the toppling of the Tokugawa Shogunate and 'restoration' of the emperor - later known as the Meiji Emperor - as the head of the country (and as a puppet of the victorious rebels... until he implemented the same exact reforms the Shogunate tried to anyway). The second and smaller conflict was the Satsuma Rebellion, a rebellion chiefly of Samurai from Kagoshima Prefecture (the former Satsuma Domain) led by a man called SaigÅ� Takamori a decade later. All the factions involved used firearms and were rushing to adopt more modern weaponry and tactics. Algren is based off French Army Captain Jules Brunet, who was dispatched by Emperor Napoleon III to train the troops of the Shogun shortly before the outbreak of the Boshin War. Plenty of Artistic License was used in order to tell a compelling story but the movie is still a loving look at Japanese culture, one that does well in capturing the spirit of the Meiji era.Not related to the novel The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt.The film was released on November 22, 2003 in Japan, and saw a December 5, 2003 release in the United States.
 The Last Samurai
fetched
2024-03-11T02:30:11Z
 The Last Samurai
parsed
2024-03-11T02:30:11Z
 The Last Samurai
processingComment
Dropped link to HollywoodHistory: Not a Feature - IGNORE
 The Last Samurai
processingComment
Dropped link to InvertedTrope: Not a Feature - IGNORE
 The Last Samurai
isPartOf
DBTropes
 The Last Samurai / int_128e4ba8
type
Gatling Good
 The Last Samurai / int_128e4ba8
comment
Gatling Good: Omura is extremely proud of the actual Gatling Guns he has managed to acquire by the end of the film, for good reasons.
 The Last Samurai / int_128e4ba8
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_128e4ba8
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_128e4ba8
 The Last Samurai / int_12a22bd8
type
Katanas Are Just Better
 The Last Samurai / int_12a22bd8
comment
Katanas Are Just Better: Katana, as well as the other trappings of the samurai warrior, are quite fetishized throughout the course of the film. Though, realistically, they are completely no match for Gatling guns.
 The Last Samurai / int_12a22bd8
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_12a22bd8
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_12a22bd8
 The Last Samurai / int_135b9977
type
Bloodless Carnage
 The Last Samurai / int_135b9977
comment
Bloodless Carnage: Zig-Zagged Trope. It's averted most of the time, especially in the final battle, but played oddly straight in the first battle against the Samurai in the fog, which has almost no visible blood whatsoever, even when Algren jams a broken-off spear through a samurai's throat. The ninja attack on the village is also oddly devoid of arterial spray despite all the violent stabbings and slashings, with the ironic exception of the people who get shot with crossbow bolts (i.e. the kind of wound that wouldn't bleed that much). In one particularly bizarre instance, there's a dramatic blood spray when Algren slashes a couple of mooks across the chest, but none at all when he decapitates their leader.
 The Last Samurai / int_135b9977
featureApplicability
-1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_135b9977
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_135b9977
 The Last Samurai / int_1420a9b8
type
Scenery Censor
 The Last Samurai / int_1420a9b8
comment
Scenery Censor: The camera moves in front of a tree right as Katsumoto decapitates General Hasegawa.
 The Last Samurai / int_1420a9b8
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_1420a9b8
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_1420a9b8
 The Last Samurai / int_1a183344
type
Honorable Warrior's Death
 The Last Samurai / int_1a183344
comment
Honorable Warrior's Death: Unsurprisingly, the samurai are big on this topic. General Hasegawa refuses to fight against his old friend Katsumoto and commits seppuku afterward to die with his honor intact. Katsumoto approves of both Custer's last stand and the death of the Spartans at Thermopylae, considering such battlefield deaths good ones, and seems to hope to die in such a manner. He goes down fighting to the end on the battlefield, and after being mortally wounded, he commits seppuku with assistance from Algren.
 The Last Samurai / int_1a183344
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_1a183344
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_1a183344
 The Last Samurai / int_1a3a91dd
type
Say My Name
 The Last Samurai / int_1a3a91dd
comment
Say My Name: The only time "Bob" speaks is when he shouts "Algren-San!" right before Taking the Bullet.
 The Last Samurai / int_1a3a91dd
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_1a3a91dd
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_1a3a91dd
 The Last Samurai / int_1a8dc238
type
Underestimating Badassery
 The Last Samurai / int_1a8dc238
comment
Underestimating Badassery: Omura and Bagley think little of the samurai threat, as they have no guns or artillery, until the poorly-trained Imperial Army is thoroughly routed early in the film by a cavalry charge. The next time they face the samurai army, Bagley has learned from this defeat but Omura has not.
 The Last Samurai / int_1a8dc238
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_1a8dc238
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_1a8dc238
 The Last Samurai / int_1d47b2b7
type
Unable to Cry
 The Last Samurai / int_1d47b2b7
comment
Unable to Cry: Averted with Algren, who is too desensitised and jaded to show the slightest hint of grief or regret in all the film's tearjerking moments... even including Katsumoto's death. His Manly Tears before the Emperor show how he has changed.
 The Last Samurai / int_1d47b2b7
featureApplicability
-1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_1d47b2b7
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_1d47b2b7
 The Last Samurai / int_1f19f198
type
Back-to-Back Badasses
 The Last Samurai / int_1f19f198
comment
Back-to-Back Badasses: Algren and Katsumoto, several times, but most notably during the ninja attack on the village.
 The Last Samurai / int_1f19f198
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_1f19f198
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_1f19f198
 The Last Samurai / int_200c009a
type
Mook Lieutenant
 The Last Samurai / int_200c009a
comment
Mook Lieutenant: The Japanese Army has an unnamed junior officer with a mustache who is shown assisting Algren with marshaling the troops during training and the fog battle, turning back to witness Algren taking on the samurai on his own. He later shows up in the final battle commanding the artillery and it is he who removes his hat and bows when Katsumoto commits seppuku, the surviving soldiers taking a cue from him.
 The Last Samurai / int_200c009a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_200c009a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_200c009a
 The Last Samurai / int_22cf536c
type
Chekhov's Gun
 The Last Samurai / int_22cf536c
comment
Chekhov's Gun: Literally; the gatling guns and howitzers that are used in the final battle are seen being tested when Algren reunites with Bagley after being freed.
 The Last Samurai / int_22cf536c
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_22cf536c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_22cf536c
 The Last Samurai / int_23ff95fb
type
Brutal Honesty
 The Last Samurai / int_23ff95fb
comment
Brutal Honesty: A tendency of Simon Graham, who tells Algren that this was why he was fired from his original job in Japan as part of the British trade mission.
 The Last Samurai / int_23ff95fb
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_23ff95fb
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_23ff95fb
 The Last Samurai / int_25dc6ef5
type
Apathetic Citizens
 The Last Samurai / int_25dc6ef5
comment
Apathetic Citizens: In the deleted scene with Ujio decapitating a harasser on street (see Clean Cut below), all the witnesses except Algren, Katsumoto and Graham either ignore or even don't notice what has just happened.
 The Last Samurai / int_25dc6ef5
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_25dc6ef5
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_25dc6ef5
 The Last Samurai / int_294ed981
type
Bilingual Bonus
 The Last Samurai / int_294ed981
comment
Bilingual Bonus: Most of the Japanese is subtitled and Katsumoto is a student of English, but it's a nice touch that the people in the village had a hard time pronouncing Algren correctly. There is no equivalent Japanese syllable for the letter "L," the closest is either "R" or "W", and Japanese pronunciation tends to insert vowel sounds between consonant sounds. In the film, as would likely be the case in real life, "Algren" is rendered as "Aruguren"
 The Last Samurai / int_294ed981
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_294ed981
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_294ed981
 The Last Samurai / int_2a44899
type
Plot Armor
 The Last Samurai / int_2a44899
comment
Plot Armor: Every single samurai warrior appears to die in the final battle, except for Algren, who somehow manages to survive being shot multiple times by a Gatling gun. In fact, he's actually able to stand and talk to the Emperor after the battle.
 The Last Samurai / int_2a44899
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_2a44899
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_2a44899
 The Last Samurai / int_2ae29c0d
type
The Dreaded
 The Last Samurai / int_2ae29c0d
comment
The Dreaded: The samurai are this to the general Japanese population, having - for centuries - had the power of life and death over them. When the Imperial peasant levy first faces them in battle, most of them are pretty much ready to run as soon as they hear their first battle cries. Later, when Katsumoto and his men return to Tokyo, the citizens flee en masse at the sight of them, before scrambling to bow at what were their feudal overlords.
 The Last Samurai / int_2ae29c0d
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_2ae29c0d
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_2ae29c0d
 The Last Samurai / int_2b706ca
type
More Dakka
 The Last Samurai / int_2b706ca
comment
More Dakka: The row of gatling guns in the final battle.
 The Last Samurai / int_2b706ca
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_2b706ca
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_2b706ca
 The Last Samurai / int_30462ce8
type
Stock British Phrases
 The Last Samurai / int_30462ce8
comment
Stock British Phrases: "Jolly good" is said three times, once by Simon Graham upon meeting Algren, and twice by Nobutada as a basic way of mocking the Westerner.
 The Last Samurai / int_30462ce8
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_30462ce8
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_30462ce8
 The Last Samurai / int_31c4280
type
Conscription
 The Last Samurai / int_31c4280
comment
Conscription: The Imperial Army starts off as nothing but a bunch of conscripted peasants.
 The Last Samurai / int_31c4280
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_31c4280
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_31c4280
 The Last Samurai / int_329a19a0
type
Hollywood Healing
 The Last Samurai / int_329a19a0
comment
Hollywood Healing: Averted twice. When Algren is captured he spends days healing (and kicking his alcoholism). Later on, after being shot in the final battle he limps and stumbles his way to the Emperor and kneeling before the Emperor is clearly causing him a great deal of pain.
 The Last Samurai / int_329a19a0
featureApplicability
-1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_329a19a0
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_329a19a0
 The Last Samurai / int_32d3397
type
Waterfall Shower
 The Last Samurai / int_32d3397
comment
Waterfall Shower: Nathan comes across his host (the widow of the man he killed) taking a waterfall Shower of Awkward.
 The Last Samurai / int_32d3397
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_32d3397
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_32d3397
 The Last Samurai / int_339b3062
type
Quintessential British Gentleman
 The Last Samurai / int_339b3062
comment
Quintessential British Gentleman: Simon Graham, though he's more lively than the stereotypical British scholar, a typical trait of whom is generally not a fascination with execution and torture.
