Edward Zwick directs this sumptuously designed, action-packed period epic that stars Tom Cruise as Captain Nathan Algren. Algren, a former Civil War hero, is adrift in 1870s San Francisco after the war, a lost soul struggling to stay afloat in a booze-soaked stupor. When he is recruited by the Japanese government to train the Emperor's army, he departs for the unknown shores of Japan and begins training the soldiers in American military tactics. But these skills are useless against a band of samurai rebels led by the proud warrior Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), and Algren is easily defeated. He is taken to a remote samurai village where he learns samurai warrior codes and ways of life, developing a deep bond with Katsumoto and sharing philosophical conversations with him. Caught between the feudal culture of the ancient samurai warriors and the encroachment of modern society, Algren is forced to choose between his own culture or Katsumoto's. THE LAST SAMURAI is lavish in its dramatic period costumes and intense performances, and will thrill fans of both historical drama and action films.

Theatrical Release Date: December 5, 2003

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33
Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Dolby Digital 5.1 - French
Dolby Surround 2.0 - English
Stereo - English
Additional Release Material:
Documentary: "History vs. Hollywood: THE LAST SAMURAI"
Interviews: "Making an Epic: A Conversation with Edward Zwick"
Deleted Scenes: "The Beheading" (Behind the Beheading); Algren and Katsumoto
Audio Commentary: Edward Zwick - Director
Featurette:
1. "Tom Cruise: A Warrior's Journey"
2. "Edward Zwick: Director's Video Journal"
3. "A World of Design: Production Design with Lilly Kilvert"
4. "Silk and Armour: Costume Design with Ngila Dickson"
5. "Imperial Army Basic Training: From Soldier to Samurai - The Weapons"
6. "Tokyo and Kyoto Red Carpet Premieres"
DVD-ROM Features:

Tom Cruise: American Actor, RISKY BUSINESS, EYES WIDE SHUT
Timothy Spall: British Actor, TOPSY-TURVY (1999)
Ken Watanabe: Japanese actor, THE LAST SAMURAI (2003)
Billy Connolly: Comedian/Actor
Tony Goldwyn: American Actor
Hiroyuki Sanada: 
Masato Harada: Japanese Director

Edward Zwick: Director/producer/screenwriter

Tom Cruise: American Actor, RISKY BUSINESS, EYES WIDE SHUT
Paula Wagner: Producer
Edward Zwick: Director/producer/screenwriter
Marshall Herskovitz: Director/Prod./Screenwriter
Scott Kroopf: Film producer
Tom Engelman: Producer
Ted Field: Film producer

Marshall Herskovitz: Director/Prod./Screenwriter
Edward Zwick: Director/producer/screenwriter
John Logan: Screenwriter

Hans Zimmer: Composer

Steven Rosenblum: Editor, PEARL HARBOR (2001)
Victor DuBois: Editor, THE LAST SAMURAI (2003)

"THE LAST SAMURAI affords the sort of fizzy enjoyment that can come with epic movie endeavors, including a meticulously detailed world unlike our own, an excellent supporting cast and some pulse-pounding fights."
"Mr. Zwick has absorbed the lethal agility of Akira Kurosawa; what registers just as powerfully as the sureness of the combatants is the ugly futility of the battles themselves."
"...Cruise plays the role with fierce energy and swings a Bushido blade like a pro..."
"...[A] rousing, smoothly assembled historical fantasia....A handsome epic..."
"[With] some of the most impressively realised battles this side of Middle Earth."
"Beautifully designed, intelligently written, acted with conviction, it's an uncommonly thoughtful epic."
"THE LAST SAMURAI is another stirring Civil War-era epic directed by Edward Zwick."