Retrospective: The Last Samurai (1990)
Christopher Meadows
A film review by Christopher E. Meadows
Copyright 1999 Christopher E. Meadows
MPAA: R
Written and Directed by Paul Mayersberg
Produced by Tony Carbone
Starring: John Fujioka, Lance Henriksen, Arabella Holzbog, John Saxon
Review Rating: 4 out of 10.
It's a sad state of affairs when the back box blurb is more exciting
than the movie contained within it.
Such is the case for the 1990 Paul Mayersberg film _The Last Samurai_.
Though the blurb alludes to "a jungle filled with political intrigue,
uneasy alliances, and murderous enemies at every turn," the story of
the movie is actually quite simple (and prosaic): A middle-aged
Japanese businessman named Endo (played by John Fujioka) and his
assistant, both of whom have Samurai aspirations, travel to Africa in
search of his ancestor, who went to bring Buddhism to Africa. He
hires the services of down-at-the-heels Vietnam veteran pilot Johnny
Congo (the redoubtable Lance Henriksen) and his girlfriend (Arabella
Holzbog), and travels to the camp of an arms-merchant-cum-safari-host-
cum-Islamic-missionary (John Saxon) and his wife (Lisa Eilbacher).
They are all kidnapped by an African revolutionary guerilla with
witch-doctor aspirations to conceal a pre-arranged arms deal, which
subsequently falls through. Congo escapes, finds Endo's ancestor's
sword, and comes back, guns blazing, to free the rest of them, and
Endo kills the revolutionary with the sword. The end.
_The Last Samurai_ is one of those movies that is neither bad enough
nor good enough to be enjoyable. It is merely _there_. The murky
plot is filled with subtexts that are never elaborated, subplots that
are never explained, and many scenes that make very little sense at
all. The film is shot through with all the tired old "inscrutable
Japanese Samurai" and zen stereotypes that are to be expected from an
American movie. It is quite slow-paced, with only a bit of action
near the end, and the final duel between Endo and the terrorist is
quite anticlimactic.
Most of the acting is fair, with the possible exception of Congo's
girlfriend. Lance Henriksen is his usual scene-chewing self, and is
one of few possible reasons anyone might conceivably have for seeing
this movie. The only other bright spot is the sweeping African
scenery.
I paid $3 for this film, from the discount rack at Best Buy, and
halfway suspect I overpaid for it. If you are in the mood for
Samurai, read a Clavell novel or watch a Kurusawa movie. Skip _The
Last Samurai_ unless you are a die-hard Henriksen fan.
Review rating: 4 out of 10
[This review is copyright 1999 by Christopher E. Meadows. Permission
granted for Usenet distribution and associated archival, including the
Internet Movie Database, but other distribution rights reserved to the
author.]
--
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