The Last Samurai Official Movie Guide [Paperback]

Warner Bros. Pictures (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2003

o behind the scenes of Edward Zwick's (Legends of the Fall, Glory) powerful epic set during Japan's turbulent movement away from a feudal society and into a modern nation. Tom Cruise stars as Captain Nathan Algren, battle-scarred Civil War veteran turned Winchester gun spokesman, who travels to Japan in 1876 to train the emperor's troops. With his western-trained troops in place, Emperor Meiji plans to sever ties with the traditional samurai warriors who protect the territories. But during combat, Algren is wounded and captured by the samurai. And it is while in captivity that he discovers the warrior code of honor and undergoes a spiritual transformation that will align him with the very samurai he was sent to quell.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Time Inc Home Entertainment (December 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932273301
• ISBN-13: 978-1932273304
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,215,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Terry J. Erdmann is the author or co-author of numerous books about the entertainment industry, including Star Trek The Original Series 365, Star Trek 101, Monk: The Official Episode Guide, The Last Samurai Official Companion, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, The Secrets of Star Trek Insurrection, The Magic of Tribbles, The Tribble Handbook, Star Trek: Action! and The 4400 Companion. As a motion picture publicist, he helped to create the marketing campaigns for dozens of films, from Cocoon, Aliens and Willow, to What's Love Got to Do With It, Father of the Bride Part II, G.I. Jane and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Terry and his wife, writer Paula M. Block, live in Southern Oregon with their two collies, Shadow and Mandy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Coffee Table Book, December 14, 2003

By 

Nick Jamilla "Sit anima tecum" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Samurai (Screenplay and Movie Guide) (Paperback)

The book not a technically accurate in some instances, but a good introduction to a culture and civilization which is often unnecessarily portrayed as inscrutible.

Some military misconceptions: bushido is portrayed as a tangible code of rules instead of an ambiguous warrior ethic. They say that the Way of archery (kyudo) was Japan's first martial art and that it existed before the Way of the spear (yarido), which in turn existed before the Way of the sword (kendo), but the Way refers to peaceful applications of deadly arts, which are more accurately (though not universally) referred to as kyujutsu, yarijutsu, and kenjutsu. In another instance, it says, "ashigaru," which means foot soldier, practiced the specialty of "The Way of the Bow and the Horse."

There are excerpts from the screenplay, but they are far from complete and are used basically as side bars to David James's photographs which are stunning. Something that could have truly added to the book is a listing of credits.

On the positive side, the book does a good job of explaining Algren's flashbacks to the Sand Creek massacre, the production of costumes, set, weapons and armor. And of particular note is the training of horses for the film.

Beautiful pictures and insights into the movie, but almost as much, and in some instances, more can be found at its website - www.lastsamurai.com. Don't use this as a reference book. It was designed as a coffee table companion to a movie which Zwick, the director, himself describes as "literary fancy."

Almost forgot! Go see the movie.

Nick Jamilla, author of Shimmering Sword: Samurai, Western, and Star Wars Sword Fighting.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I found some mistakes., December 18, 2003

By 

YASUHISA KOMUKAI (Victoria, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Samurai (Screenplay and Movie Guide) (Paperback)

Yes, this is a good movie book. This book helps American people to understand Japanese history, which this movie is based on.
However, I found some mistakes in the Japanese translation. For example, the definition of Ashigaru and Kote are totally wrong. (Ashigaru should be Yabusame, and Kote is glove.)
I am really disappointed about these mistakes, because the movie is excellent and I could feel that all the staff tried to make everything authentic.
But overall, this book helps people to understand the different culture, which even new Japanese generation like me sometimes feel difficult to understand.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece just like the movie., February 17, 2004

By 

P. C. Anderson "pet31" (Melbourne, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Samurai (Screenplay and Movie Guide) (Paperback)

This book is filled with magnificent photographs and information of history contained throughout the film, along with behind the scenes info. The book also contains segments of the movie script.
An excellent companion to the outstanding movie.