Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.
Acting
Ken Watanabe deserved that Oscar nom and possibly your firstborn child.
Cinematography
New Zealand standing in for Japan never looked this gorgeous, fight me.
Score
Hans Zimmer's taiko drums will live rent-free in your head forever.
Director
Edward Zwick
Tom Cruise
Nathan Algren
Ken Watanabe
Moritsugu Katsumoto
Timothy Spall
Simon Graham
Tony Goldwyn
Col. Benjamin Bagley
Hiroyuki Sanada
Ujio
Koyuki
Taka
Shin Koyamada
Nobutada
Billy Connolly
Zebulon Gant
Togo Igawa
General Hasegawa
Shichinosuke Nakamura
Emperor Meiji
Masato Harada
Omura
William Atherton
Winchester Rep
Chad Lindberg
Winchester Rep Assistant
Scott Wilson
Ambassador Swanbeck
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'Japanese' army soldiers were mostly Chinese and Korean extras because there weren't enough tall Japanese men to play 1870s conscripts. The magic of cinema!
The real Saigō Takamori—Katsumoto's inspiration—actually did wear Western clothes and use firearms; the film's romantic traditionalism is pure Hollywood invention.
US
