The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Katsumoto: You believe a man can change his destiny?
Algren: I think a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Emperor Meiji: [Referring to Katsumoto] Tell me how he died.
Algren: [Referring to Katsumoto] I will tell you how he lived.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Katsumoto: The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Simon Graham: [first lines]
Simon Graham: [narrating] They say Japan was made by a sword. They say the old gods dipped a coral blade into the ocean, and when they pulled it out four perfect drops fell back into the sea, and those drops became the islands of Japan. I say, Japan was made by a handful of brave men. Warriors, willing to give their lives for

what seems to have become a forgotten word: honor.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

[last lines]
Simon Graham: [narrating] And so the days of the Samurai had ended. Nations, like men, it is sometimes said, have their own destiny. As for the American Captain, no one knows what became of him. Some say that he died of his wounds. Others, that he returned to his own country. But I like to think he may have at last found some small measure of peace, that we all

seek, and few of us ever find.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

[Katsumoto hands a samurai sword to Algren, it has a message written on it]
Algren: What does it say?
Katsumoto: "I belong to the warrior in whom the old ways have joined the new."

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Higen: Will you fight the white men, too?
Algren: If they come here, yes.
Higen: Why?
Algren: Because they come to destroy what I have come to love.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Algren: You want me to kill Jappos, I'll kill Jappos.
Colonel Bagley: I'm not asking you to kill anybody.
Algren: You want me to kill THE ENEMIES of Jappos, I'll kill THE ENEMIES of Jappos... Rebs, or Sioux, or Cheyenne... For 500 bucks a month I'll kill whoever you want. But keep one thing in mind: I'd happily kill you for free.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Algren: There is some comfort in the emptiness of the sea, no past, no future.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Emperor Meiji: I have dreamed of a unified Japan. Of a country strong and independent and modern. We have railroads and cannon, Western clothing. But we cannot forget who we are. Or where we come from.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Algren: [narrating] They are an intriguing people. From the moment they wake they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. I have never seem such discipline. I am surprised to learn that the word Samurai means, 'to serve', and that Katsumoto believes his rebellion to be in the service of the Emperor.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Algren: I will miss our conversations.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

[With his dying breath]
Katsumoto: Perfect... They are all... perfect...

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Algren: [shouting] What do you want from me?
Katsumoto: What do you want for yourself?

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Katsumoto: What happened to the warriors at Thermopylae?
Algren: Dead to the last man.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Algren: There is Life in every breath...
Katsumoto: That is, Bushido.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Katsumoto: You do not have to die here.
Algren: I should have died so many time before.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Algren: This is Katsumoto's sword. He would have wanted you to have it. He hoped with his dying breath that you would remember his ancestors who held this sword, and what they died for. May the strength of the Samurai be with you always.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

[about General Hasegawa]
Algren: He fought with the Samurai?
Simon Graham: He IS Samurai.

The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai

Katsumoto: And who was your general?
Algren: Don't you have a rebellion to lead?
Katsumoto: People in your country do not like conversation?
Algren: He was a lieutenant colonel. His name was Custer.
Katsumoto: I know this name. He killed many warriors
Algren: Oh,

yes. Many warriors.
Katsumoto: So he was a good general.
Algren: No. No, he wasn't a good general. He was arrogant and foolhardy. And he got massacred because he took a single battalion against two thousand angry Indians.
Katsumoto: Two thousand Indians? How many men for Custer?
Algren: Two hundred and

eleven.
Katsumoto: I like this General Custer.
Algren: He was a murderer who fell in love with his own legend. And his troopers died for it.
Katsumoto: I think this is a very good death.
Algren: Well, maybe you can have one just like it someday.