Tom Cruise’s Forgotten 154-Minute Historical Epic Is Dominating Streaming

Tom Cruise’s 2003 historical drama *The Last Samurai* is attracting renewed attention on HBO Max more than two decades after its release. The 154-minute film’s return to prominence points to an audience appetite for large-scale, character-led historical dramas that take their time, a kind of blockbuster the article says is now less common.

Cruise plays Nathan Algren, a troubled former US Army captain sent to Japan to train the Imperial Army, where he is captured by samurai leader Katsumoto, played by Ken Watanabe. Living among the samurai leads Algren to reconsider his beliefs about war and honour; the article credits Watanabe and the supporting cast, including Hiroyuki Sanada, with giving the film emotional depth. It also notes that the film flopped at the US box office but was successful in Japan, and that Cruise’s central role prompted criticism of its framing.