The Japanese monarchy has decided to replace the hired samurai warriors, who have been relied upon for centuries for defending the nation, with a more contemporary military. A U.S. Civil War veteran (Tom Cruise) is hired by the Emperor to train a group of Japanese conscripts to replace the samurai warriors.

But when he is captured by the samurai, he comes to respect them and finds himself torn over who he should be fighting for.

Critic Reviews for The Last Samurai

• “It's easy to stand back and wax ironic about The Last Samurai. But it's not all that difficult to succumb to its full-spirited romanticism either.” – Richard Schickel , TIME Magazine
• “The Last Samurai is an idyll in which the savageries of existence are transcended by spiritual devotion. That's a beautiful dream, and it gives the film a deep pleasingness, but the fullness of life and its blackest ambiguities are sacrificed.” – Peter Rainer , New York Magazine/Vulture