A group of tourists on safari in Africa are kidnapped by a self-styled guerrilla general (Henry Cele). Among the group are two Japanese businessmen on a quest for a lost Samurai ancestor and girl whose lover is a white hunter-cum-mercenary soldier. But the kidnap is a scam to enable an Arab in the group to meet with the general and arrange an arms deal. But lo! the lover is coming to save them all in true Crocodile Dundee-style! A strange mix of themes here - Japanese fighting, Stallone style ambushes in the forest, a compound full of prisoners with an elegant house nearby and John Saxon's weird shot at a middle Eastern accent. But strangest of all is Mr Cele's wardrobe - from Shaka style leopard skin outfits - one in a boudoir complete with beaded wig! - to dungarees and a straw hat as he tends his roses. But he looks best in his general's uniform and his striding walk could not be equalled for dignity and presence. Which is just as well as there's little else in this film to spark one's interest and is desperately heavy with 'meaningful' mood musac. Mr Cele alone tackles his role with a credible commitment, giving a saving grace to an otherwise classically B minus movie. It's only worth watching his performance so fast forward the rest!
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flaglady158 May 2005
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tarbosh220003 December 2014Yasujiro Endo (Fujioka) is a Japanese businessman who decides to go to the African nation of Imtazi. He believes an ancestor of his was a samurai warrior who somehow got lost in Africa, and he is searching for answers. But for him it becomes a sort of spiritual quest to reconnect with his past. Meanwhile, he is surrounded by other colorful characters, such as Johnny Congo (Henriksen), a Vietnam vet, and Al-Hakim (Saxon), an Arab sheik. Caro and Susan (Holzbog and Eilbacher) have their own reasons for being there as well. Things really start to heat up when, surprisingly enough, strife occurs in Africa. That seems to give everyone the excuse for violence they're looking for (or maybe that's just the audience). Will Endo truly be THE LAST SAMURAI? Not to be confused with the Tom Cruise movie of the same name, here the Last Samurai in question seems to be John Fujioka. He was a prolific actor that appeared in American Ninja (1985), American Ninja 2 (1987), American Samurai (1992) and American Yakuza (1993). He was obviously as obsessed with "American"-based action movies as we are here at Comeuppance Reviews, and for that we salute him. Clearly Tom Cruise is jealous of this guy. But here's the problem: The Last Samurai is a case of the old "bait and switch". With a title like that, and with a picture of Fujioka on the front brandishing a giant sword, you think you know what you're in for. But you'd be wrong: this movie is an Africa Slog. Much like a Space Slog, a Submarine Slog, an Airplane Slog, or perhaps a Sci-Fi Slog, An Africa Slog might be fun for the cast and crew of the movie, but it's not for the audience. After sitting there restlessly throughout most of the running time, you're GLAD he's the Last Samurai.
Even the great Lance Henriksen cannot save this. He does his absolute best, and his bolo tie is pretty awesome, but he's struggling against a wall of incoherent plotting and incompetent direction, which is surprising for the normally talented Paul Mayersberg. Knowing his history, he may have been going for the artier end of things, but it all seems to fall flat. It's hard to tell what's going on here and why. Simply putting a bunch of characters in Africa is not the same thing as a plot. But Henriksen - whose name is Johnny Congo, it feels important to reiterate - had faced very similar challenges before, namely with Savage Dawn (1985). Interestingly enough, his co-star here, Arabella Holzbog, would appear with him again the same year in Stone Cold (1991), which was sort of like a biker do-over to correct the mistakes of Savage Dawn. It was also interesting to see fellow fan favorite John Saxon as some sort of Arab sheik. Saxon's accent, or Saxccent, set him apart and showed his acting range.
Yes, the beginning of the film has a classy black and white Kendo match, and the climax has some good action, but it's too little too late, as there's not much of any in the middle of the movie. The Last Samurai is closer in spirit to Danger Zone (1996), Sweepers (1998), and even, heaven help us, High Explosive (2001), but it's not that bad. We don't want to malign the movie too much, but we felt it did not deliver on its promises. It lacks surprises or excitement. We really wanted to like the movie, but not much happens that makes it easy to like.
We found the Front Row Entertainment VHS at the Salvation Army, and we were excited at first, but it may get put back into circulation. -
loudbike17 July 2003Huge disappointment. Usually Lance Henriksen can offer some redeeming qualities to even the worst script as he did in Stone Cold. BUT, no one could save this movie. Continuity has been ignored with a passion. The story is WEAK and remains unjustified right through the final credits. This is not even a "rainy day watch." This is movie for laying down and avoiding. AND; as far as the DVD being "digitally re-mastered;" I fear the master was beyond help, because even state of the art home theatre could not make the audio enjoyable. The next time you want visitors to leave, fire this movie up, and you'll have your privacy in no time.
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Jon-Jokerjon11 December 2011Without doubt this has got to be the worst movie I have ever had the misfortune to see. Though I can empathise with the other reviewer regarding the multi-layered depth of the storyline this is all lost to the viewer by its farcical delivery.
The actors did not stand a chance! Though I have not read the original script I am guessing that the movie stems from a subtle and well composed source. The multi-faceted snippets of a deep and diverse storyline that occasionally leak out from this disjointed movie are clues to this.
Despite the potential strength of the plot or the proved skills of the actors the delivery of the entire production of this film has slashed or destroyed all that was good about it.
I have to say, however, that this is one DVD that I will forever cherish. It is the perfect material to study to see what NOT to do!
I would recommend that all students studying Media and Film qualifications throughout the world study this film as part of their course.
For fun I started to compile a list of things that were wrong with it and in so doing realised that nearly every single facet of this film is flawed.
Good luck with your list... -
mykungfuistrong30 December 2003Good God, this was horrible! Why I ever watched it, I don't know. You keep thinking that it HAS to get better, but no, shut the movie off. As bad as it is, it actually gets worse as you watch. Horrible, horrible movie, topped only by "Safe" and "Satyricon".
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miyagigoose21 April 2005I bought this movie knowing it was a budget title simply for the reason that Lance Henriksen (Terminator) (Aliens) (Millennium) is in it - one of my favourite actors. He is really the only thing that kept this movie going and kept me watching as it is a rather poor movie. he accepts roles in some very low budget movies when really he deserves much much better as his performances in the three movies above i have quoted could not be matched but this one was really poor... The only other good actor in it is the sexy Arabella Holzbog, it was also her first movie. since this she has always been stuck in the b-movie sector and deserves better also and has recently stared in some "alias" episodes. This is not a good movie and there is not a lot to it story wise or anything it is quite pointless but worth one watch if you are a lance or Arabella fan.
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this movie had a lot of outstanding acting and a very powerful story base. it is to bad that most people would only watch the movie but yet they would not understand the message of tiriny and oppression contained within the story. the fact that japan would turn its back on it own traditions in order to embrace the ways of the western civilization.
i have reviewed it many times and each time i have learnt more about the ways of the Japanese samurai and of Japanese tradition. many would just watch this move for the blood and guts but there is a deeper meaning within its plot. for instance: that a man, one man can open his eyes to what his enemies are fighting for and to change his opinion, teaches us that many times we would walk into situations knowing only half the facts. or that while one may seem to think that he is one the right side of a battle, when he sees the other side of the coin that his opinion could possibly change. this movie, although it was written in Hollywood, it has a lot of research behind it. the battles could have been a little more detailed but it held the compassion of war.