Graphics: 7
The graphics in this movie were mediocre for it's time, although it was not meant to be focused on the graphical aspect of the overall movie, it was more focused on some of the other aspects. The graphics still played a rather unique role in the movie, graphics in nature, and in battle. In nature when the flowers bloomed, and just the general surroundings of water, land earth, and trees. In battle the graphics helped a lot in showing the gunshots, and the wounds of warriors. It showed blood, and some nice effects when people lose their heads. There is obviously some computer generated images in the movie, for example when a man loses his head, that is obviously computer generated, because it will never have happened during the filming, and some of the battle scenes were also computer generated, because you could just tell, it was sort of like a Lord of the Rings "Helm's Deep" battle. Other then that there really wasn't too much use of graphics, the image was clear, and it was easy to read the Japanese subtitles when needed.

Sound: 8.5
The sound was very useful in this movie. It was an excellent choice of sound, it matched exactly for the scenes, and the overall movie. The credits music was also amazing, and it portrayed a side of the movie that people had never seen. The sound for the battle scenes was very nice, and added to the overall effect. The calm, and gentle scenes also had some nice sound added into them, but most of the movie did not use musical sound, but instead the imitation of outside scenes, birds chirping, and things like that. There was however the rare usage of sound when needed, and when it was used it was used very nicely.

Story: 9.5
Surprisingly, the story was very good. It was totally different then what i had expected from the trailer. Do not pay attention to the trailer, it is a lie, all you need to know is that you have to go and watch the movie. The movie, like most others have said has a very different, and very heart filling story line. Heart filling meant it fills what you are expecting, when you are looking for something with action, and yet drama, and it is overall just one big action/ emotional film. It does not focus so much on the romance aspect, but it is still a great movie to see with a date, or a loved one, and if not, then it has the fighting that you need to watch it as a night out with the guys.

Value: 5
This movie, depending on how you liked it the first time, can vary on weather you want to watch it again. Because it's one of those movies that when it ends, that is it, you don't really want to watch it again, because the ending was so good. So you don't really want to ruin the ending. But if you really liked it, the you would want to watch this movie again. The value of this movie is pretty good, but nevertheless, the movie is just soon good, that I'm sure people wouldn't go to see it a second time, since it's just going to ruin the entire experience if watched a second time.

Acting: 7.5
Alright, I'm going to explain why this got a 7.5, and not like a 9 or something. You know why? Because throughout the entire movie, It felt like there were only 1 or 2 characters or actors holding up the entire movie. I mean, if you take a close look at some of the other actors, the minor actors i mean, you will be able to see that they really didn't do too well of a job. Tom Cruise obviously did an amazing job, and the Japanese samurai leader guy also did a great job, considering that English is his second language. I see that man going places, even though the film was focused around Tom Tom Cruise most of the time. I still feel that the other actors could have done a better job. Now when i talk about this, i don't want you to take it the wrong way, there is a difference between minor actors, and just plain fill in characters. The background characters did an amazing job. Even things that you'd never notice in the movie, are still played out perfectly. Quite possibly because they just wanted to make every aspect of the movie as great as it could get. As for the minor characters, characters that actually do play a role in the film, but only in a few scenes, i only say to them that even though they did do a great job, and it really isn't too noticeable. In this reviewer's opinion, i think they could have done better.

Finishing Statement: Overall Rating: 7.5
When i went to watch this movie, it was really a surprise as stated above, because it was totally different then what I had expected. This movie is one of the best that Tom Cruise has made. Since most of his last few movies actually required some intellectual thought to enjoy them, most people didn't understand, because these days you need pointless fighting to fill some time just so people can like the movie. But this movie makes it simple, and understandable what is happening. It is probably not recommended for children, mainly because of the blood, and the graphical content, but not only that it's just that the topics discussed in the movie are much beyond children years. I mean how many children these days know about honor, and samurai tradition, and all of that emotional stuff. This movie portrays the art of fighting much closer to what it really is, without all the fancy matrix styles. It shows that it is not a constant "ballet" of punches and kicks, but it is really a strategic battle, and the fight is usually over within 2 or 3 moves.