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Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) emerges from the War a burned out, drunken husk of a man reduced to appearing as a side show attraction hawking rifles. He's stumbled into alcoholism to escape the memory of a massacre of women and children he participated in while in the army. His chance at redemption comes when he's recruited by his former commander (Tony Goldwyn) and Sergeant ( Bill Conollly) to train mid-19th century Japanese troops to fight the western way against a group of Samurai that are against the westernization of their nation. ***

The Samurai led by Katsumoto (Ken Wantanabe) begin destroying local railway stations. As a result Algren and his men get called into action before they are truly ready. Overwhelmed and frightened by the samurai, Algren's troops panic and retreat leaving him to fight off a group of samurai by himself. Impressed by his bravery and sense of honor, his life is spared and he's taken in by the samurai as a prisoner. ***

A marvelous, epic and vivid film of the sort David Lean might have made if he were American, "The Last Samurai" deals in many of the same themes that fascinated Lean; the adoption of foreign ways by a westerner and a fascination with the culture clash when west meets east. Although it's doesn't quite capture the power and majesty of "Lawrence of Arabia", director Edward Zwick's sweeping direction has the right moves and, like his film "Glory", offers much promise for future efforts. The screenplay by John Logan ("Gladiator", "The Time Machine", "Star Trek: Nemesis") with Zwick and his frequent collaborator Marshall Hersovitz creates memorable characters whose sense of nobility and purpose are weakened only by their character flaws. This is the type of sweeping, powerful filmmaking that, sadly, has gone by the wayside. The few attempts to revive the epic grandeur "The Last Samurai" aspires to usually fail. Although it's a flawed film, "The Last Samurai" carries on a powerful tradition; it has depth, something to say and is enormously entertaining. Although the film dips into the "noble savage" cliché a bit too much when discussing Indians, the racist views are more accurate than the 20th century revisionist thinking of accepting cultural diversity. Still, the Algren's journey from burned out war hero to enlightened guardian of the samurai way is believable the way it is portrayed on screen. While historically inaccurate in many areas, it'll keep your attention throughout its two hour plus running time. ---

The two DVD set has so many extras on the second disc, you'll feel the need to strap in for a wild ride. The "Director's Journal" provides a marvelous, inside view on the difficulties and challenges facing a film director when tackling such a large canvas to tell his story. "Tom Cruise: A Warrior's Journey" discusses the intense training that the actor had to undergo to prepare for such a difficult and demanding part. "Making an Epic: A Discussion with Edward Zwick and Tom Cruise" focuses on the lost tradition of epic storytelling and the odds against creating a successful film. The two discuss the inventive ways that they met the challenges in a film world where "high concept" threatens to drain the audience of intelligence. ***

For fans fascinated with the weaponry of the time, there are a couple of strong featurettes that focus on recreating a lost world and way of life. "Silk and Armor: Costume Design with Ngila Dickson" takes a peak in the closet and allows us to see the difficulties in recreating the past. Unlike, say, a science fiction epic, a historical action epic like "The Last Samurai" demands visual accountability to history. Again, the challenge is being creative in the shadow of the past. "Imperial Army Basic Training" and "From Soldier to Samurai: The Weapons" aggressively yanks into a past world where two cultures collided in real life and the difficulties in translating that to the screen. The weapons featurette in particular marches us into a world where skills with a sword were far more important than the blunt force of a rifle or pistol. **

"A World of Detail: Production Design with Lilly Kilvert" allows us to witness creation or, in this case, recreation. Kilvert uses historical references to recreate a past witnesses by few. The production design of a film touches on everything from costumes, weaponry to optical effects. Also included is a great documentary that aired on the History Channel. While it may have started life as a movie tie-in, "History Vs. Hollywood: The Last Samurai" brings the past vividly to life and touches on where reality begins in this movie and storytelling steps in to make the epic more dramatic and emotionally powerful for the viewer. Although it could have been more indepth and better developed, this particular feature will hopefully inspire those interested in reading up about Japan during the 19th century. We also get a number of deleted scenes and given the dramatic flow of the film I can see why Zwick had to cut the various sequences. However, one of them involving the first appearance of a samurai did deserve a place in the finished film and will, hopefully, be restored for another longer more epic DVD version of this fine film. ---