 The Last Samurai / int_339b3062
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_339b3062
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_339b3062
 The Last Samurai / int_33b4e7f
type
Helmets Are Hardly Heroic
 The Last Samurai / int_33b4e7f
comment
Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Zigzagged. In the first battle, every samurai is wearing a helmet and everybody in the peasant militia is wearing a jingasa (a traditional Japanese war hat). In the final battle, most of the major characters don't use their helmets; Ujio rides in with his on but quickly loses it. As a subversion, most of the characters who don't wear helmets are minor samurai who don't seem to be able to afford proper armor.
 The Last Samurai / int_33b4e7f
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_33b4e7f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_33b4e7f
 The Last Samurai / int_351e7cf9
type
Romanticism Versus Enlightenment
 The Last Samurai / int_351e7cf9
comment
Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: Jidaigeki samurai fighting for traditional Japanese values and culture (Katsumoto and his followers) vs materialist, Repressive, but Efficient Westernizers (personified in the wealthy merchant Omura).
 The Last Samurai / int_351e7cf9
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_351e7cf9
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_351e7cf9
 The Last Samurai / int_36ae9f5d
type
Traumatic Haircut
 The Last Samurai / int_36ae9f5d
comment
Traumatic Haircut: Nobutada is stripped of his swords and has his topknot forcibly cut off by police, since both are now illegal.
 The Last Samurai / int_36ae9f5d
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_36ae9f5d
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_36ae9f5d
 The Last Samurai / int_38b48685
type
Born in the Wrong Century
 The Last Samurai / int_38b48685
comment
Born in the Wrong Century: The Glory Days of the Samurai are long gone, Katsumoto is but the vestigial residue.
 The Last Samurai / int_38b48685
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_38b48685
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_38b48685
 The Last Samurai / int_3946634e
type
The Smart Guy
 The Last Samurai / int_3946634e
comment
The Smart Guy: Simon Graham, obviously, but also Algren, from a military perspective at least.
 The Last Samurai / int_3946634e
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_3946634e
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_3946634e
 The Last Samurai / int_39b8d3d6
type
Boring, but Practical
 The Last Samurai / int_39b8d3d6
comment
Boring, but Practical: The samurai's arsenal is derided as primitive and barbaric, and elements of the Japanese government want to embrace progress and modernisation, but it's repeatedly shown that "simple" weapons, wielded by masters full of purpose and conviction, have it in them to prevail over superior firearms handled by fearful novices.
 The Last Samurai / int_39b8d3d6
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_39b8d3d6
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_39b8d3d6
 The Last Samurai / int_3b0479f2
type
You Shall Not Pass!
 The Last Samurai / int_3b0479f2
comment
You Shall Not Pass!: Nobutada, already mortally wounded, stands on one side of a bridge and fights alone against a group of Imperial troops to give his father and other samurai time to flee. He manages to keep the enemy at bay with arrows at first, and after running out of arrows his last attempt to buy time involves charging across the bridge with his swords drawn. The Imperial troops are unable to cross until they finally gun Nobutada down.
 The Last Samurai / int_3b0479f2
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_3b0479f2
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_3b0479f2
 The Last Samurai / int_3bc88a7f
type
Foregone Conclusion
 The Last Samurai / int_3bc88a7f
comment
Foregone Conclusion: Anyone who is familiar with Japan's history will already know the country is being westernized, given that the film takes place eight years after the start of the Meiji Restoration.
 The Last Samurai / int_3bc88a7f
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_3bc88a7f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_3bc88a7f
 The Last Samurai / int_3d699462
type
Curb-Stomp Battle
 The Last Samurai / int_3d699462
comment
Curb-Stomp Battle: The battle in the forest, where the inexperienced Japanese peasant army is soundly routed by Katsumoto's samurai (justified by the fact that the scared, inexperienced peasants fire too early into the mist that conceals the samurai, missing almost all their shots, and are then overrun before they can reload). Happens again in the final battle, although this time it is the modern firearms that curbstomp the samurai.
 The Last Samurai / int_3d699462
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_3d699462
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_3d699462
 The Last Samurai / int_3d897748
type
Do Not Go Gentle
 The Last Samurai / int_3d897748
comment
Do Not Go Gentle: The entire climax as Katsumoto and Algren lead the samurai in a battle they know cannot be won, but to make a final statement to the Emperor that the values and ideals Katsumoto held dear were still valid.
 The Last Samurai / int_3d897748
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_3d897748
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_3d897748
 The Last Samurai / int_3e8d9cd3
type
Historical Hero Upgrade
 The Last Samurai / int_3e8d9cd3
comment
Historical Hero Upgrade: Katsumoto, an expy of Saig� Takamori, leader of the Satsuma Rebellion, a revolt of ex-samurai against the Meiji government from January 29 to September 24, 1877, 9 years into the Meiji Era. Historically, the reason why the Satsuma Rebellion was so dangerous was because it was an important manufacturing center for cannons. Paintings depicting the revolt show that Takamori's forces had plenty of guns while the well-uniformed Imperial forces mostly only had swords! Though it should be noted that Saig� Takamori was also instrumental in the establishment of the Meiji Government and modern Japan in the first place. Furthermore, among the Three Great Nobles of the Meiji Restoration (Okubo Toshimichi, Saig� Takamori, Kido Takayoshi), Saig� Takamori had always been the most popular of the three, and there are many statues of him in Japan. Thus in the hearts of many, Saig� Takamori was already a hero, albeit a tragic one. Contrary to Katsumoto's depiction as a wise and well-intentioned mentor who simply wanted to preserve Japan's samurai traditions, Saig� Takamori was in fact a fanatical warmonger and expansionist who resigned from his post in the Meiji government because they would not agree to his plans for a war with Korea. In fact, he was so obsessed with launching a Korean war that at one point he had even offered to go to Korea as a diplomat and behave in such an insulting and offensive manner that he would force the Korean authorities to kill him, thus providing Japan with an excuse to start a war.
 The Last Samurai / int_3e8d9cd3
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_3e8d9cd3
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_3e8d9cd3
 The Last Samurai / int_3ebc57ac
type
Going Native
 The Last Samurai / int_3ebc57ac
comment
Going Native: Pretty much the entire plot of the film. Nathan Algren learns the ways of the samurai and lives with them, then ends up willing to die for them.
 The Last Samurai / int_3ebc57ac
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_3ebc57ac
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_3ebc57ac
 The Last Samurai / int_3f7a958b
type
Secret Test of Character
 The Last Samurai / int_3f7a958b
comment
Secret Test of Character: When Bagley and Omura demand that the new and inexperienced regiment move against the samurai, Algren stands amongst the targets and orders one of the recruits to shoot him or be killed himself. He then backs up his threats by shooting the soldier's hat off. He fires his pistol several more times as the terrified soldier frantically tries to load his weapon. Even after the gun is readied and pointed at Algren, the soldier can't bring himself to fire even with Algren screaming at him to do so. Finally, after one last shot, the soldier fires and misses horribly. Used by Algren to prove that the men were both physically and psychologically unprepared to face an actual battle. The scene is strikingly similar to one in Glory. As Edward Zwick directed both, it might be a deliberate Shout-Out.
 The Last Samurai / int_3f7a958b
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_3f7a958b
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_3f7a958b
 The Last Samurai / int_40bb59d0
type
Blatant Lies
 The Last Samurai / int_40bb59d0
comment
Blatant Lies/Refuge in Audacity: "Do you know who this man [Algren] is? This is the President of the United States of America!" Might also count as a Funny Moment.
 The Last Samurai / int_40bb59d0
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_40bb59d0
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_40bb59d0
 The Last Samurai / int_40cc0c7e
type
Bittersweet Ending
 The Last Samurai / int_40cc0c7e
comment
Bittersweet Ending: Katsumoto, his son, and many others are dead, and the way of the samurai has come to an end. However, Omura has been bankrupted and dishonored, and the Emperor has realized that Japan must remember and honor its own history rather than fully Westernize. Nobody knows what happened to Algren, but Graham correctly assumes that he finally found peace, staying in Japan and returning to Katsumoto's village, where he settles down with Taka.
 The Last Samurai / int_40cc0c7e
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_40cc0c7e
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_40cc0c7e
 The Last Samurai / int_42beac64
type
The Magnificent Seven Samurai
 The Last Samurai / int_42beac64
comment
The Magnificent Seven Samurai: While not protecting a village per se, Katsumoto's inner circle fills a lot of the archetypes. The Leader: Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto, the leader of the rebellion against Omura's oppresive measures. The Lancer: Ujio, Katsumoto's most loyal and resiliant samurai. The Smart Guy: Captain Nathan Algren, a white military officer who advises Katsumoto in western war tactics and history. The Big Guy: Nakao, the biggest of the samurai and a specialist with the naginata. The Old Guy: "Bob" the Silent Samurai, an elderly samurai who shadows Algren. The Young Guy: Nobutada, Katsumoto's son and the youngest known samurai involved. The Funny Guy: Simon Graham, a journalist and translator who is sympathetic to the samurai cause, eventually creating a scene where Algren and Ujio can rescue Katsumoto.
 The Last Samurai / int_42beac64
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_42beac64
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_42beac64
 The Last Samurai / int_443f9d8a
type
Ask a Stupid Question...
 The Last Samurai / int_443f9d8a
comment
Ask a Stupid Question...: When Bagley asks the following question, a disgusted Algren can't even bother with a response. Doubles as a case of Evil Cannot Comprehend Good on Bagley's part.
 The Last Samurai / int_443f9d8a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_443f9d8a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_443f9d8a
 The Last Samurai / int_4478c66d
type
Flashback Nightmare
 The Last Samurai / int_4478c66d
comment
Flashback Nightmare: Algren's PTSD gives him flashbacks to the times he was ordered to slaughter Native Americans. He tries to drown them out with alcohol, but when he is forced to quit cold turkey he suffers severe nightmares combined with fever dreams caused by his wounds. Later in the film, Algren and Katsumoto discuss them.
 The Last Samurai / int_4478c66d
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_4478c66d
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_4478c66d
 The Last Samurai / int_44fc28e8
type
Honor Before Reason
 The Last Samurai / int_44fc28e8
comment
Honor Before Reason: Basically the entire existence of the samurai according to the film is based on this, with their refusal to adopt any modern technology intended to look noble but actually seeming slightly pigheaded. This is especially true given the fact that real samurai eventually put aside their pride and did acquire guns, a necessity since swords just aren't as good against them as they'd like to believe. The fact that they historically acquired guns in the 1500s/1600s, centuries before Perry re-opened Japan, and even used them as their main ranged weapon just hammers it home.
