its my favorite tom cruise movie, which is a short list. If you pretend the last samurai is really talking about ken watanabe's character its much more enjoyable since his performance in the movie is omg. I think, if you can look past the historical fairy tale, you can find something to enjoy. Plus the costumes are OMG
I mean its neat to be all lookie me I give a shit about history and the people, but deep down none of us do. Last Samurai excels at set piece battles, scenery, costumes, and you know what, it has some decent writing too.
Sneering at concepts can really keep you away from some decent movies.