How One Last Samurai Scene Perfectly Captured Tom Cruise’s Performance Explained



The Last Samurai was a departure from typical Tom Cruise movies up until that point. At the time, the actor was (and still is) best known for his association with action-packed franchises like Mission: Impossible and sci-fi films like Minority Report and Vanilla Sky. However, The Last Samurai represented a slight detour in Cruise’s career as he took on a more dramatic role in an epic historical drama. While his previous roles focused more on action and stunts, The Last Samurai required Cruise to delve more into the emotional and psychological aspects of his character.

Cruise’s character, Captain Nathan Algren, is a disillusioned American soldier grappling with issues involving identity, loyalty, and honor who undergoes a significant moral transformation. Even though The Last Samurai required a slightly different type of performance from Cruise, he approached it with the same level of physical and technical training he applies to his other roles. To play a soldier-turned-samurai, Cruise underwent extensive physical and technical training in sword fighting and the martial arts. Cruise’s usual dedication to authenticity, combined with the more dramatic demands of the role, is perfectly captured by Algren’s battle with Ujio in The Last Samurai.

Source: Corridor Crew

The Last Samurai
Release Date
December 5, 2003
Director
Edward Zwick
Cast
Shin Koyamada , Ken Watanabe , Koyuki Kato , Tom Cruise , Tony Goldwyn
Rating
R
Runtime
154 minutes
Main Genre
Action
Genres
Action , Drama
Writers
Edward Zwick , John Logan , Marshall Herskovitz
Website
https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/last-samurai
Cinematographer
John Toll
Producer
Paula Wagner, Tom Engelman, Edward Zwick, Tom Cruise, Marshall Herskovitz, Scott Kroopf
Production Company
Warner Bros., Cruise/Wagner Productions, Radar Pictures, The Bedford Falls Company
Sfx Supervisor
Cosmas Paul Bolger Jr., Steve Ingram
Budget
$140 million