 The Last Samurai / int_44fc28e8
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_44fc28e8
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_44fc28e8
 The Last Samurai / int_4604fd4d
type
Worthy Opponent
 The Last Samurai / int_4604fd4d
comment
Worthy Opponent: What saves Algren when he's cornered by Katsumoto's samurai during the first skirmish, with Katsumoto seeing how fierce and combative Algren is.
 The Last Samurai / int_4604fd4d
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_4604fd4d
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_4604fd4d
 The Last Samurai / int_4781adbb
type
Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 The Last Samurai / int_4781adbb
comment
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ujio spends half of the movie mocking and beating up Algren before eventually respecting him. He then trains Algren to fight and personally inspects Algren's armor before the climactic battle. Algren himself also fits this trope. At the start of the movie, he is a raging alcoholic, nursing regret over the actions of his life and seemingly caring only about himself. He's self-admittedly Only in It for the Money, which is a bit jarring considering "it" is a proposed cultural genocide.
 The Last Samurai / int_4781adbb
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_4781adbb
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_4781adbb
 The Last Samurai / int_4783acfa
type
Bait the Dog
 The Last Samurai / int_4783acfa
comment
Bait the Dog: Algren is kind to one of the conscripted troops he's been sent to train, teaching him the proper way to hold a rifle and quietly praising him when his shot nears its mark. Then, frustrated by the order to engage Katsumoto with his woefully unprepared men, he singles out this same guy and, to illustrate a point, tells the man to shoot him or be killed. With enough incentive – Algren harangues the poor fellow and riddles his peripherals with bullets – the terrified soldier gets a shot off... far to Algren's side.
 The Last Samurai / int_4783acfa
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_4783acfa
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_4783acfa
 The Last Samurai / int_479d4e5a
type
Would Hurt a Child
 The Last Samurai / int_479d4e5a
comment
Would Hurt a Child: One of the ninja tries to kill Taka's son Higen, who is only saved by Algren stabbing the ninja from behind.
 The Last Samurai / int_479d4e5a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_479d4e5a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_479d4e5a
 The Last Samurai / int_49d59be9
type
Scenery Porn
 The Last Samurai / int_49d59be9
comment
Scenery Porn: And how. New Zealand stands in for the Ghibli Hills of Feudal Japan to breathtaking effect.
 The Last Samurai / int_49d59be9
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_49d59be9
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_49d59be9
 The Last Samurai / int_4da6ac
type
Rated M for Manly
 The Last Samurai / int_4da6ac
comment
Rated M for Manly: Manly American war veteran goes to Japan to fight manly samurai, kills one of them, is captured and trained by the samurai to become even manlier, and steals the wife of the manly samurai he killed in a manly way. And it rocks.
 The Last Samurai / int_4da6ac
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_4da6ac
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_4da6ac
 The Last Samurai / int_4e7f703c
type
Wham Shot
 The Last Samurai / int_4e7f703c
comment
Wham Shot: After Katsumoto, Algren, and the remaining samurai break through the lines, Omura orders a new set of guns brought up... the Gatling guns, making the conclusion of the final charge painfully clear.
 The Last Samurai / int_4e7f703c
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_4e7f703c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_4e7f703c
 The Last Samurai / int_4ef92d0b
type
The Atoner
 The Last Samurai / int_4ef92d0b
comment
The Atoner: Nathan Algren, who's harboring incredible guilt for the atrocities he committed on Native Americans during his time in the US Army, and it's all but directly stated that he wants to die.
 The Last Samurai / int_4ef92d0b
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_4ef92d0b
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_4ef92d0b
 The Last Samurai / int_4f6cf75
type
Mirroring Factions
 The Last Samurai / int_4f6cf75
comment
Mirroring Factions: The film draws numerous parallels between the samurai and the Native Americans. Both were ancient warrior cultures with strong traditions who were eventually wiped out by more advanced and industrialized opponenets. This is highly implied to be the reason why Algren so readily joins the samurai, as he still has lingering guilt over his participation in a massacre of Native Americans.
 The Last Samurai / int_4f6cf75
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_4f6cf75
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_4f6cf75
 The Last Samurai / int_500ecfb7
type
The Big Guy
 The Last Samurai / int_500ecfb7
comment
The Big Guy: Nakao, the biggest of the samurai and a specialist with the naginata.
 The Last Samurai / int_500ecfb7
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_500ecfb7
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_500ecfb7
 The Last Samurai / int_5029c444
type
Audible Sharpness
 The Last Samurai / int_5029c444
comment
Audible Sharpness: All over the movie. The filmmakers are practically sword fetishists.
 The Last Samurai / int_5029c444
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_5029c444
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_5029c444
 The Last Samurai / int_519f108a
type
Throwing Your Sword Always Works
 The Last Samurai / int_519f108a
comment
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: For Algren it sure does! Katsumoto gets a good throw in earlier in the movie, as well.
 The Last Samurai / int_519f108a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_519f108a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_519f108a
 The Last Samurai / int_5313c266
type
Bookends
 The Last Samurai / int_5313c266
comment
Book Ends: The film starts and ends with a monologue from Simon Graham. Katsumoto and Algren are each shown during one of them, finding peace in their own way. Early on in the film, before the first battle with the samurai, a poorly-trained soldier has trouble inserting the ramrod into the barrel of his muzzle-loaded musket. During the final battle, when Omura orders that the Gatling guns be loaded, one better-trained but still apparently novice soldier has some difficulty loading the bullet hopper into the machine gun.
 The Last Samurai / int_5313c266
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_5313c266
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_5313c266
 The Last Samurai / int_55180ce
type
Snow Means Death
 The Last Samurai / int_55180ce
comment
Snow Means Death: Or in this case, Cherry Blossoms.
 The Last Samurai / int_55180ce
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_55180ce
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_55180ce
 The Last Samurai / int_55cd4012
type
"Everybody Dies" Ending
 The Last Samurai / int_55cd4012
comment
"Everybody Dies" Ending: Algren excepted, every single samurai at the final battle dies, along with Bagley and presumably a sizable majority of his men in the final charge.
 The Last Samurai / int_55cd4012
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_55cd4012
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_55cd4012
 The Last Samurai / int_56515a39
type
Artistic License – History
 The Last Samurai / int_56515a39
comment
Artistic License – History: Not nearly as bad as it could have been, but the setting for this film is still essentially a combination of two different historical events in Japan that took place ten years apart: the 1868-1869 Boshin War and the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion. Has its own page.
 The Last Samurai / int_56515a39
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_56515a39
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_56515a39
 The Last Samurai / int_57b74bd4
type
Achievements in Ignorance
 The Last Samurai / int_57b74bd4
comment
Achievements in Ignorance: At one point, Algren, who has only a few weeks worth of training in combat using katanas, is attacked by four ronin in the streets at night, alone and unarmed. Not only does he win but he even mentally replays what he just did to them with the biggest ever "holy shit, I absolutely cannot believe I am still alive" expression on his face.
 The Last Samurai / int_57b74bd4
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_57b74bd4
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_57b74bd4
 The Last Samurai / int_5869bd44
type
Arrows on Fire
 The Last Samurai / int_5869bd44
comment
Arrows on Fire: Only one instance, and very justified. A fire arrow is used to light up a oil-straw-napalm ball minefield at the final battle, dividing and panicking the Imperial Japanese forces.
 The Last Samurai / int_5869bd44
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_5869bd44
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_5869bd44
 The Last Samurai / int_5f861d0f
type
Only Friend
 The Last Samurai / int_5f861d0f
comment
Gant, Algren's Only Friend, gets his during this same scene, when he's the only person in the crowd who doesn't immediately throw himself to the ground in panic while Algren is firing over their heads. By the time Ethan's done, Gant's actually laughing at the display of drunken marksmanship.
 The Last Samurai / int_5f861d0f
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_5f861d0f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_5f861d0f
 The Last Samurai / int_60b21fa3
type
The Lancer
 The Last Samurai / int_60b21fa3
comment
The Lancer: Ujio, Katsumoto's most loyal and resiliant samurai.
 The Last Samurai / int_60b21fa3
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_60b21fa3
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_60b21fa3
 The Last Samurai / int_60e49895
type
The Leader
 The Last Samurai / int_60e49895
comment
The Leader: Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto, the leader of the rebellion against Omura's oppresive measures.
 The Last Samurai / int_60e49895
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_60e49895
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_60e49895
 The Last Samurai / int_60f992e8
type
Florence Nightingale Effect
 The Last Samurai / int_60f992e8
comment
Florence Nightingale Effect: A very subdued case. Taka, Katsumoto's sister and the widow of the samurai Algren had killed earlier in the movie, takes care of Algren, sewing up his wounds. Algren ends up falling for her, and also forms a bond with her two sons.
 The Last Samurai / int_60f992e8
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_60f992e8
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_60f992e8
 The Last Samurai / int_6375f746
type
Drill Sergeant Nasty
 The Last Samurai / int_6375f746
comment
Drill Sergeant Nasty: Gant and Algren are rare protagonist examples for the army of badly underequipped Japanese conscript peasants.
 The Last Samurai / int_6375f746
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_6375f746
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_6375f746
 The Last Samurai / int_638b65bc
type
Armor Is Useless
 The Last Samurai / int_638b65bc
comment
Armor Is Useless: Somewhat, the bullets pierced through samurai armor like a hot knife through butter but most of the main cast are still up and running.
 The Last Samurai / int_638b65bc
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_638b65bc
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_638b65bc
 The Last Samurai / int_6439de78
type
Heroic Sacrifice
 The Last Samurai / int_6439de78
comment
Heroic Sacrifice: Nobutada. The final charge also serves as an attempt to invoke the trope on the part of all the surviving samurai.
 The Last Samurai / int_6439de78
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_6439de78
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_6439de78
 The Last Samurai / int_64e975cf
type
Manly Tears
 The Last Samurai / int_64e975cf
comment
Manly Tears: At the end of it all, Algren with Katsumoto, the Japanese Lieutenant, and Algren with the Emperor. Also, the audience.
 The Last Samurai / int_64e975cf
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_64e975cf
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_64e975cf
 The Last Samurai / int_65331274
type
Flynning
 The Last Samurai / int_65331274
comment
Flynning: A notable aversion, the extensive sword play is all done very efficiently and there are no protracted fights. When Algren was training with Ujio two men would watch and make bets on the exact number of moves before his opponent would make a "killing" strike, ranging from 4-7. In fact, it contrasts Nathan's prior experience with a saber and his unfamiliarity with actual sword duels. The movie even visually highlights this in the scene where Algren is ambushed by assassins in the city at night, the actual fight lasts maybe thirty seconds in real time, but a visibly stunned Algren replays it in his head in slow motion.
