When The Last Sword Is Drawn on DVD (2003)

The Japanese version of The Last Samurai

LinsR from London , 19/02/2005

A wonderful film without the Hollywood ending of Tom Cruise’s film The Last Samurai. This film is a real tear jerker so get the tissues out. Occasionally the music was a little too over dramatic but otherwise this film was magnificent – rent it and see for yourself.

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Melancholy Musings

PhilMa from Devon , 14/06/2005

It is the late 1800's and two men in the newly modernised Japan reflect on the very different society they grew up in through the memory of the samauri they both knew. Set at the same time as The Last Samauri, in which feudal Japan is brutally reborn into the industrial age, this film feels far more authentic and is far more thoughtful than the slightly pantomime antics of the Hollywood film. In many ways this is the more profound film that The Last Samauri would have liked to be.

The film starts slowly and slightly disconcertingly mostly in flashback, but as the story threads come together they pull you slowly into the moral quandries of honour and survival, love and duty that all the characters are dealing with as a matter of life and death.

Though it left me with a feeling of melancholy, I would recommend this for anyone looking for a action film with more brain than average.

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A Japanese Classic

Gary Sinclair-Stedman from Plymouth, England , 12/06/2006

'When the Last Sword is Drawn' is a superb film that will appeal to anyone who loves Japanese cinema but, I think, also to anyone who enjoyed Tom Cruise's 'The Last Samurai'. It manages to be so much more accessible than some Japanese films, largely because the themes and story are so universal; there is no cultural barrier here, like in some of the best Japanese cinema that is excellent but very much culturally Japanese and so requires effort to follow and enjoy - not so here. Like Cruise's film, 'When the Last Sword is Drawn' it is set during the period of intense change in Japan, when the Shogunate system was ending and the new Empire was beginning; a time when the West had also started to influence the East with capitalist ideas and guns. It tells a fairly simple story of a low ranking Samurai who becomes embroiled in the machinations of first his Clan and then a band of militia on the side of the doomed Shogunate. There is plenty of excellently choreographed swordplay and a very well staged large scale battle but the appeal is mainly in the day to day fight for existence that is the daily life of our main protagonist and mirrors that of so many Japanese caught in this feudal time. In common with many Japanese films, the themes of honour and duty are key but there is also a real touch of the universal dilemmas of all humanity in this film and that is what seperates it from Cruise's epic and elevates it beyond it. Here, the characters are struggling simply to survive against a background of political and social turmoil and basic problems like poverty. Hence, it has so much more heart and depth than 'The Last Samurai' but retains the broad appeal of that film in terms of its beautiful filming and musical score, with memorable characters and scenes that stay with you after the film ends. Everything about the production is superbly executed and the story really draws you in to care about what happens to the characters. I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone who is looking for something really enjoyable, where the characters and the story are key and not the special effects or the headline stars, although the effects are great and the acting is first rate. Well worth five stars, a modern Japanese classic that rivals the greatest efforts of Kurosawa and Ozu but also manages to have broad appeal.

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Great Samurai classic

A customer from London , 13/05/2005

Wonderfully moving tale of a Samurai's life in a fading epoch. The fight scenes a good and realistic. The acting is subtle and very sweet and touching. A must see for all those who love this genre.

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This Film Makes the CUT!!

A customer from Birmingham/Leeds , 13/12/2005

A thoroughly entertaining film. Through its reflective style, When The Last Sword Is Drawn gradually builds itself into an epic. It takes us through the trials and tribulations of a man who we at first would see as ridiculous, however by the end of the film we come to realise that he can only be described as-HERO (hero extraordiner if you wish).

I Would recomend it to fans of contemplative Japanese action/dramas as opposed to the more bloody period pieces that often come out of Japan (many of which are excellent). If you liked Twilight Samurai you will love this one-as it is superior.

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The Japanese version of The Last Samurai

LinsR from London , 19/02/2005

A wonderful film without the Hollywood ending of Tom Cruise’s film The Last Samurai. This film is a real tear jerker so get the tissues out. Occasionally the music was a little too over dramatic but otherwise this film was magnificent – rent it and see for yourself.

Read all highest rated reviews