Dances with Katanas (aka Last Samurai)

[Shadowdancer]

Personally, calling it "Dances With Wolves In Japan" is all wrong, especially when Tom Cruise is so much different than Kevin Costner, who not only starred but directed his award-winning film.

I don't see Tom Cruise's name on the Director's Chair.

The comparision is not all wrong, just because Cruise didn't direct it. The basic storyline of the two movies is almost exactly the same. A disillusioned Civil War hero who discovers personal and spiritual rebirth after encountering an ancient, foreign (to him) culture which is on the wane.

Also, Cruise is a producer on the movie, which means he has a lot of influence and control over what the final version of the movie looks like. Sure, if he's smart, he'll basically stay out of the way of director Edward Zwick, but we'll have to wait and see whether he did.

 

[Starman]

Anyone else planning on seeing this movie this weekend? I am, but I'm having serious doubts about Cruise's ability to disappear into the role enough to make me forget I'm watching Tom Cruise play an American Civil War hero playing at being a samurai.

Really though, how many blockbuster movie stars actually make you forget who they are? Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and others have made a lot of very enjoyable movies, but 90% of the time I see an actor in a movie and not a character in a story.

Starman

 

[Welverin]

Really though, how many blockbuster movie stars actually make you forget who they are? Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and others have made a lot of very enjoyable movies, but 90% of the time I see an actor in a movie and not a character in a story.

Which I'd say is more of a problem with the people watching the movie and not the actor.

Of course I'm always aware of the fact that I'm watching a movie and don't get the whole "it took me out of the movie" comments.

 

[Olive]

Ninjae + katanae + Tom Cruise = real ultimate power!

I'm beginging to think that you get up, get on tot he boards and then do a search for 'ninja' just so you can post something about flipping out and killing people.

How close am I?

 

[Shadowdancer]

Really though, how many blockbuster movie stars actually make you forget who they are? Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and others have made a lot of very enjoyable movies, but 90% of the time I see an actor in a movie and not a character in a story.

Starman

Well, Russell Crowe for one. And Tom Hanks for another. I don't mean that you completely forget who they are. But some actors have an ability to diminish their "star quality" so it doesn't outshine the character they are playing.

In the trailer for "Last Samurai," they show the scene in which Cruise's character is being offered the advisor job in Japan. He appears to be drunk, and he starts laughing. It's the same freakin' laugh he's done from "Risky Business" to "Vanilla Sky." C'mon, try something new! Give your character a new laugh. Develop your character. BE an Actor, not a pretty boy movie star.

Sorry for the rant. Normally I like Tom Cruise. It's just that scene in the trailer grates on my nerves. I know he worked hard on the movie, gained some muscle and learned to fight with a sword. Good for him. If only he could have learned a new laugh.

 

[Sirius_Black]

Well, Russell Crowe for one. And Tom Hanks for another. I don't mean that you completely forget who they are. But some actors have an ability to diminish their "star quality" so it doesn't outshine the character they are playing.

Interesting to note in the Entertainment Weekly review that did criticize Cruise for playing Cruise in this latest film, the reviewer mentioned Crowe as an example of an actor with a star persona who overcomes it in every role.

I concur with her statement and with your feelings towards Hanks as well.

 

[Desdichado]

Sorry for the rant. Normally I like Tom Cruise. It's just that scene in the trailer grates on my nerves. I know he worked hard on the movie, gained some muscle and learned to fight with a sword. Good for him. If only he could have learned a new laugh.

Hey, a laugh's not so bad. Sean Connery was rarely criticized for his inability to develop a new accent, for instance.

 

[Berandor]

Yeah, I mean even the "Spaniard" from Gladiator and "Lucky Jack" from Maxter & Commander are, while both action movie commanding figures, not really alike. And comparing it with his "Jeff Wygand" in Insider or "Bud White" in L.A. Confidential is totally different.
The fact is, I can remember these character's names, even.
But look at A few good men, Eyes Wide Shut, Top Gun, Risky Business, Mission: Impossible: It's always Cruise. Even his most prominent departure in Magnolia isn't that different, only that he's crying sometime in the film. I honestly can't remember any of his character's names (well, perhaps M:I. *tries to remember*... Ethan Hunt! O.K., so one I remember.).
Another actor I used to put in the same boat as Crowe is Kevin Spacey, but his latter roles were somewhat phoned in. I hope he doesn't do a Pacino or DeNiro and becomes a characature of himself...

Berandor

 

[barsoomcore]

I heard it had ninjas in it. Ninjas are always cool.

And by cool, you mean totally sweet.

 

[barsoomcore]

Hey, a laugh's not so bad. Sean Connery was rarely criticized for his inability to develop a new accent, for instance.

Maybe not in your house. But I sure get the giggles every time I watch The Hunt For Red October -- World's Least Convincing Russian! -- or Highlander -- World's Least Convincing Spaniard!

At least in The Avengers he was playing a Scot.

I just wanna know who was responsible for casting Highlander -- "I know we'll get... a Frenchman to play the Scot, and... a Scotsman to play the Spaniard! Yeah! And not just any Scotsman, but, like, the World's Most Famous Scotsman! Great! What? No Frenchmen? Okay, what else? I know, let's get an American... with a French accent! Great! Brilliant!"

Sigh.

Russel Crowe can certainly act -- The Insider is a terrific performance and I keep telling myself that they gave the Oscar for Gladiator only because they felt bad about NOT giving it to him for the previous film. But his work in Master and Commander is pretty lackadaisical and I'm starting to see "Crowe" mannerisms come to the fore, like Ford's "startled head shake", Cruise's "carefree laugh" and so on. To some degree it's inevitable, but I did feel more like I was watching Russel Crowe than Jack Aubrey.