| Which is the better film? | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dances with Wolves | The Last Samurai | |
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Each is a historical epic centering around an American Civil War veteran (John Dunbar/Nathan Algren) who at the start feels a kind of emptiness and has some inclination for suicide. The hero eventually decides to venture to a land foreign to him (The American Western Frontier/Japan) where he'd eventually find himself taken in by a technologically primitive though spiritually enlightened group (The Lakota Sioux Native American tribe/traditionalist Japanese samurai rebels) that are under the threat from a more numerous advanced society (The United States/The westernizing Japanese government) and learn to become one of them as he bears witness to the twilight of their civilization. He is brought under the wing of one of the group's central figures (Kicking Bird/Katsumoto), falls in love with a woman from his family (Stands With A Fist/Taka) who was recently widowed, and befriends the resident tough guy (Wind In His Hair/Ujio) who initially held a dislike for him. Whilst there is some loss and foreboding, the hero in the end has a heart-to-heart with the leader of the people he had bonded with (Chief Ten Bears/Emperor Meiji) and ultimately gets to end up with his love interest and live a peaceful life.