4.0 out of 5 stars
I like one, and the other we could just say was okay., January 4, 2009
This review is from: Troy / The Last Samurai (DVD)
I personally loved the movie The Last Samurai, I dont care much for Tom Cruise but its really a great movie. As for Troy, I was disappointing in the movie the acting was not bad, but the real last first scene wasn't all that great. I think others would probably like the movie, so this is all just my opinion. I think Troy makes more for a renting movie than a buying movie, but I think buying the Last Samurai is a bit better.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
A pair of worthy movies, August 13, 2008
This review is from: Troy / The Last Samurai (DVD)
There are great epics, fair epics and like the previous reviewer noted, bad epics like Alexander. The two movies on this offering I found to be entertaining and both movies are in my DVD collection but neither are great.
The Last Samurai had Tom Cruise as a cynical, drunken American army officer hired to help train Japanese troops in modern warfare and lead them against samurai who were resisting western encroachment in their culture. Captured by the samurai (led by Ken Watanabi), Cruise comes to respect them and learns much about honor through their example (honor he no longer believed in ... hinted at in flashbacks to his Indian fighting days and the atrocities committed against them). Cruise throws in with the samurai and their fight against the impending corruption of their ways (some of the Japanese in favor of changing their culture were less interested in how it would benefit their people and more interested in the financial gain to themselves).
The Last Samurai was an interesting study on honor, duty and what evil men will do for money. It was also the better of the two movies.
Troy was a little more uneven in its character development and Achilles (Brad Pitt) seemed far more interested in the glory to be found in battle and his place in history than such intangible things like honor. Diane Kruger as Helen was believable as a woman whose face would launch a thousand ships but wasn't given any real opportunity to actually act. I love Orlando Bloom as an actor but he simply wasn't believable as a warrior whereas Pitt and Eric Bana as Hector were quite convincing. Bana shines as Hector and the movie does an effective job of building him up as a hero which makes the duel where he confronts Achilles quite sad. Hector is portrayed as a wise prince and great warrior and the sense of loss when Achilles slays him is palpable. Braveheart fans will also recognize some familiar faces among the Greek kings.
If one is in the mood for an action film, Troy fits the bill well enough but it is far from being a great movie.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Too much fantasy, too mch reality, May 31, 2005
This review is from: Troy / The Last Samurai (DVD)
Epic adventure flicks come in two varieties -- there's the "Ben-Hur"/"Lord of the Rings" type, and then there's the "Alexander" type. Sadly, two of the much-hyped adventures of 2003 and 2004 were monumental duds, both artistically and critically.
"The Last Samurai" tells the tale of a alcoholic officer-turned-mercenary (Tom Cruise), who is dragged to Japan to train the emperor's troops in Western warfare. But when he is captured by a samurai rebellion force, he begins to respect them and their way of life -- even to the point of fighting alongside them.
"Troy" goes further back in time, to ancient Greece and Troy. The beautiful, married queen Helen (pretty but wooden Diane Kruger) has run off with Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom), prompting all the Greek kings to lay siege to Troy in an effort to bring her back, with doomed hero Achilles (Brad Pitt) at the front lines.
Oddly enough, these two films suffer from opposite problems -- "Samurai" romanticizes history to the point of disbelief, while "Troy" strips away all mythological trappings. And it doesn't help either movie: the former is turned into a dewy-eyed star vehicle, while the latter loses many of its layers, and feels thin and undernourished. Achilles isn't much fun without his goddess mom and flawed invulnerability, is he?
Admittedly, the costumes and scenery for each are spectacular. "Troy" is set in an arid Mid-Eastern setting, and has some truly spectacular battle scenes between the Greeks and Trojans. And "Last Samurai" was filmed in New Zealand, which gave it plenty of green, dewy expanses and forests. Too bad each film is burdened with very clunky dialogue.
Tom Cruise plays a P.C., rather annoying version of a soldier, while Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt do seem to be giving it their all, but are hampered by their thin characters. The supporting actors are given better roles and do a better job, most notably Eric Bana ("Troy") and Ken Watanabe ("Last Samurai"), both of whom shine beside the A-listers.
"Troy" and "The Last Samurai" were attempts at modern Hollywood epics, but with difficult storylines and thin characters, neither one works. They're nowhere near as bad as "Alexander," but nowhere near good either.
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