What Emmanuelle Movie Did You Just Watch?

[Timothy225]

I liked PR. I liked Godzilla. Both films could have been much, much better considering the subject matter.

I did like Godzilla a bit more over PR for many of the reasons Rob said, but it absolutely needed more Godzilla onscreen, as I've said before elsewhere.

[Captain Russ]

The Last Ham on Rye.

Ed Zwick doesn't get nearly enough appreciation for his efforts in grand epic film-making. They're usually somewhat uneven, but ultimately well crafted Hollywood spectacles.

This is one of his more solid outings, even though it is a ludicrous conflation of history in the tradition of Lord Jim (but less distracted in its storytelling).

Beautifully shot, sporting an uncharacteristically restrained Hans Zimmer score, it also has Cruise at his most insular and brooding. He stumbles here and there, but carries the wounded warrior Algren sufficiently.

His ingratiation into the village hierarchy comes naturally and the resolution for the character is one that Cruise seemed to like so much he ended up shoehorning it into several other projects in later years.

Cruise is the same height as everyone else save for fellow gaijin Tony Goldwyn, explaining Cruise's animosity for his former superior officer more than any slaughter of unarmed Sioux children ever could.

The standouts are found in rebellion leader Katsumoto and the residents of his village. While Ken Watanabe got all the praise for his portrayal of Katsumoto, I ended up appreciating the smaller roles this time around. From Katsumoto's son to his loyal guardsmen (one of which looked and acted like he stepped right out of Seven Samurai), they all were given moments to shine and build a more fully realized and inhabited world through which Algren navigated.

Of course, the uneven aspect reared its head in the portrayal of Japan's industrialization as a supremely wicked thing, as the antagonist Omura is little more than a mustache-twirling villain (enough though it is a nice mustache). While the screenwriter and Zwick romanticize the samurai (hard not to) and give them a beautiful elegy, there is scant time made for those they struggle to wrest control from.

This is more of a problem for me than most, but seeing how well drawn and established everything else was, it bugged me a bit that some bone was not thrown toward the businessman who sold his world away.

[Abraham Smashington]

I never gave this a chance. I feel as if I need to now. Nice write up man.

[Captain Russ]

I know several people who will never watch it because of Paul Mooney's evisceration of it.

[Matt]

I really liked THE LAST SAMURAI. Very solid movie, in my opinion.

[Abraham Smashington]

hahahaha

[Captain Russ]

I'd watch it.

[Abraham Smashington]

It would be his best movie since Dragnet.

[Matt]

That's funny, but it's pretty clear in the movie that Cruise isn't 'the last samurai' in the movie's title...that's Ken Watanabe.

[BillyG]

Last Samurai is legit great.

[Anderson]

Last Samurai is legit great.

It's OK at best.

[Martin]

Nah, it's fun. I like it a lot, Watanabe and Hiroyuki Sanada are amazing in it. And teh ninja scene was freaking neat.

[BillyG]

It's OK at best.

Watanabe elevates it like nobodies business.

[B_Metal]

It's OK at best.

YOU'RE OK AT BEST YOU SUNNNUVABEEEEECH!!!!


You're prolly right though but fuck it, I really enjoy the movie.

[Anderson]

It's OK at best.

Ed Zwick got lucky with Glory. But, that film had legendary cinematography and technical work. This is just the movie that introduced Western audiences to Ken Watanabe 18 years after the fact.