The Last Samurai

Factual error: When we see the United States flag, it is the wrong flag. It has 43 stars, something the flag did not have until 1891.

Factual error: The Japanese soldiers are using the cap lock musket, which only yields one shot at a time. In several scenes we see the same soldier firing several shots without reloading his gun.

Factual error: The scenes in the samurai village all have long grass in full seed, this can only happen in the summer not in the early spring as shown in the film.

Factual error: In the scene before the Americans are to be introduced to the emperor, they are told that the "Meiji" emperor is reform minded. However, Meiji is a posthumous era name, in other words, given after the emperor's death, which occurred many years later, whereas he is still very young in the period depicted.

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Suggested correction: They are using modern terms and words so that the film and characters are easier to understand.

Greg Dwyer

It doesn't change the fact that this is a factual error, no matter the reason behind it.

Epigenis

Yes it does. Almost nobody outside Japan would have known the name "Mutsuhito." Films often use modern terminology to make things easier for audiences to understand. Like saying "vegetarian" instead of the older term "Pythagorean."

LorgSkyegon

Factual error: At the start of the movie when Algren first lands in Japan there are power lines. The movie is set in 1876, 2 years before being introduced to Japan in 1878.

Factual error: When we see the United States flag, it is the wrong flag. It has 43 stars, something the flag did not have until 1891.

More mistakes in The Last Samurai

Colonel Bagley: Just tell me one thing, what is it about your own people you hate so much?

More quotes from The Last Samurai

Trivia: In scene 32, Katsumoto and Algren ride through the line of troops and as Algren dismounts, his horse kicks out at the soldier to the right of the camera and hits him in the groin. The soldier bends over with the impact, backs up, then bravely straightens up again as the scene continues. (01:53:55)

More trivia for The Last Samurai

Question: Nathan told Katsumo a story about the Greeks fighting a much smaller army and ended up losing the battle. Can anyone tell me the story or where to find the details on the web?

Answer: The Battle of Thermopylae, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae for more info.

Myridon

More questions & answers from The Last Samurai

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