 The Last Samurai / int_65331274
featureApplicability
-1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_65331274
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_65331274
 The Last Samurai / int_65d658f
type
Putting the Band Back Together
 The Last Samurai / int_65d658f
comment
Putting the Band Back Together: When Bagley enthusiastically encourages Algren to rejoin the army and help train the Japanese, Algren (who is completely hammered) starts cracking up and lampshades this trope by saying, "The corps back together—it's just so...inspiring!" and nearly falls off his chair laughing.
 The Last Samurai / int_65d658f
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_65d658f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_65d658f
 The Last Samurai / int_68333a8b
type
Elite Army
 The Last Samurai / int_68333a8b
comment
Elite Army: The samurai rebels are highly skilled in traditional warfare, and easily defeat the poorly trained conscripts of the Imperial Army in their first battle, despite the superior weapons of the latter. Even against the larger and better trained forces commanded by Omura and Bagley later on, they present a very respectable performance considering the steep disparity in firepower.
 The Last Samurai / int_68333a8b
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_68333a8b
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_68333a8b
 The Last Samurai / int_6a36abe2
type
Hollywood Natives
 The Last Samurai / int_6a36abe2
comment
During their conversation on the boat, Simon Graham is excited to hear that Algren speaks Blackfoot, and asks Algren to tell him the technique the natives use for scalping people and boiling them in oil. Algren proceeds to terrify Graham into silence by giving him a gruesomely detailed description of the mechanics of scalping, intercut with Algren's Flashback Nightmares to the actual "savage natives" he fought (read: massacred.) During these war flashbacks, we see Colonel Bagley ordering the men to destroy the village despite Algren's protests and personally gunning down fleeing women and children.
 The Last Samurai / int_6a36abe2
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_6a36abe2
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_6a36abe2
 The Last Samurai / int_6c7136b7
type
Tactful Translation
 The Last Samurai / int_6c7136b7
comment
Tactful Translation: Simon Graham describes getting in trouble for not doing this. Ironically, he now makes a living of accurately translating other peoples' lies.
 The Last Samurai / int_6c7136b7
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_6c7136b7
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_6c7136b7
 The Last Samurai / int_6cb4cb70
type
Improperly Placed Firearms
 The Last Samurai / int_6cb4cb70
comment
Improperly Placed Firearms: At the beginning of the film, the Imperial soldiers use caplock muskets, which were outdated at the time (but the guards at the Imperial Palace nevertheless have more modern rifles). Repeating rifles they use later also count, as they were not common at the time. Single-shot breechloaders would be suitable for the late '70s.
 The Last Samurai / int_6cb4cb70
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_6cb4cb70
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_6cb4cb70
 The Last Samurai / int_6f465fea
type
The Triple
 The Last Samurai / int_6f465fea
comment
The Triple: Simon Graham suggests Algren says a word or two to him in the language of his Native American opponents. He suggests "Hello", "Goodbye" or "Cut his tongue out and boil him in oil," the latter eliciting disturbed looks from Algren and Gant.
 The Last Samurai / int_6f465fea
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_6f465fea
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_6f465fea
 The Last Samurai / int_70ade2c4
type
Culture Clash
 The Last Samurai / int_70ade2c4
comment
Culture Clash: Algren and Katsumoto discuss Custer's Last Stand. Algren dismisses Custer as an idiot who got all his men killed due to arrogance and bad battle tactics, but Katsumoto is awed by Custer's "bravery" and remarks that he would have been a great samurai. Another is in how Nathan refuses to surrender and tries to be Defiant to the End, whereas in a similar situation samurai would accept their fate and/or commit seppuku. Algren's Last Stand is considered a very strange event, and in his first attempt dueling another samurai he keeps coming back for more strikes to the head. Towards the end of the film, Algren and Taka share a kiss. It's very quiet, restrained, and intimate. It doesn't lead to a sex scene, because the kiss itself is treated as a sex scene. If Algren had simply bedded Taka, Katsumoto and the other samurai would have thought nothing of it. But at the time a kiss would have been absolutely scandalous and probably have gotten both Algren and Taka killed.
 The Last Samurai / int_70ade2c4
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_70ade2c4
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_70ade2c4
 The Last Samurai / int_72bafff5
type
Doomed Moral Victor
 The Last Samurai / int_72bafff5
comment
Doomed Moral Victor: Katsumoto never had a hope in defeating the Imperial Army or stopping Japan from modernizing, and he's well aware of this. The point of the rebellion isn't to triumph in the face of overwhelming odds but to convince the Emperor to not forget their old values that shaped Japan into what it is. In that, he ultimately succeeds, at the cost of his own life.
 The Last Samurai / int_72bafff5
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_72bafff5
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_72bafff5
 The Last Samurai / int_73b87208
type
Hats Off to the Dead
 The Last Samurai / int_73b87208
comment
Hats Off to the Dead: At the end when Katsumoto commits seppuku, many of the Imperial soldiers remove their hats in respect.
 The Last Samurai / int_73b87208
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_73b87208
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_73b87208
 The Last Samurai / int_79974fb8
type
Rock Beats Laser
 The Last Samurai / int_79974fb8
comment
Rock Beats Laser: Partial and minor victory initially for the samurai, but eventually subverted. At first they win battles against poor rifle-toting conscripts in favorable conditions (specifically in a foggy forest that heavily reduced visibility and thus the ability to fire the weapons at range), and only lose in the final battle after killing two-thirds of the modern army while outnumbered six to one. The samurai still win the moral victory over the superior army by showing that traditional values, especially courage in the face of overwhelming odds, are not obsolete and should be respected. Which may have been the goal all along.
 The Last Samurai / int_79974fb8
featureApplicability
-0.3
 The Last Samurai / int_79974fb8
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_79974fb8
 The Last Samurai / int_7a143509
type
Shell-Shocked Veteran
 The Last Samurai / int_7a143509
comment
Shell-Shocked Veteran: Algren, because he saw the people he killed as people, but not Bagley, because he has no empathy for 'savages'.
 The Last Samurai / int_7a143509
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_7a143509
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_7a143509
 The Last Samurai / int_7d49d74a
type
Cultural Translation
 The Last Samurai / int_7d49d74a
comment
Cultural Translation: Tom Cruise's character is based on Jules Brunet, a French army officer. While most aspects of Japan's modernisation are apparently carried out with the help of European nations, in the film all the militarisation fell to the Americans. Although in the end the film claims that American support was rejected because of Nathan's plea to the Emperor.
 The Last Samurai / int_7d49d74a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_7d49d74a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_7d49d74a
 The Last Samurai / int_7e6c0522
type
Off with His Head!
 The Last Samurai / int_7e6c0522
comment
Off with His Head!: Algren does this to one of Omura's lackeys who has just tried to assassinate him and taunts him that "The samurai are finished!"
 The Last Samurai / int_7e6c0522
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_7e6c0522
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_7e6c0522
 The Last Samurai / int_7eebe99c
type
The Alcoholic
 The Last Samurai / int_7eebe99c
comment
The first comes when he's been hired to shill the Winchester rifle but misses his cue to come on stage during the demonstration because he's so blasted drunk that he can barely read his cue cards. Despite his obvious inebriation, he demonstrates the weapon's effectiveness by pulling some impressive trick shots over the heads of the terrified crowd.
 The Last Samurai / int_7eebe99c
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_7eebe99c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_7eebe99c
 The Last Samurai / int_7febc23b
type
Establishing Character Moment
 The Last Samurai / int_7febc23b
comment
Establishing Character Moment: Algren gets at least three excellent ones. The first comes when he's been hired to shill the Winchester rifle but misses his cue to come on stage during the demonstration because he's so blasted drunk that he can barely read his cue cards. Despite his obvious inebriation, he demonstrates the weapon's effectiveness by pulling some impressive trick shots over the heads of the terrified crowd. Gant, Algren's Only Friend, gets his during this same scene, when he's the only person in the crowd who doesn't immediately throw himself to the ground in panic while Algren is firing over their heads. By the time Ethan's done, Gant's actually laughing at the display of drunken marksmanship. During their conversation on the boat, Simon Graham is excited to hear that Algren speaks Blackfoot, and asks Algren to tell him the technique the natives use for scalping people and boiling them in oil. Algren proceeds to terrify Graham into silence by giving him a gruesomely detailed description of the mechanics of scalping, intercut with Algren's Flashback Nightmares to the actual "savage natives" he fought (read: massacred.) During these war flashbacks, we see Colonel Bagley ordering the men to destroy the village despite Algren's protests and personally gunning down fleeing women and children. The third for Algren comes when he's been hired to train the Japanese conscript army, and proves his point that the soldiers aren't ready by standing in front of one of the targets, drawing his pistol, and ordering one poor soldier to reload and fire back while Algren is shooting at him, showing us that he's a brilliant soldier who absolutely wants to die for what he did during the war and cares very little for the lives of anyone, including himself.
 The Last Samurai / int_7febc23b
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_7febc23b
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_7febc23b
 The Last Samurai / int_82f5ced1
type
Conservation of Ninjutsu
 The Last Samurai / int_82f5ced1
comment
Conservation of Ninjutsu: Averted. In the ninja attack the assassins are able to put up a very good fight.
 The Last Samurai / int_82f5ced1
featureApplicability
-1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_82f5ced1
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_82f5ced1
 The Last Samurai / int_86bb7d97
type
Cultured Badass
 The Last Samurai / int_86bb7d97
comment
Cultured Badass: Katsumoto is a master swordsman and also writes poetry, reads history and philosophy, and speaks remarkably good English.
 The Last Samurai / int_86bb7d97
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_86bb7d97
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_86bb7d97
 The Last Samurai / int_875615dd
type
Truth in Television
 The Last Samurai / int_875615dd
comment
Truth in Television: Algren's good treatment during his time in Katsumoto's camp can be attributed to a practice among the samurai class of holding a hostage to ensure peace between clans. The hostage would be cared for and be a member of the household.
 The Last Samurai / int_875615dd
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_875615dd
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_875615dd
 The Last Samurai / int_8930448
type
Soldier vs. Warrior
 The Last Samurai / int_8930448
comment
Soldier vs. Warrior: The whole movie is a study and invoking of this trope. Samurai = Warrior, Imperial Soldier = Soldier
 The Last Samurai / int_8930448
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_8930448
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_8930448
 The Last Samurai / int_895ec17
type
Only in It for the Money
 The Last Samurai / int_895ec17
comment
Only in It for the Money: Algren's reason for joining Omura's forces, despite his ethical misgivings.
