The Last Samurai

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.

Critics were genuinely split on The Last Samurai: the production craft, battle sequences, and lead performances drew real admiration, but many found the idealized portrait of samurai culture too storybook to take seriously. Japanese reviewers were broadly warmer than American critics, though even they pushed back on the film's nobility-drenched vision of the samurai class. Audiences responded with considerably more enthusiasm than the professional critical consensus would suggest.