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.
The Last Samurai (2003)
1 suggested correction
Directed by: Edward Zwick
Starring: Tom Cruise, Billy Connolly, Ken Watanabe, William Atherton, Chad Lindberg
Continuity mistake: When Hiroyuki Sanada, who plays Ujio, is riding his horse and charging the howitzers, he gets shot by the gatling gun and falls down dead. In the next scene he can be seen in the upper left corner still riding, wearing his distinctive gold circle armor. (02:04:40)
Algren: Your highness... if you believe me to be your enemy, command me, and I will gladly take my life.
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)
Question: Who does the voiceover for the trailer? He says: "Tom Cruise" and then "The last samurai".
Chosen answer: I'm not 100% sure, but I think it may have been Jim Cummings. He does a lot of voiceovers for movie trailers, cartoon characters, songs and the like. He's the voice of Cat in CatDog, Winnie the Pooh, Tasmanian Devil and has had small roles in films like Shrek, Sinbad and Antz. Find out more about him at this address: http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0191906/.
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