 The Last Samurai / int_895ec17
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_895ec17
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_895ec17
 The Last Samurai / int_8ec0abf
type
The Voiceless
 The Last Samurai / int_8ec0abf
comment
The Voiceless: "Bob", whose first and only line in the movie is "Algren-san!" before taking the aforementioned bullet.
 The Last Samurai / int_8ec0abf
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_8ec0abf
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_8ec0abf
 The Last Samurai / int_90d44f44
type
Karmic Death
 The Last Samurai / int_90d44f44
comment
Karmic Death: Algren has spent years hoping to get an opportunity to bestow one upon Bagley. He eventually succeeds.
 The Last Samurai / int_90d44f44
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_90d44f44
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_90d44f44
 The Last Samurai / int_90e31482
type
Laser-Guided Karma
 The Last Samurai / int_90e31482
comment
Laser-Guided Karma: The Emperor making a pauper of Omura at the film's end is poetic justice for the latter's greed.
 The Last Samurai / int_90e31482
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_90e31482
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_90e31482
 The Last Samurai / int_916c72b3
type
Rule of Symbolism
 The Last Samurai / int_916c72b3
comment
Rule of Symbolism: Simon Graham witnessing Imperial soldiers cutting off Nobutada's topknot while accosting him due to anti-samurai laws. The action of it immediately harkens back to his cavalier discussion of scalping with Algren near the beginning of the film, and Algren's very serious take on the matter.
 The Last Samurai / int_916c72b3
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_916c72b3
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_916c72b3
 The Last Samurai / int_924d0f71
type
Cavalry Officer
 The Last Samurai / int_924d0f71
comment
Cavalry Officer: Tom Cruise's character is a prime example of a Cavalry Officer.
 The Last Samurai / int_924d0f71
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_924d0f71
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_924d0f71
 The Last Samurai / int_964ea66c
type
A-Team Firing
 The Last Samurai / int_964ea66c
comment
A-Team Firing: Soldier in the first battle. Justified, as they were untrained and armed with muskets at the time. Previously they are shown practising fire accuracy, missing targets at very close range. Another example comes during rescue of Katsumoto, when the guards (armed with much more accurate rifles and supposed to receive enough training) still are unable to hit anyone (except Nobutada) while samurai take down many of them with arrows.
 The Last Samurai / int_964ea66c
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_964ea66c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_964ea66c
 The Last Samurai / int_966da803
type
Defiant to the End
 The Last Samurai / int_966da803
comment
Another is in how Nathan refuses to surrender and tries to be Defiant to the End, whereas in a similar situation samurai would accept their fate and/or commit seppuku. Algren's Last Stand is considered a very strange event, and in his first attempt dueling another samurai he keeps coming back for more strikes to the head.
 The Last Samurai / int_966da803
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_966da803
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_966da803
 The Last Samurai / int_967edd3a
type
Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene
 The Last Samurai / int_967edd3a
comment
Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: The early period of Algren's captivity, prior to the ninja attack, is entirely peaceful, a few short training fights notwithstanding.
 The Last Samurai / int_967edd3a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_967edd3a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_967edd3a
 The Last Samurai / int_970c790a
type
Big Bad
 The Last Samurai / int_970c790a
comment
Big Bad: Omura emerges as the main villain, who uses brutal and dishonest means to force through his own vision of Japan's future as a modern, ruthless Western-type industrial state (with himself in charge).
 The Last Samurai / int_970c790a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_970c790a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_970c790a
 The Last Samurai / int_976b0368
type
Invulnerable Horses
 The Last Samurai / int_976b0368
comment
Invulnerable Horses: In the last battle, many samurai have their horses shot out from underneath them. But other horses are seen running away riderless.
 The Last Samurai / int_976b0368
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_976b0368
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_976b0368
 The Last Samurai / int_997d5872
type
"Ass" in Ambassador
 The Last Samurai / int_997d5872
comment
"Ass" in Ambassador: Swanbeck, the American ambassador to the Meiji government, is solely concerned with getting the Emperor's signature on documents guaranteeing that the U.S. will get ahead of the British and Prussians in supplying weapons to his new army.
 The Last Samurai / int_997d5872
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_997d5872
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_997d5872
 The Last Samurai / int_9bcd82c0
type
Took a Level in Badass
 The Last Samurai / int_9bcd82c0
comment
Took a Level in Badass: The Imperial Japanese Army becomes a competent and disciplined fighting force by the time of the final battle.
 The Last Samurai / int_9bcd82c0
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_9bcd82c0
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_9bcd82c0
 The Last Samurai / int_9ce6492a
type
Taking the Bullet
 The Last Samurai / int_9ce6492a
comment
Taking the Bullet: "Bob" in the final battle.
 The Last Samurai / int_9ce6492a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_9ce6492a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_9ce6492a
 The Last Samurai / int_9d12bbc1
type
Foreshadowing
 The Last Samurai / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing: Algren saying to Bagley: "For 500 bucks a month I'll kill whoever you want. But keep one thing in mind: I'd happily kill you for free." "I will die by the sword. My own, or my enemy's."
 The Last Samurai / int_9d12bbc1
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_9d12bbc1
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_9d12bbc1
 The Last Samurai / int_9e5d1558
type
GallowsHumour
 The Last Samurai / int_9e5d1558
comment
Gallows Humour: When Katsumoto summarizes his pre-battle exchange with Omura and Bagley to his commanders: "Well, they won't surrender."
 The Last Samurai / int_9e5d1558
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_9e5d1558
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_9e5d1558
 The Last Samurai / int_9fdcad7f
type
Bald Head of Toughness
 The Last Samurai / int_9fdcad7f
comment
Bald Head of Toughness: Katsumoto, leader of the Samurai, and also their strongest warrior, who personally leads them into every battle.
 The Last Samurai / int_9fdcad7f
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_9fdcad7f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_9fdcad7f
 The Last Samurai / int_a195310a
type
Red Is Heroic
 The Last Samurai / int_a195310a
comment
Red Is Heroic: The uniform the samurai wears during his encounter with Algren is colored red. Algren inherits that armor in preparation for the final battle.
 The Last Samurai / int_a195310a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_a195310a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_a195310a
 The Last Samurai / int_a1b141f4
type
My God, What Have I Done?
 The Last Samurai / int_a1b141f4
comment
My God, What Have I Done?: Algren is mortified to discover that Taka's husband was the samurai he previously killed.
 The Last Samurai / int_a1b141f4
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_a1b141f4
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_a1b141f4
 The Last Samurai / int_a1e5faab
type
Doomed by Canon
 The Last Samurai / int_a1e5faab
comment
Doomed by Canon: Or "Doomed by History" at any rate. Given that the story is loosely based on the events of the Satsuma Rebellion during the Meiji Restoration, the end of the story and the fate of its main characters is more or less a foregone conclusion.
 The Last Samurai / int_a1e5faab
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_a1e5faab
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_a1e5faab
 The Last Samurai / int_a22ae9a5
type
Hat Damage
 The Last Samurai / int_a22ae9a5
comment
Hat Damage: Algren shoots the hat off a new recruit while trying to scare him into firing as part of a Secret Test of Character.
 The Last Samurai / int_a22ae9a5
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_a22ae9a5
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_a22ae9a5
 The Last Samurai / int_a27c0c2c
type
Artistic License – Religion
 The Last Samurai / int_a27c0c2c
comment
Artistic License – Religion: In Shinto mythology, the weapon wielded by Izanagi and Izanami was a spear, not a sword as claimed in the prologue. Alternatively however, this could be taken in many different contexts. In the Japanese classification of bladed objects, a spear is technically a sword. So there is some truth put into this.
 The Last Samurai / int_a27c0c2c
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_a27c0c2c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_a27c0c2c
 The Last Samurai / int_a6441fa
type
Gratuitous Ninja
 The Last Samurai / int_a6441fa
comment
Gratuitous Ninja: Katsumoto's samurai camp is attacked by a squad of ninja, though they're never referred to as such. It's a more realistic example of this trope than most Hollywood ninja, in that they do actually attack at night (thus justifying the black outfits) and only resort to swordplay when their long-distance assassination attempt fails.
 The Last Samurai / int_a6441fa
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_a6441fa
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_a6441fa
 The Last Samurai / int_a6b14ee1
type
Hollywood Tactics
 The Last Samurai / int_a6b14ee1
comment
Hollywood Tactics: Most of the battles are actually justified. In the final battle, Bagley starts with a howitzer barrage but when the samurai begin their feint retreat, Omura—who has no military experience but technically has control of the army as the Emperor's advisor—gets overconfident and gives several bad orders that Bagley calls him out on but can't stop. As in the first battle, the final battle can reflect inexperience and lack of complete training (i.e. disciplined junior officers and sergeants). The Imperial Army effectively has polearms (rifles with bayonets) in addition to bullets. Organized firing lines or organized bayonet ranks backed by such should have no trouble with swords. Instead they charge to brawl the sword experts who are wearing melee armor... When the surviving samurai begin their final charge, Bagley is infuriated that the samurai have the balls to commit to such a suicidal act and chooses Honor Before Reason, wanting to kill them face to face. Algren's throw was very, very lucky. Bagley's men inflict significant casualties and by the time the cavalry breaks through the line, there's barely a dozen samurai left. The opening battle where Algren is captured is started because Bagley is overconfident in the guns that the fledgling Imperial Army has. He says that Algren should win because he has "superior firepower and a larger force" while Katsumoto's men are "savages with bows and arrows", ignoring both Algren's rebuttal that the samurai have been training to do almost nothing but fight for the past thousand years, along with the demonstration Algren puts on that the men cannot perform well under pressure and are hesitant to shoot, and when they do shoot, they miss. Algren is proven to be correct when the men panic as Katsumoto's men charge at them and almost immediately start to rout.
 The Last Samurai / int_a6b14ee1
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_a6b14ee1
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_a6b14ee1
 The Last Samurai / int_a754fa9a
type
Instant Death Bullet
 The Last Samurai / int_a754fa9a
comment
Instant Death Bullet: In the first battle any samurai shot by Algren or Gant immediately dies and falls from his horse. Later subverted, when main characters seem to take bullets with no effort. But there are still many Red Shirt samurai who fall after just one shot.
 The Last Samurai / int_a754fa9a
featureApplicability
-0.3
 The Last Samurai / int_a754fa9a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_a754fa9a
 The Last Samurai / int_a9eb984b
type
Warrior Poet
 The Last Samurai / int_a9eb984b
comment
Warrior Poet: Katsumoto, literally. He writes haiku in addition to being a master swordsman. This is Truth in Television since Saigo Takamori, the man who inspired the character Katsumoto, also left behind plenty of poetry. Though Saigo Takamori was better known for his Kanshi (Han Poetry).
