The story of the last samurai begins long before he even knew he was one. In the 1870s captain Nathan Algren was recruited by some of his men from the Calvary and paid to lead a battle against the rebellious samurai who won't abandon the old ways and refuse to obey the new ones. As the point of battle comes, Nathan gets wounded and imprisoned by the samurai and taken to their village, to their samurai leader, Katsumoto. After getting all of his wounds healed, Nathan gets taken care of and gets a chance to learn the old ways of Bushido. Throughout the time, he realizes their way of living and starts respecting all of that. Until the winter passes and the time comes for him to go back to his home. Will he go home and leave it all behind him? Or will he pledge his alliances to the samurai world? The movie is full of action and drama, but history events as well. Performance given by Tom Cruise, who plays Nathan, was one of the most challenging ones, and yet he fulfilled it with grace. Nothing worse was his fellow actor Ken Watanabe, who had the role of Katsumoto. Bringing the spirits of the old ways was a pretty hard task, that was done amazingly. This movie leaves any person breathless, especially with it's realistic ending.