A stuntman explains how one fight scene in The Last Samurai perfectly encapsulates Tom Cruise’s physical performance in the period epic.

A stuntman explains how one scene in The Last Samurai perfectly captures Tom Cruise’s performance. Directed by Edward Zwick, the film follows Cruise as an American soldier who is sent to Japan during the late 19th century to eliminate the last samurai, Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), but after being captured in battle, he begins to embrace the samurai culture and eventually joins them in their fight. The Last Samurai was a big box office success, became the sixth highest-grossing film of 2003, and was nominated for four Academy Awards.

In the latest episode of Corridor Crew‘s “Stuntmen React” series, stuntman Gui DaSilva-Greene appeared to react to one scene in The Last Samurai, which perfectly captures Cruise’s physical performance.

DaSilva-Greene, who called The Last Samurai one of his favorite movies, reacted to the scene in which Cruise’s character battles the master swordsman Ujio (Hiroyuki Sanada). The stuntman went on to explain how the scene perfectly captures Cruise’s performance. Read a portion of his commentary below:

He’s supposed to be a soldier, so he shows that he’s in pain, but then he has to show that he is going to overcome it, so you show the, “Oh that hurt,” and then the “I can’t show you that hurt though.” So it’s the same with feeling of anger or emotion and not being allowed to show it. Most people when they cry they, don’t want you to see them cry, like they immediately wipe it away. They don’t just let the one tear drop like we see in all the movies. It’s like, “I’m vunerable,” so immediately I’m going show it for a moment, but then I have to get back into my strength, not show that. You hint at it, you don’t go full Jackie though. You have to go like quarter Jackie and then pull it away from everybody. Ways that you do it without showing like the facial expression is through body language which we see when he goes for the ribs for the first time, you see that aspect.

That’s where he pulls our heartstrings here. This is how he wins over everybody, including the audience as this man who is fighting these demons along with having to be a captive and earn the respect of the people around them, and that’s like one of the biggest things that I care about when it comes to seeing a fight scene is how does it push us forward in the story or make us care about the character.

The Last Samurai Was A Different Type Of Performance For Tom Cruise

The Last Samurai was a departure from typical Tom Cruise movies up until that point. At the time, the actor was (and still is) best known for his association with action-packed franchises like Mission: Impossible and sci-fi films like Minority Report and Vanilla Sky. However, The Last Samurai represented a slight detour in Cruise’s career as he took on a more dramatic role in an epic historical drama. While his previous roles focused more on action and stunts, The Last Samurai required Cruise to delve more into the emotional and psychological aspects of his character.

Cruise’s character, Captain Nathan Algren, is a disillusioned American soldier grappling with issues involving identity, loyalty, and honor who undergoes a significant moral transformation. Even though The Last Samurai required a slightly different type of performance from Cruise, he approached it with the same level of physical and technical training he applies to his other roles. To play a soldier-turned-samurai, Cruise underwent extensive physical and technical training in sword fighting and the martial arts. Cruise’s usual dedication to authenticity, combined with the more dramatic demands of the role, is perfectly captured by Algren’s battle with Ujio in The Last Samurai.