 The Last Samurai / int_a9eb984b
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_a9eb984b
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_a9eb984b
 The Last Samurai / int_aabe2fb
type
Deliberate Values Dissonance
 The Last Samurai / int_aabe2fb
comment
Deliberate Values Dissonance: Algren and Katsumoto have decidedly different views on Custer's last stand. In general, the way people talk about Native Americans as savages is shown to be extremely ignorant at best, and justification for atrocities at worst. Algren's visible disturbance, especially due to his regret over committing atrocities against them, highlights how wrong this mentality is to the audience. The subject of seppuku is regarded quite differently by Algren and the Japanese characters. Algren witnesses Katsumoto acting as General Hasegawa's kaishakunin (second) and is initially disgusted, since all he could see was Katsumoto killing a helpless unarmed man who had been defeated (after refusing to fight back), not knowing that Hasegawa was undertaking a painful form of ritual suicide and Katsumoto was essentially performing a Mercy Kill. Ujio is disdainful of the fact that Algren did not take his life rather than be defeated and captured, but Katsumoto points out that's not part of Algren's culture. Even at the very end of the film, Algren initially tries to stop a mortally wounded Katsumoto from taking his own life, but is talked into assisting Katsumoto instead.
 The Last Samurai / int_aabe2fb
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_aabe2fb
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_aabe2fb
 The Last Samurai / int_aaece264
type
Rousing Speech
 The Last Samurai / int_aaece264
comment
Rousing Speech: Nathan recounts the Battle of Thermopylae to Katsumoto before they go into their own outnumbered battle.
 The Last Samurai / int_aaece264
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_aaece264
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_aaece264
 The Last Samurai / int_ab6e01e
type
Clean Cut
 The Last Samurai / int_ab6e01e
comment
Clean Cut: A deleted scene shows Algren witnessing Ujio walking along a street, who gets hassled by a pair of businessmen. The samurai takes their insults for a few moments, as they insult his heritage and his swords, but when one of them pokes him with a cane, Ujio slices off the head of the man in a clean, swift fashion, and sheaths his katana in one fluid movement while the other scrambles backwards. Algren does a similar thing with one of the ronin who tried to assassinate him. The deleted scene is a reference to Kiri-sute gomen, a Japanese samurai-era law that allowed the samurai to strike and/or kill peasants for compromising or insulting a samurai's honor.
 The Last Samurai / int_ab6e01e
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_ab6e01e
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_ab6e01e
 The Last Samurai / int_ad9fbc1e
type
Pyrrhic Victory
 The Last Samurai / int_ad9fbc1e
comment
Pyrrhic Victory: The samurai eventually defeat the first wave of imperial forces... and have about two dozen survivors.
 The Last Samurai / int_ad9fbc1e
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_ad9fbc1e
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_ad9fbc1e
 The Last Samurai / int_ae087674
type
I Can Still Fight!
 The Last Samurai / int_ae087674
comment
I Can Still Fight!: In the final battle Ujio gets shot several times and eventually falls to one knee. Two younger samurai come to aid him, but he pushes them back, spits out some blood, and stands up by himself. He survives long enough to participate in the final charge.
 The Last Samurai / int_ae087674
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_ae087674
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_ae087674
 The Last Samurai / int_b0855ef3
type
No Historical Figures Were Harmed
 The Last Samurai / int_b0855ef3
comment
No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Katsumoto is a fictional counterpart to Saigo Takamori, who led the Satsuma Rebellion, and is generally thought of as the "last true Samurai". Of course, the real Saigo wore a Western-style military uniform into battle... Nathan Algren replaces Jules Brunet, a French lieutenant. Colonel Bagley replaces Captain Charles Chanoine, but is heavily based on his in-universe backstory superior, General George Custer. Omura takes some elements from Omura Masujiro (the father of the modern Japanese Army) and quite a lot from Okubo Toshimichi (Japanese statesman, one of the leaders to overthrow the Shogunate and begin the Meiji Restoration, travelled around the world and adopted many foreign points of view, and for a while was the most powerful politician in Japan until he was assassinated by disgruntled samurai).
 The Last Samurai / int_b0855ef3
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_b0855ef3
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_b0855ef3
 The Last Samurai / int_b17f6a27
type
I Did What I Had to Do
 The Last Samurai / int_b17f6a27
comment
I Did What I Had to Do: "I did what I was ordered to do, and I have no remorse" from Bagley, in reference to slaughtering the women and children of a village that raided his and Algren's forces. The memory of the event still haunts Algren, and by the beginning of the film he has turned to alcoholism to forget about it. He eventually comes to terms with it in his time in captivity.
 The Last Samurai / int_b17f6a27
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_b17f6a27
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_b17f6a27
 The Last Samurai / int_b1bf431c
type
Go for the Eye
 The Last Samurai / int_b1bf431c
comment
Go for the Eye: Quite a few Imperial soldiers catch an arrow to the eye.
 The Last Samurai / int_b1bf431c
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_b1bf431c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_b1bf431c
 The Last Samurai / int_b4696332
type
My Greatest Second Chance
 The Last Samurai / int_b4696332
comment
My Greatest Second Chance: Algren experiences immense regret and guilt over his past experience with the tribal Native Americans, but the opportunity arises to redeem this regret when faced with a similar situation with the tribal Japanese.
 The Last Samurai / int_b4696332
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_b4696332
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_b4696332
 The Last Samurai / int_b67be25d
type
Firearms Are Revolutionary
 The Last Samurai / int_b67be25d
comment
Firearms Are Revolutionary: Downplayed. Firearms are already present in the period when the movie is set, and the first battle scene has infantry levies trampled over by the samurai in spite of being armed with guns. However, the introduction of advanced, powerful firearms makes the samurai increasingly obsolete. Once the government gets gatling guns, the samurai are essentially wiped out.
 The Last Samurai / int_b67be25d
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_b67be25d
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_b67be25d
 The Last Samurai / int_ba5bd7
type
Ignored Expert
 The Last Samurai / int_ba5bd7
comment
Ignored Expert: Algren, a combat veteran hired to teach conscripts to fight, is ignored by Bagley when he says and demonstrates they aren't capable of fighting a pitched battle and the samurai likely are. The samurai easily rout the novice conscripts. Bagley then learns to take the samurai more seriously (especially since in the final battle Algren is now advising the samurai) and advises Omura, a novice businessman who nonetheless is in charge of the army during the last battle. Bagley surmises that a quick and easy retreat by Katsumoto is a feint to change ground and wants to scout the situation out first. Omura disregards him entirely and loses much of his far better equipped force by walking into a trap.
 The Last Samurai / int_ba5bd7
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_ba5bd7
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_ba5bd7
 The Last Samurai / int_bbfaa837
type
Knight Templar
 The Last Samurai / int_bbfaa837
comment
Knight Templar: Algren learns that Katsumoto believes himself to be a servant of the Emperor.
 The Last Samurai / int_bbfaa837
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_bbfaa837
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_bbfaa837
 The Last Samurai / int_bcd27e37
type
Improbable Aiming Skills
 The Last Samurai / int_bcd27e37
comment
Improbable Aiming Skills: The accuracy of the samurai warriors with their bows on the mission to rescue Katsumoto is almost superhuman. In the entire battle, they never miss a single shot. To be fair, however, these are expert archers shooting relatively short distances at opponents who are not using cover.
 The Last Samurai / int_bcd27e37
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_bcd27e37
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_bcd27e37
 The Last Samurai / int_bcff3e56
type
The Last Title
 The Last Samurai / int_bcff3e56
comment
The Last Title: The title.
 The Last Samurai / int_bcff3e56
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_bcff3e56
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_bcff3e56
 The Last Samurai / int_bf609406
type
New Meat
 The Last Samurai / int_bf609406
comment
New Meat: The conscripted peasants get thrown into their first battle despite having truncated training. Sure enough, things go very badly for them.
 The Last Samurai / int_bf609406
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_bf609406
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_bf609406
 The Last Samurai / int_c091ce5f
type
Samurai
 The Last Samurai / int_c091ce5f
comment
Samurai: ... no, really? It's in the title.
 The Last Samurai / int_c091ce5f
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_c091ce5f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_c091ce5f
 The Last Samurai / int_c3478f1d
type
Badass Bookworm
 The Last Samurai / int_c3478f1d
comment
Badass Bookworm: Algren is an highly capable fighter, but he's also an excellent tactician (implied to be a major reason behind Bagley recruiting him for the Japanese mission in the first place), an author and a Cunning Linguist. The same applies to Katsumoto, who spends time reading, writing poetry, and learning English.
 The Last Samurai / int_c3478f1d
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_c3478f1d
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_c3478f1d
 The Last Samurai / int_c36cba70
type
Mooks
 The Last Samurai / int_c36cba70
comment
Mooks/Red Shirt Army: Since the film is primarily told from Algren's perspective, the Imperial Army are the latter in the first battle, and the former in the last.
 The Last Samurai / int_c36cba70
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_c36cba70
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_c36cba70
 The Last Samurai / int_c37813c5
type
Ninja
 The Last Samurai / int_c37813c5
comment
Ninja: A group of them are sent by Omura to kill Katsumoto and attack the village at night.
 The Last Samurai / int_c37813c5
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_c37813c5
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_c37813c5
 The Last Samurai / int_c39846a3
type
Pride
 The Last Samurai / int_c39846a3
comment
Pride: Bagley and Omura are far too confident in their firearms and derisive of the samurai's fighting abilities - after nearly 300 years of peace - early on in the film. The former appears to learn the error of his ways, suggesting sending in skirmishers rather than a main attack force at the start of the final battle with the samurai. The latter has definitely not learned a thing, overriding Bagley and sending his men to the slaughter rather than listening to his paid military adviser.
 The Last Samurai / int_c39846a3
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_c39846a3
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_c39846a3
 The Last Samurai / int_c4942576
type
Cunning Linguist
 The Last Samurai / int_c4942576
comment
Algren is an highly capable fighter, but he's also an excellent tactician (implied to be a major reason behind Bagley recruiting him for the Japanese mission in the first place), an author and a Cunning Linguist.
 The Last Samurai / int_c4942576
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_c4942576
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_c4942576
 The Last Samurai / int_c514c2c4
type
Gentleman and a Scholar
 The Last Samurai / int_c514c2c4
comment
Gentleman and a Scholar: Simon Graham, a scholar who makes his living translating the lies of Japanese who never quite tell the full truth.
