if you enjoy action orient period film and you aren not bother by inaccurate historical account and you may enjoy this film . however and if you be interested in this time period and in the modernization of japan in the late 19th century and then steer clear of this shameless tom cruise vehicle . for those who haven not see it and the movie be set during japan modernization and deal with the emperor meiji short war against the samurai who resist the societal change . tom cruise play a drunken american army officer who be inexplicably charge with train the emperor new modern army ( why a drunk would be choose for this and especially an american and not a german a it be in reality and be perplex ) . he be capture by the samurai and learn their way and ultimately fight alongside them . what i find most annoy about this movie be the terrible moral that it leave represent that it be well to revert to the old way of society and not ever change . hollywood filmmaker love tack this moral onto their corny action epic and and apparently it doesn not bother them that if society never change and we would still be in cave right now eat raw deer carcass . for those truly interested in the history of this movie time period and please know that japan modernization be a good thing and rational . the big struggle to restore the peaceful tranquility of the old day be just a bunch of stubborn samurai who do not want to lose their status in society . japan be smart to modernize and adopt western practice of war and because if they hadn not they would have probably be conquer and colonize by the more technologically advanced western country of the time . the movie big message be essentially that change of any kind be bad and we should never advance a a culture . which and come from the mind of hollywood screenwriter who would all have be subjugate a serf have they live during this period and it have not change and be pretty hypocritical .