The Underrated Tom Cruise Movie You Can Watch On HBO Max

The Last Samurai's story was destined to divide critics — Rotten Tomatoes calculates a 66% approval rate from reviewers. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone lamented the film's "hokey narration and bombastic dialogue" in a two-star review. Conversely, Roger Ebert called it "an uncommonly thoughtful epic," celebrating the movie as "Beautifully designed, intelligently written, (and) acted with conviction."

And while The Last Samurai didn't exactly blow up stateside, recouping around 80% of its estimated $140 million budget, it did gangbusters business in Japan. Per Box Office Mojo, the same year that it was released, big name motion picture events like Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Finding Nemo hit the country, and The Last Samurai still took second place at the box office, only beaten out by Howl's Moving Castle.

And, in a fascinating twist, The Last Samurai received a number of positive reviews with regards to its portrayal of Japanese Bushido customs. 

"With his pursuit of realism director Edward Zwick seeks to surmount the misunderstandings and biases made by Westerners in the past," wrote Noriki Ishitobi in the Tokyo daily newspaper the Asahi Shimbun, later quoted by The New York Times. 

The film received heaps of praise for its detail-oriented approach to dialects and cultural accuracy, as well as the utilization of beloved Japanese actors like Ken Watanabe and Hiroyuki Sanada.