 The Last Samurai / int_c514c2c4
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_c514c2c4
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_c514c2c4
 The Last Samurai / int_c78d3e08
type
Seppuku
 The Last Samurai / int_c78d3e08
comment
The subject of seppuku is regarded quite differently by Algren and the Japanese characters. Algren witnesses Katsumoto acting as General Hasegawa's kaishakunin (second) and is initially disgusted, since all he could see was Katsumoto killing a helpless unarmed man who had been defeated (after refusing to fight back), not knowing that Hasegawa was undertaking a painful form of ritual suicide and Katsumoto was essentially performing a Mercy Kill. Ujio is disdainful of the fact that Algren did not take his life rather than be defeated and captured, but Katsumoto points out that's not part of Algren's culture. Even at the very end of the film, Algren initially tries to stop a mortally wounded Katsumoto from taking his own life, but is talked into assisting Katsumoto instead.
 The Last Samurai / int_c78d3e08
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_c78d3e08
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_c78d3e08
 The Last Samurai / int_caf89e54
type
Taking You with Me
 The Last Samurai / int_caf89e54
comment
Taking You with Me: The point of the final battle. It's not about winning; it's about sending a message. "Bob" takes a bullet for Algren in the final battle, then cuts down the soldier who shot him before falling dead.
 The Last Samurai / int_caf89e54
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_caf89e54
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_caf89e54
 The Last Samurai / int_cbe687ab
type
Corrupt Corporate Executive
 The Last Samurai / int_cbe687ab
comment
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Omura has monopolized Japan's burgeoning railroad industry. He is pushing for modernization to expand this market, and is determined to crush the samurai rebellion because it is hurting his bottom line.
 The Last Samurai / int_cbe687ab
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_cbe687ab
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_cbe687ab
 The Last Samurai / int_ccf46587
type
Redshirt Army
 The Last Samurai / int_ccf46587
comment
Red Shirt Army: The Imperial Army in the first confrontation with the samurai.
 The Last Samurai / int_ccf46587
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_ccf46587
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_ccf46587
 The Last Samurai / int_cf92fea8
type
Cassandra Truth
 The Last Samurai / int_cf92fea8
comment
Cassandra Truth: Algren tells Bagley that the Imperial Army's hastily recruited and trained conscript soldiers are not ready to face the rebels in combat. Bagley ignores his advice and orders the Army's first regiment to deploy, and the battle is a slaughter. Omura even acknowledges that Algren was right as an attempted means of enticing him back to the side of the Emperor.
 The Last Samurai / int_cf92fea8
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_cf92fea8
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_cf92fea8
 The Last Samurai / int_d53acc8a
type
You Are Not Ready
 The Last Samurai / int_d53acc8a
comment
You Are Not Ready: Algren graphically illustrates that the Emperor's green conscript troops are not prepared to face the battle-hardened samurai on the field, despite superior numbers and firepower. Bagley ignores his advice, and the predictable ensues.
 The Last Samurai / int_d53acc8a
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_d53acc8a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_d53acc8a
 The Last Samurai / int_d635e82c
type
Highly-Visible Ninja
 The Last Samurai / int_d635e82c
comment
The ninja that attack the samurai village at night have their faces visibly blacked up with greasepaint so as to not reflect the firelight, a detail that Hollywood portrayals of ninja almost always miss.
 The Last Samurai / int_d635e82c
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_d635e82c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_d635e82c
 The Last Samurai / int_d66cd0e6
type
Training from Hell
 The Last Samurai / int_d66cd0e6
comment
Training from Hell: Ujio's method of teaching Algren Samurai swordplay appears to be dueling him over and over again until Algren can defend against his strikes.
 The Last Samurai / int_d66cd0e6
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_d66cd0e6
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_d66cd0e6
 The Last Samurai / int_d7e68c39
type
Bulletproof Human Shield
 The Last Samurai / int_d7e68c39
comment
Bulletproof Human Shield: Algren kills a soldier during the final battle by stabbing him and then twisting him around into the path of a soldier shooting at him.
 The Last Samurai / int_d7e68c39
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_d7e68c39
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_d7e68c39
 The Last Samurai / int_da478573
type
Hollywood Medieval Japan
 The Last Samurai / int_da478573
comment
It's not quite as bad as the Hollywood Medieval Japan trope, but it conflates the Boshin War of 1868-69 with the later Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. In the Boshin War, the Imperial faction made up of samurai from Satsuma (Kagoshima), Choshu (Yamaguchi) and Tosa (Kochi) defeated the Shogun's nascent Western-style army, largely because they were much more experienced with Western-style tactics and weaponry than the Shogun's side, which had only just adopted them. The turning point was the Battle of Toba-Fushimi in Kyoto, after which the Shogun put himself "at the disposal of the Emperor," ending the Shogunate politically (though not yet militarily).
 The Last Samurai / int_da478573
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_da478573
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_da478573
 The Last Samurai / int_dca70c44
type
Reasonable Authority Figure
 The Last Samurai / int_dca70c44
comment
Reasonable Authority Figure: Katsumoto shows a high amount of patience with a recently-captured Algren, being willing to chalk up Algren's attitude to cultural differences rather than plain insolence (and stabbing him like Ujio wants). He recognizes how valuable Algren's knowledge and outside perspective are and listens to what he has to say, despite being ostensibly enemies.
 The Last Samurai / int_dca70c44
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_dca70c44
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_dca70c44
 The Last Samurai / int_dcbe8a6e
type
Chekhov's Gunman
 The Last Samurai / int_dcbe8a6e
comment
Chekhov's Gunman: Katsumoto is introduced surreptitiously as the man meditating atop a mountain, dreaming of a tiger fighting warriors.
 The Last Samurai / int_dcbe8a6e
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_dcbe8a6e
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_dcbe8a6e
 The Last Samurai / int_def127cc
type
Leave Behind a Pistol
 The Last Samurai / int_def127cc
comment
Leave Behind a Pistol: Variation. When Katsumoto is imprisoned, a guard leaves him a tanto, and tells him to save everyone else the trouble. He doesn't.
 The Last Samurai / int_def127cc
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_def127cc
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_def127cc
 The Last Samurai / int_df0f1ad9
type
Samurai Ponytail
 The Last Samurai / int_df0f1ad9
comment
Samurai Ponytail: Most of the samurai in Katsumoto's force have them. When the Meiji government passes laws restricting the rights of the samurai, Katsumoto's son, Nobutada, is subjected to a very undignified public haircut by the Emperor's guards.
 The Last Samurai / int_df0f1ad9
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_df0f1ad9
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_df0f1ad9
 The Last Samurai / int_df3b0af7
type
Short-Range Long-Range Weapon
 The Last Samurai / int_df3b0af7
comment
Short-Range Long-Range Weapon: In the final battle, Imperial soldiers prefer to fire from a very short range or use bayonets rather than just wiping the samurai off with volley fire. Bagley does a similar thing when trying to stop the charging cavalrymen, letting the samurai crash into his ranks and kill him. Justified both times. The whole point of the final battle for the samurai was to get the Imperial soldiers disorganized and close enough so that their guns wouldn't be such an advantage. Once the battle was underway and the soldiers fired their shots, there wouldn't be enough time to reload. For Bagley, he had his men hold fire until the samurai got close because there was mortar fire and smoke partially obstructing the view. Plus, he knew that he would only have time to get off one or two volleys before the samurai got to them and he wanted to make them count. His men did cause significant casualties before the remainder of the cavalry broke through their line.
 The Last Samurai / int_df3b0af7
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_df3b0af7
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_df3b0af7
 The Last Samurai / int_e2ccee25
type
Animal Motifs
 The Last Samurai / int_e2ccee25
comment
Animal Motifs: Tigers for Algren. His determination and ferocity even in the face of impossible odds reminds several characters of one. The spear he uses in the opening battle also has a tiger on its standard.
 The Last Samurai / int_e2ccee25
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_e2ccee25
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_e2ccee25
 The Last Samurai / int_e4965307
type
Composite Character
 The Last Samurai / int_e4965307
comment
Composite Character: The character of Nathan Algren was largely influenced by two individuals. One being Jules Brunet (a French army captain who fought alongside Enomoto Takeaki in the earlier Boshin War) and Frederick Townsend Ward (an American mercenary who helped Westernize the Chinese army by forming the Ever Victorious Army).
 The Last Samurai / int_e4965307
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_e4965307
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_e4965307
 The Last Samurai / int_e4b69188
type
Very Loosely Based on a True Story
 The Last Samurai / int_e4b69188
comment
Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Every character but the Emperor is fictional or fictionalized. The war is an amalgam of the Boshin War (1868-1869) and the Satsuma Rebellion (1877). The real military mission was French instead of American, and five of its members chose to stay and fight with the rebel samurai, not just one. Jules Brunet (Algren's inspiration) didn't surrender to the Emperor and was evacuated on a French steamship; Japan would then unsuccessfully demand his extradition to punish him for 12 years, until one of Brunet's former friends gained enough influence in the Imperial government and had the order revoked.
 The Last Samurai / int_e4b69188
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_e4b69188
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_e4b69188
 The Last Samurai / int_e5421161
type
Expy
 The Last Samurai / int_e5421161
comment
Expy: "Bob" resembles Kyuzo, the master swordsman of Seven Samurai.
 The Last Samurai / int_e5421161
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_e5421161
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_e5421161
 The Last Samurai / int_e567510d
type
Determinator
 The Last Samurai / int_e567510d
comment
Determinator: Algren. And that's why Katsumoto admires him. Ujio, on the other hand, sees his refusal to accept defeat from his betters to be disrespectful. He comes around eventually.
 The Last Samurai / int_e567510d
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_e567510d
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_e567510d
 The Last Samurai / int_e663d3ef
type
Only a Flesh Wound
 The Last Samurai / int_e663d3ef
comment
Only a Flesh Wound: In the final battle Ujio is shot through his stomach, Katsumoto gets stabbed with a bayonet, and Algren takes several bullets to his legs - and they all quickly recover and continue fighting.
 The Last Samurai / int_e663d3ef
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_e663d3ef
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_e663d3ef
 The Last Samurai / int_e743ffa9
type
Good Old Ways
 The Last Samurai / int_e743ffa9
comment
Good Old Ways: This sums up Katsumoto's stance in a nutshell. In an age of an increasingly Westernized Japan, the samurai prefer to stick to swords, bows, and old tactics (not to mention Bushido and spiritualism).
