Yes, it's been done before: Add Dances With Wolves to the King and I and what do you get? Well, you would get a LOT MORE than this movie, but generally you get the idea...The acting is generally average, with the exception of the usual Tom Cruise faux intensity, replete with the usual faux intellectual/academic post movie interviews...As for action scenes, the audience get's to watch a slo-mo repeat of one sword-swingning scene presumably to show us how great the fist version would have been had it been properly filmed...and the epic scenes are, well, simply put, NOT EPIC.The lack of love interest is apparent in the apparent lack of interest in the female character by Cruise - no surprise - which leaves the male viewer with little more than some OK aikido, iaido and sushi.The only thing missing was a rice-rocket motorcycle scene. No Top Shogun here.