The film, The Last Samurai (2003), directed by Edward Zwick, is the modern retelling of a historical struggle between the Meiji government that wants to embrace Westernization and the samurai, traditionalists and the soul of Japan, which rebels against the modernization campaign that began in late 19th century Japan. The film, however, focuses on the character development of former US Army Captain Nathan Algren (actor: Tom Cruise). Algren is described by Zwick as an anguished individual who relives his participation in the bloody and glorifying Civil War against the American Indians through his nightmares. As a remedy to soothe his anguish, Algren resorts to consuming alcohol. Eventually, Algren is approached by his former commander, Colonel Bagley, after one of his shows, and is offered a job assisting the Meiji government in training the Japanese army in Western-style warfare against the Samurai led by Katsumoto (actor: Ken Watanabe). Soon after Algren's arrival in Japan, the newly formed Westernized Japanese army composed of "poorly trained peasants who lacked military combat" described by Algren, is overrun by samurai in a forest (Zwick 2003, The Last Samurai). Although many Japanese soldiers fled or were killed during the fighting, Algren manages to kill several samurai single-handedly. This intrigues Katsumoto and he orders to prevent the warriors from finishing off Algren and instead takes him as prisoner. Algren is taken to an isolated village deep in the mountains where the Samurai reside. As Algren's recovery process begins, the nightmares worsen as he continues to see vivid images of himself killing Indian children and requests from Saki, a Japanese alcoholic... middle of paper ...... t Samurai. With further investigation, one may come to the conclusion that Bushido has a greater influence than the act of fighting, as seen with Algren's character development illustrated above. Under Bushido, Algren was able to learn the principles of righteousness, kindness, loyalty and honor, then applies those principles to his life and achieves the inner peace with himself that he had lost long ago. In a broader context, society as a whole can gain a lot of knowledge from the Samurai and their way of life and apply it to their daily lives because the set of moral principles upheld can be applied to our social interactions with parents, friends, family or strangers. Therefore, Asian religious thoughts in popular culture have the ability to change our perspectives on viewing life without necessarily converting us to religion..