Honor. I've heard of it so many times, I pretend to practise it, I pretend to live it. Yet, even as I seek to gain it, to have it, it slips past me like sand.

There was a time when honor was greater than life itself. One lived by the blade, one died by the blade. Blade was iron and steel, as was discipline. Then, the world changed. The definition of honor changed. The practice of life... changed.

The Last Samurai is a story about tradition, about how honor takes precedence than one's own life. Bushido, the way of the samurai, is not just a way to fight, it is a way to life. To explain bushido would take forever, it's not unlike explaining Nirvana and such. It's explained a little in the movie.
Tom Cruise is a superb actor. His expressions, his eyes... HIS EYES, they spoke to your very soul, I kid you not. In short, he rocks.
The other actors were realistic too, except for the guy who took 23536 bullets and refused to die.
Another aspect that caught my attention was the dressing scene. Jap lady helps Tom put on armor. It is sensual, sad, graceful. No sex, just one kiss.

All in all, the movie aspires to show how the way of the warrior is and does a decent lollipop job of it. Lollipop cause the way of the warrior is much harsher than what the show portrays. Bushido is cruel at times, which is not seen in the film. The fights are spectacular and epical, not unlike that of LOTR, though Tom uses TACTICS, yes TACTICS, rather than blatant charging.
Other than the wonderment of how a gaijin (foreigner) could command a whole samurai army (Samurais are very very very proud), or put on a hakama (Japanese er.. dress for men) by himself without any help, this movie tells the tale well. Moving, adventurous, and simply stunning, the show gets 4 stars out of 5, though any show with Japanese and swords and basttlefields would get rave reviews from me :)