 The Last Samurai / int_e743ffa9
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_e743ffa9
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_e743ffa9
 The Last Samurai / int_e993a60f
type
Defensive Feint Trap
 The Last Samurai / int_e993a60f
comment
Defensive Feint Trap: The samurai fake a panicked retreat when they get shelled by cannons in the final battle. Col. Bagley is suspicious of this trick, but Omura is more than happy to pursue.
 The Last Samurai / int_e993a60f
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_e993a60f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_e993a60f
 The Last Samurai / int_ead5a011
type
Twilight of the Old West
 The Last Samurai / int_ead5a011
comment
Twilight of the Old West: Algren is an American no longer needed as an Indian fighter in his homeland, so he seeks employment overseas as a mercenary, fighting a new kind of bow-wielding "savage". This ties in quite neatly with Japan's own End of an Age.
 The Last Samurai / int_ead5a011
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_ead5a011
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_ead5a011
 The Last Samurai / int_eb8ec7c8
type
Jerkass
 The Last Samurai / int_eb8ec7c8
comment
Jerkass: Omura is pompous, self-serving and will stop at nothing to advance himself and his interests. Bagley is a man of the times who believes in his own cultural and racial superiority and has no qualms about massacring lesser peoples, including women and children.
 The Last Samurai / int_eb8ec7c8
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_eb8ec7c8
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_eb8ec7c8
 The Last Samurai / int_ed358a04
type
Jidaigeki
 The Last Samurai / int_ed358a04
comment
Jidaigeki: The story is set in (a somewhat fictionalized version of) the early Meiji period, just at the point where the traditional Japan of the samurai passes into its modern, Westernized era. An End of an Age.
 The Last Samurai / int_ed358a04
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_ed358a04
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_ed358a04
 The Last Samurai / int_f5f79e56
type
Hard-Work Montage
 The Last Samurai / int_f5f79e56
comment
Hard-Work Montage: Shown after the samurai return to the village and begin making preparations in advance of the approaching Imperial army, including making a katana for Algren.
 The Last Samurai / int_f5f79e56
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_f5f79e56
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_f5f79e56
 The Last Samurai / int_f64a9cf7
type
Earn Your Happy Ending
 The Last Samurai / int_f64a9cf7
comment
Earn Your Happy Ending: Effectively lampshaded in the epilogue; while Graham doesn't know Algren's fate for certain, he (correctly) believes that he's finally found happiness. It has, however, taken him decades and a trip across the full length of the world to achieve this.
 The Last Samurai / int_f64a9cf7
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_f64a9cf7
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_f64a9cf7
 The Last Samurai / int_f7bbca8c
type
Thwarted Coup de Grâce
 The Last Samurai / int_f7bbca8c
comment
Thwarted Coup de Grâce: Nathan Algren got wounded in the first battle. When the enemy was about to finish him off, Nathan landed the final attack before falling unconscious.
 The Last Samurai / int_f7bbca8c
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_f7bbca8c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_f7bbca8c
 The Last Samurai / int_f7cee9b
type
Last Stand
 The Last Samurai / int_f7cee9b
comment
Last Stand: Algren makes a last stand in the opening battle, bravely fighting back countless samurai with everything at his disposal, as well as Gant to a lesser extent. The samurai army makes its own last stand in the end, knowing that they cannot actually defeat the enemy army. Two real-life last stands serve as conceptual reference points - Custer's at the Little Big Horn, and the Spartans at Thermopylae.
 The Last Samurai / int_f7cee9b
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_f7cee9b
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_f7cee9b
 The Last Samurai / int_f87470d1
type
Dying Truce
 The Last Samurai / int_f87470d1
comment
Dying Truce: A rarer example where the heroes are the ones dying and the antagonists are honourable. After the last remaining samurai are gunned down by gatling gun fire, the captain orders his men to cease fire (against the orders of his superior) to allow Katsumoto to commit seppuku and die with honour.
 The Last Samurai / int_f87470d1
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_f87470d1
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_f87470d1
 The Last Samurai / int_fc225bec
type
Artistic License – Physics
 The Last Samurai / int_fc225bec
comment
Artistic License – Physics: Algren cuts a rifle in half along with the face of the Imperialist soldier that was using it to block his strike. The latter had the correct move. It's doubtful-to impossible (depending on what the barrel is) that a katana could cut through both the wooden stock and metal barrel of an 1860-1870 rifle at all, let alone cleanly and one-handed. At best, the overhead strike would've only knocked the rifle out of the soldier's hands, and probably damaged the sword or injured Algren's wrist.
 The Last Samurai / int_fc225bec
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_fc225bec
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_fc225bec
 The Last Samurai / int_fca96b8e
type
Cherry Blossoms
 The Last Samurai / int_fca96b8e
comment
Cherry Blossoms: Casually mentioned not long after Algren is captured, eventually forms a symbolically important part of the climax. Katsumoto, during Algren's captivity, sincerely tells him that someone could spend their entire life looking for a perfect cherry blossom and it would not be a wasted life. And then after Algren has already assisted him in his seppuku in the middle of the battlefield, Katsumoto looks at the cherry blossom trees in the distance and with his final breath utters his realization that "They are all perfect."
 The Last Samurai / int_fca96b8e
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_fca96b8e
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_fca96b8e
 The Last Samurai / int_fed07537
type
Mighty Whitey
 The Last Samurai / int_fed07537
comment
Mighty Whitey: Averted. Algren is the main character and learns the ways of the samurai, but he's never shown to be any better at being a samurai than the Japanese. The only advantage he has over the Japanese samurai is his knowledge of western war tactics, but by the end of the film the Imperial Japanese Army is shown to have already learned western tactics. It might even be Inverted, from a poignant moral perspective. Algren was a tormented alcoholic with a literal death wish at the beginning of the movie. Living with the Japanese, gaining insight into their view of the world and eventually finding love, ultimately gives him a reason to live.
 The Last Samurai / int_fed07537
featureApplicability
-1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_fed07537
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_fed07537
 The Last Samurai / int_ffad4e9f
type
Shown Their Work
 The Last Samurai / int_ffad4e9f
comment
Shown Their Work: Historical changes/inaccuracies aside, a lot of details - from architecture to Ujio's simple tea ceremony - was studied meticulously, as noted in the Official Movie Guide. When the Japanese extras were brought to the village set in New Zealand, many of the older ones teared up because of how accurate the set designers and builders had created the buildings, saying that it reminded them of their grandparents' village homes. Of particular note is Algren's fighting style. In early scenes where he uses a bokken, he puts his right hip forward, as he would if wielding a sabre. By the end of the film, he leads with his left hip, like a Samurai would. The ninja that attack the samurai village at night have their faces visibly blacked up with greasepaint so as to not reflect the firelight, a detail that Hollywood portrayals of ninja almost always miss.
 The Last Samurai / int_ffad4e9f
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_ffad4e9f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_ffad4e9f
 The Last Samurai / int_fff371b4
type
Death Seeker
 The Last Samurai / int_fff371b4
comment
The third for Algren comes when he's been hired to train the Japanese conscript army, and proves his point that the soldiers aren't ready by standing in front of one of the targets, drawing his pistol, and ordering one poor soldier to reload and fire back while Algren is shooting at him, showing us that he's a brilliant soldier who absolutely wants to die for what he did during the war and cares very little for the lives of anyone, including himself.
 The Last Samurai / int_fff371b4
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_fff371b4
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_fff371b4
 The Last Samurai / int_name
type
ItemName
 The Last Samurai / int_name
comment
 The Last Samurai / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 The Last Samurai / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Samurai / int_name
 The Last Samurai / int_name
itemName
The Last Samurai

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
A Good Way to Die / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Action Genre / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Armored Villains, Unarmored Heroes / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Arrow Cam / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Arrows on Fire / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
"Ass" in Ambassador / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Bad Omen Anecdote / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Badass Army / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Bald of Authority / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Based on a Great Big Lie / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Battle in the Rain / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Bavarian Fire Drill / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Big Badass Battle Sequence / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Boring, but Practical / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Born in the Wrong Century / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Bows Versus Crossbows / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
California Doubling / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Cavalry Officer / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Centipede's Dilemma / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Checkpoint Bluff / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Cherry Blossoms / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Climactic Music / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Costume Drama / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Cultural Posturing / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Culture Clash / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Deliberate Values Dissonance / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Does That Sound Like Fun to You? / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Doomed Moral Victor / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Drill Sergeant Nasty / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Dying Truce / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Elegant Weapon for a More Civilized Age / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Elite Army / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Epic Movie / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Expy Coexistence / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Firearms Are Revolutionary / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Flashback Nightmare / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Footprints of Muck / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Gallows Humor / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Gatling Good / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Go Out with a Smile / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Going Native / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Gratuitous Ninja / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Guns Are Worthless / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Guns vs. Swords / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Helmets Are Hardly Heroic / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Hit Me, Dammit! / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Hollywood Medieval Japan / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Hollywood Tactics / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Homegrown Hero / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Honorable Warrior's Death / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Horse Archer / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
I Choose to Stay / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
I Will Only Slow You Down / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Instant Expert / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Invulnerable Horses / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Japanese Politeness / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Japanese Ranguage / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Jidaigeki / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Just Following Orders / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Kimono Fanservice / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Last Survivor Suicide / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Lead You Can Relate To / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Leave Behind a Pistol / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Led by the Outsider / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Market-Based Title / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Mighty Whitey / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Mighty Whitey and Mellow Yellow / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Mis-blamed / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Nailed to the Wagon / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Never Bring a Gun to a Knife Fight / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Ninja / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Noble Savage / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Not Afraid to Die / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Onrushing Army / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Plot Armor / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Protagonist Title Fallacy / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Rain of Arrows / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Repeat Cut / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Revenge Myopia / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Rock Beats Laser / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Sad Battle Music / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Samurai / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Samurai Cowboy / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Samurai in Ninja Town / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Samurai Ponytail / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Samurai Stories / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Secondary Character Title / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Self-Destructive Charge / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Seppuku / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Soldier vs. Warrior / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Swipe Your Blade Off / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Tactful Translation / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Dance / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
The Last Title / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
They Just Don't Get It / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Things Get Real / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Threat Backfire / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Throwing Your Sword Always Works / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Thwarted Coup de Grâce / int_cc8fd137
 TimothySpall
seeAlso
The Last Samurai
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Traumatic Haircut / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Underequipped Charge / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Underestimating Badassery / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Warrior Poet / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Waterfall Shower / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
We All Die Someday / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Western Samurai / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
White Male Lead / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
White Stallion / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
With Due Respect / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
You Are Not Ready / int_cc8fd137
 The Last Samurai
hasFeature
Zip Me Up / int_cc8fd137